FINAL WEEK: 

 

As my residency comes to a close, i'd like to thank DAR for the opportunity to drive this project. I will be continuing Distorted Habitat on:  

 

Website: www.distortedhabitat.weebly.com 

 

Instagram: mayasherpling 

 

 

WEEK 3 - MISERABEL 

 

Instagram: iammiserabel 

 

(VIDEO TO FOLLOW)!) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maya Sherpa 

 

 

 

 

 

My unique performance style takes the audience on a rollercoaster of emotion and experience by combining hard and soft elements. I aim to disrupt the comfortable by prompting reactions that allow human compassion to seep in. Song and dance facilitate the more subtle aspects of my work as their conventional orders are manipulated and disturbed. Humour highlights the bizarre and absurd and enables an entertaining yet emotive performance. 

 

I first took the stage last August at an event called Age of The: Virgin, an open platform for first time performers. Everything took off after this as I was suddenly immersed into the world of drag. I remember dancing in the pouring rain with other Queens at Gay Pride the day after I performed and feeling an overwhelming sense of happiness. I have always felt and been a little outside the lines and I’ve now found my family in Leeds. I became part of a collective called Age of The, we host alternative performance and club nights around Leeds. This has become increasingly successful and from the feedback we’ve had it is evident that we create an environment where people feel included and accepted for themselves. 

 

 

I started off performing in video art that I was making during my art foundation course, and then throughout university this passion grew and developed. It seems like a natural progression that I am now performing on stage. 

 

I think people love unusual performance as it can push the boundaries of normality and what performance is. Performance shouldn’t be confined to making the audience happy and when it isn’t, it can be uncomfortable for some people. There is something very empowering about performing for yourself and having a platform for your ideas to be received by an open audience. In a world where we are becoming increasingly desensitised, it is important to challenge preconceived ideas and have people feel something. 

 

Working across different platforms from drag to club nights, I have had the pleasure of working with many talented performers. Being part of organising events has enabled this as well and we tend to get more freaky performances due to our space being very open to interpretation. 

 

 

INSTAGRAM: @MAYASHERP 

 

WEBSITE: https://mayasherpaportfolio.weebly.com/