In the closing weeks of 2024, I interviewed two of Edmonton’s very own drag performers. Maxine “Jizz Elle” Garcia and Solara “Saint Solstice” Adoma. These two are some of Edmonton’s premier drag performers.
Garcia and Adoma are iconic examples of Edmonton’s transgender community. Both women have come out in the last year with drag serving as a vessel through which they could build comfort in feminine presentation.
As I interviewed the two performers, they listed the various establishments in which they had performed. However, of all the places to do drag, none stood out more as the place to get into the art as Evolution Wonderlounge. Also called Evo, the brick basement bar is within stumbling distance from Rogers Place and, as Garcia says, is Edmonton’s “only real gay bar.”
Of the two performers, Garcia is the more experienced. Beginning her drag career amid lockdown, Garcia first encountered drag during her time in the Philippines. Garcia was in Batangas City, a community two hours south of the country’s capital, Manila.
To be queer in the Philippines was something Garcia said was to be “half and half.” Growing up in the Philippines meant she was around a lot of people who did not care how one expressed themselves. It wasn’t until RuPaul’s Drag Race’s rise in popularity that she really started to see drag as an art form of interest.
Meanwhile, Adoma’s career began at a block party. Seeing others performing drag at the party, Adoma was surprised that Edmonton had its own local artists. Getting involved was a simple matter of asking how she could participate.
Adoma now performs three times a month. However, like Garcia, when Pride and the holidays come knocking, her monthly performance count goes up to seven or ten times a month.
Talking to Garcia and Adoma, it seems drag is becoming a competitive scene.
Garcia says the competition is built on merit. If you are trying to get into drag, to be successful is to draw the eyes of producers. However, if you’re willing to try and put in the effort to stand out and build up your skills, the competition is navigable.
Photos by Amanda Erickson
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