As part of Dublin Fringe Festival, Irish drag artist Shaqira Knightly brought her first-ever solo show, Genesis, to LoSt LaNe, the iconic venue that is home to queer nightclub Mother. Described as an “all-out dance spectacular with a fierce expression of gender, sexuality and power”, Genesis delivered what it promised and more. 

I’m writing this review while on the bus ride home. I’m doing this on purpose because I want to tap into the creativity a show like the one I’ve seen tonight can unleash. And let me tell you, dear reader, the gates are open.

Picture this. A dark room queer people come back to every week to dance the night away. Bodies packed tight around the stage, eager to watch. Futuristic visuals lighting up the background. A robotic voice introduces a world we’re not sure we’re ready to witness.

Then, Shaqira Knightly takes the stage like it’s her birthright. Two dancers at her sides, they kick off a series of choreographies that build tension in the room, have the audience cheering and shouting for more.

The two dancers start off almost antagonistic, wanting to keep Shaqira shackled, compliant. After all, Genesis means embarking on a cyberpunk journey to your true self, your full potential. It’s shedding the thick skin you had to put on to protect yourself from the world to reveal the beauty of what lies beneath it. A journey, yes, but also a homecoming. Watching Genesis is watching a person become exactly what they were meant to be: themselves. Not without restraints but in spite of them.

Between iconic bops and neon body paint, the show creates a crescendo of surprises that keeps the audience hypnotised. The performers move on the stage and on the runaway, tracing that journey step by step.   

By the end, the two dancers have come around. So has the entire audience. The two performers join Shaqira in dances that are a celebration of authenticity. A queer rebirth, as the show states. 

Genesis is everything Shaqira Knightly already proved she can be: fierce, sexy, powerful. It’s also so much more. It’s engaging storytelling. It’s an ode to the liberating power of dance. It’s a show that fills the spectator with the infectious and inescapable desire to abandon conventions and self-doubt. 

After the final bow, the entire building was buzzing. All that energy needed an outlet. Thank God Mother was on right after.

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