“Dontcha Wanna Boogie Woogie”

Abstract

Building upon Mecca Jamilah Sullivan’s theory of the choreopoem as a queer form emphasizing a poetics of difference, as well as Omi Osun Jones’s concept of theatrical jazz, this article reassesses Ntozake Shange’s boogie woogie landscapes to argue that the choreopoem serves as an embodied futurist solution for resolving cisgender bias, as well as femme phobia and transphobia in theater, film, and television casting and performance training.