kevin jesuino

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Tender City: The Silent Slow Dance Project is a socially engaged dance project inviting men into partnered silent slow dances in public urban spaces. Historically, cities have been designed by men for order, efficiency, and productivity, reflecting a hetero-patriarchal capitalist desire that stifles natural instincts, tenderness, and community care. As men hardened the city and erected grander structures, any difference off of the mainstream was forced into private. 

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Homosexual men play a unique role in navigating this imposed system. Cruising, the act of seeking physical connections and engaging in private acts of sex in public, often arises from having no other options in a city or world that rejects their existence. This exchange between two men is typically done with relatively few words and requires time, care, mutual desire, and safety. This project is inspired by this intimate choreography and attempts to translate it into the tender display of an urban public silent slow dance. 

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This project engaged gay, bi, and trans men in public silent slow dances around Vancouver. Workshops hosted with Health Initiative for Men (HIM) facilitated these dances at various sites, including local cruising spots and significant historical queer spaces like šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl'e7énḵ Square, Jim Deva Plaza, and St. Paul’s Hospital. Countless men participated in these dances, challenging the city's hardened exterior. The project continues with a performance installation involving two men slow dancing in the lobby of Simon Fraser University's Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, inviting male and/or masculine-identifying individuals to join throughout the exhibition.

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This project will be presented at the 2024 Simon Fraser University Master of Fine Arts Grauating Art Exhibition. 

 

Worlds Among Us: MFA Graduating Exhibition 2024 

Sept 5- 21 

GO TO SFU SCHOOL OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO 

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Opening Reception
SEP 4 / 6 – 8PM
Audain Gallery, Lobby, and Studio T, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (149 W Hastings) 

 

Featuring work by : 

Irfan Brkovic
Kevin Jesuino
Ghazal Majidi
Liz Oakley
Niloufar Samadi
Taryn Walker

 

Participatory Event: Kevin Jesuino – Tender City: The Silent Slow Dance Project 
WED SEP 4 / 7 – 8PM (during exhibition opening reception) 
THU SEP 5 / 1 – 4PM 
FRI SEP 6 / 4 – 7PM 
SAT SEP 7 / 2 – 3PM (meet in Lobby, then move outdoors)

Lobby, 149 W. Hastings St., Vancouver 

 

HOW TO SILENT SLOW DANCE IN PUBLIC 

Although anyone can silent slow dance, this is an invitation for men to slow dance with each other. 

The following should all be done in silence with a partner. It is recommended that you do this for a minimum of 15 minutes (three partners x 5 minutes each) 

1. Invite someone to dance by holding out your hand to someone. Accept a dance by taking their hand. Place your hand on your heart if you don’t want to slow dance.  

2. Embrace each other as if in a hug. Slowly sway side to side together. 

3. Notice what you are sensing. Discomfort will set in. Listen. Feel. Soften. 

4. After 5 minutes, step away from your partner. Thank them with a gesture. 

5. Find a different partner. Repeat.