City of Toronto’s Drag Masterclass Presents: You Betta Bevel!

You’re cordially invited to You Betta Bevel! , a FREE production Presented by The City of Toronto: Drag Masterclass & Hosted by Sanjina, lead instructor and Queen!

Location: Buddies In Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander St, Toronto, ON M4Y 1B4)

Date: November 30th, 2023

Event Time: 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Doors: 6:00 pm

Opening Remarks: 6:45 pm

Show Starts: 7:00 pm

Join us for a feisty and fabulous evening of Girl Group Realness, while we highlight and celebrate the evolution and artistry development of the graduating Masterclass of 2023!

The night will showcase all the charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent the Queens have built, as a result of their hard work and dedication during the 9 week Masterclass program. It’s giving: solo performances, group numbers and dance offs, Choreographed by Hollywood Jade, resident choreographer for Canada’s Drag Race! An event guaranteed to have the audience vibing, dancing and singing along, all night long!

Which Dolls will dominate? Judges will be choosing the top 3 queens who show up and show out with the best overall performance, and well put-together Drag to be awarded some marvalous prizes! The winner of the Drag Masterclass will be given an opportunity to perform at Pride Toronto’s Drag Ball at the 2024 festival (see below for more details).

Drag Masterclass Presents: You Betta Bevel! , will also feature performances/ judge appearances from Special Guest Instructors: Miss Fiercalicious, Suki Doll, Hollywood Jade and D!XON!

With the HOTTEST ticket in town, you get access to enjoy some free Drag entertainment, support the youth with exploring their passion and make industry connections!

The Drag Masterclass provides access, skill development, and mentorship to the 2SLGBTQIA+ youth and Allies, who express a strong interest in pursuing a career in Drag. This is a free program that is hosted out of Wellesley Community Centre.

Each week, Sanjina taught Drag artists the fundamentals of being a successful Drag artist with the help of other artistic professionals like Miss Fiercalicious, Suki Doll, Hollywood Jade and D!XON. They worked with the participants to push them outside of their comfort zones and explore new possibilities to elevate their drag to new heights.

For additional information please email [email protected].

Graduation Photo by: Fabian Di Corcia (@FabianDiCorcia)

About Drag Ball (Drag Masterclass Showcase Drag Prize): Drag Ball is an extravagant and unforgettable drag event ever to hit the Pride Toronto stage! This past pride the event took place at Nathan Philips Square, featuring an incredible lineup of Toronto drag icons and special guests such as Sasha Colby, Anetra, Jimbo, Landon Cider, Icesis Couture, Gisèle Lullaby, Jada Shada Hudson, Pythia, Miss Fiercalicous, Kimmy Couture, Scarlett Bobo, Weebee, HercuSleaze, Eve 6000 and MORE! This is an incredible opportunity for the Drag youth of Toronto to get into the festival and share the stage with legendary from Canada and around the world!

Sponsorship & Donation Acknowledgements:

• Pride Toronto
• Toronto Police Service
• Mr. Jerk

Admission Notes:

• General Admission ticket holders admission into the showcase will be guaranteed until 6:30pm. After 6:30pm ticket holders will be admitted in on a first come first serve bases until max capacity is reached.

Drag Masterclass History:

The Drag Masterclass was created in 2019 to provide free, assessable, professional training to at-risk 2SLGBTIA+ youth located in the GTA.

The masterclass was led by its head instructor Sofonda who is a Canadian icon who has been in the industry for 20+ years. She is one of Toronto’s most bookable Drag Queens and has performed in the US, Brazil, Malaysia, and all over Mexico. She has also gained the attention of RuPaul himself.

Guest instructors include Priyanka who is the winner of Canada’s Drag Race Canada and agreed to teach the class right after the filming wrapped for Season one.

Other guest mentors include Kiara, Miss Fiercalicious who are contestants of Canada’s Drag Race and resident choreographer Hollywood Jade.

The Masterclass’s success is due to it being a safe and welcoming space to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community where they saw familiar faces of people who hold merit in the entertainment industry and the 2SLGBTIA+ community.

Moreover, participants had access to professional training, a welcoming space, other youth with common interests with whom they were able to make meaningful connections with, food, TTC tokens, and tangible resources like a professional photoshoot and make-up that they could use to further develop their craft and entrepreneurship.

The Drag Masterclass has been sponsored by M.A.C Cosmetics, NYX Cosmetics, Jean-Luc Cosmetics, Black CAP, Woody’s on Church, The Well and supported by Pride Toronto.

The masterclass is revolutionary as it has proven to break down barriers to participation in recreation programs.

It is the first recreational Drag Masterclass program of its kind in North America.

Kiki Ballroom Program Information

This Kiki Ball is a part of the City of Toronto’s first Kiki Ballroom program which responds to the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Action Plan Action Item 2.1 “Consult on and invest in meeting the specific needs and aspirations of black queer and trans youth by providing black queer and trans youth with opportunities to learn about ballroom culture and connect with their community through the Enhanced Youth Spaces. This program builds on the highly successful Drag Masterclass program and will provide new opportunities for youth across the city, not just in the downtown core.

The Kiki Ballroom program offers Learn to Vogue Workshops where youth can learn the elements of vogue, Open House Practices where you get to practice Ballroom categories, and Kiki Balls where you can see it all come together at a fierce competition!

I n March 2023 the Kiki Ballroom Program won the Access and Equity Award at the Parks & Recreation Ontario conference. The City of Toronto and the Toronto Kiki Ballroom Alliance were recognized for championing equitable access to parks and recreation services through advocacy, infrastructure, and/or programming. The Kiki Ballroom Program demonstrated improved access for the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

The next Kiki Ball will be hosted at Canoe Landing Community Centre on December 16th, 2023 and doors open at 4:00pm. We hope to see you there!

For more programming information and locations please email [email protected].