Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexander the Great.
Hi Alexander, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
One of my earliest memories was from my very first dance recital; I was just shy of three years old. I can still see the bright stage lights, and my dance instructor leading us from the wings with the choreography. My mother placed me in dance lessons at an early age, and it just so happened to be a perfect fit. I grew up in the wild world of competitive dance, learning at a young age the importance of professionalism, timing, how to do your own hair and make-up, how to “polish” a dance routine, the importance of a stretch routine, how to train, and so on. When my parents divorced and my family had to file bankruptcy and we could no longer afford the dance competition fees, I danced in studios, and when we couldn’t afford that, I just danced with the choir at my public high school. I continued dancing with the student-led Vitality Dance Company at Texas Tech University, where I received my Bachelor’s in Human Sciences in May 2012, studying Community, Family, and Addiction Services.
Since I was raised with religious values, it wasn’t until after I graduated college and moved to Austin that I finally felt brave enough to come out as queer. When I came out, it was pre-marriage equality, and same sex marriage was not recognized in Texas, until it became recognized federally in 2015. But just one year after I graduated college, and about six months after I came out, tragedy struck my family, and we lost my 19 year old little brother Travis Terrell Lamb to mental illness in May 2013. He was a sophomore at A&M studying computer science, and he was the literal light of my life. We were raised like twins rather than siblings. After he passed, I couldn’t keep my “9-5” due to the grief and depression, and since I had been missing performing, I reached out and got connected with the performance community in Austin late 2013. I began performing aerial and burlesque professionally in 2014. I connected quickly with the queer community and other queer performers, which is one of the most amazing things about Austin… the size of our community.
A few years into performing professionally, I could tell something wasn’t quite right. I started performing drag with Austin’s only drag king troupe, “The Boiz of Austin”, in December 2015, and learned through drag that I was actually transgender; specifically, trans-masculine. In 2016, I had to change my stage name, my costumes, and my style a bit to finally accommodate my authentic voice. It was SUCH a fun and liberating process!! Since coming out as Transgender, my performance career has taken me above and beyond any of my wildest dreams. I have been featured in more than 20+ burlesque, drag, and performing arts festivals in six different countries. I performed a five week UK tour in 2017, a six week European tour in 2018, and I traveled twice to Europe in 2019 to perform and teach dance. These days, I perform burlesque (or boylesque), drag, aerial, pole, live singing, acrobatics, and sometimes, even clowning. Through my performance platform, I have been able to host annual fundraising events for The Trevor Project, which is a non-profit organization that provides resources to LGBTQAI+ youth in Crisis. I produce the fundraiser in memory of my brother.
With the help of my community, my fundraiser, called “The Pursuit of Happiness” has donated over $7,000 to the Trevor Project since 2014. My success is credited to the Transgender pioneers who came before me, and fought like hell for my rights and for me to be respected. I am always thankful to Marsha P. Johnson, Silvia Rivera, Storme DeLarverie, and the rest of the Stonewall Rioters of 1969 for bringing the queer and trans liberation fight to the forefront. I could not exist in this capacity today without all of my community who came before me, especially Black Transgender Women, who have fought the hardest and yet, experience the most oppression. My mission in performing is to represent people who aren’t used to seeing themselves on stage… specifically, transgender people. More than that, I think it’s important for Transgender youth to see Transgender Adults thriving in the careers of their choice, even in the arts. These days, I am performing and teaching dance virtually, and working on Transgender Advocacy work part-time. I am still fighting for Transgender visibility, but my fight is more focused now on specifically uplifting the most vulnerable and unheard members of our community. Black Transgender Lives Matter, today, and every day. Like Marsha said, “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The road has been quite a journey, and no, it has not been smooth. As a transgender performer, I have run into circumstances where I am asked to perform something pretty stereotypical, or perform something I am uncomfortable with. For example, I have had people ask me to perform an act where I “transition” on stage from feminine to masculine. If I were to offer up this art on my own accord, it would be different. However, having a cis-gendered person ask for me to perform an act where I transition, is literally making a spectacle of my transition. Also, I don’t want my art to just be about my transition. I have so many more interests, talents, and skills to offer beyond making a spectacle of my gender. I have been “assigned” a private dressing room away from other dressing rooms that was three flights of stairs above a stage, all because the producer didn’t know what to do with me. For people who don’t know, in burlesque, no matter the gender, we all share a dressing room. It was unacceptable (transphobic) for me to be placed in an isolated dressing area. I have to do a lot of education of people, but I have discovered that most people want to educate themselves and do better, and in those instances, I am more than happy to help and enlighten. I want people to understand that Transgender people are just people… and some of us transgender people, are in fact, pretty great. 🙂
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an international, award-winning aerialist, acrobat, drag artist and burlesque dancer. My life is a cabaret! If you don’t know what an aerialist is, think of the sky dancers in Cirque Du Soleil… that is what I do! I perform on the pole, lyra (aerial hoop), aerial chains, silk hammock, and I train on the trapeze. I am also an acrobat, and I perform handstands, chair balancing, back handsprings, splits, and acrobatic tricks on stage. I sing live sometimes, too! I am known for my Aerial Chains act, which has been featured all the way in Berlin, Germany, and Prague, in the Czech Republic! I have placed 1st Runner up in the Texas Aerial Championships, and I won the “Most Original” award for my Aerial chains act at the Oklahoma City Burlesque Festival in 2019. I am actually a huge nerd, and I have acts where I perform as an astronaut, as Gollum from Lord of the Rings, Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars, and this list could go on and on! I like to be comedic and put new twists on characters people are familiar with. For example, I perform my Gollum act in my gold Aerial hoop…. get it? What sets me apart is the fact that I am Transgender, as there is very minimal transgender representation in the aerial and pole arts, and even burlesque. I am working every day to change this, so we can have more beautiful transgender bodies doing incredible things. I was a finalist for “Best Male Entertainer” by the 2020 Austin Drag Awards, and a finalist for “Best Dancing Entertainer.” I am proud of the awards and international tours my art has awarded me, and I hope it inspires other Transgender people to chase their dreams!
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something most people do not know about me is that I am a gardening fanatic, who is also obsessed with space! I have over 40 different types of plants, succulents, and herbs growing inside and outside of my place. My bell peppers and tomatoes are delicious, and my herbs smell amazing! My favorite plant right now is my Majesty palm, (native to Madagascar) because it’s brings tropical vibes and humidity into my room. As far as my space obsession, I track the International Space Station so I can watch it when it flies over Austin, and I tune into the astronaut’s educational broadcasts from the ISS when I can. The fact that there are plants growing in microgravity on the ISS is one of the coolest things ever to me!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alexander-the-great-entertainer.webnode.com/
- Instagram: Alexander.Great.King
- Twitter: A_The_Great_ATX
Image Credits
Rod Nunley, Celesta Danger.
