A Message to the City from Cherdonna

Good morning. It’s Sunday, April 26, and today’s message comes from the dancer and eyelash enthusiast Cherdonna.

“Good morning! Hello. Wow. I’m so happy to be here. I love you, Seattle. I wish I could see all your faces but I can’t because it wouldn’t be safe,” Cherdonna says.

“We all have to feel success in some kind of way, and sometimes success is taking a shower. Sometimes it’s looking at a peanut. Sometimes it’s smelling some soup. And sometimes it’s just sitting down on the ground.”

In order to feel some success today, Cherdonna decided to turn her backyard into an obstacle course.

Cherdonna also thanks everyone on the frontlines. To medical people, grocery store people, bus drivers, all the people helping us move around the city, and restaurants still making us food, she says, “I’m sending you so much love.”

She adds, “And families who are now home and having to have their kids do school from home, and that is very hard. And then also the people who are just by themselves, and trying to figure out what to do and how to stay connected.”

Cherdonna in 2014, an era when toilet paper was more plentiful. Kelly O

If Cherdonna is new to you, read this 2014 profile.

Part drag queen, part contemporary dance, and part performance art, Cherdonna Shinatra is a queer, femme, contemporary dancer who uses clowning, drag, theater, comedy, performance art, camp, pop culture, gay culture, dance traditions, feminist traditions, absurdity, and subversive commentary to make art. Cherdonna is a persona created by Jody Kuehner to explore and question our world.

Over the last 15 years, Kuehner has created and performed over a dozen evening-length works and performance installations, and all of them are up on her Vimeo.

You can also follow her on Instagram.

This whole 2014 photoshoot was amazing. The mist?? Photo by Kelly O

Thank you, Cherdonna, for the message, and the irrepressible spirit in the face of obstacles, and the love you sent out to so many people this morning.

Have a good Sunday, everyone.

Here’s hoping you discover a bunny in your own yard.

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Previously in this series:

Shenandoah Davis’s message to the city on April 25.

Lorena González’s message to the city on April 24.

Clyde Petersen’s message to the city on April 23.

David Ritt’s message to the city on April 22.

Sara Porkalob’s message to the city on April 21.

Julia Sweeney’s message to the city on April 20.

Linda Derschang’s message to the city on April 19.

Molly Sides’s message to the city on April 18.

Nick Garrison’s message to the city on April 17.

Tomo Nakayama’s message to the city on April 16.

Rebecca M. Davis’s message to the city April 15.

Heather McHugh’s message to the city on April 14.

Brandon O’Neill’s message to the city on April 13.

Kate Wallich’s message to the city on April 12.

Rebecca Brown’s message to the city on April 11.

Lucien Postlewaite’s message to the city on April 10.

Betty Wetter’s message to the city on April 9.

Amanda Morgan’s message to the city on April 8.

Nancy Guppy’s message to the city on April 7.

Jonathan Biss’s message to the city on April 6.

Chris Jeffries’s message to the city on April 5.

Lesley Hazleton’s message to the city on April 4.

John Roderick’s message to the city on April 3.

Bill Carty’s message to the city on April 2.

Price Suddarth’s message to the city on April 1.

Kary Wayson’s message to the city on March 31.

Ellen Forney’s message to the city on March 30.

Major Scales’s message to the city on March 29.

E. J. Koh’s message to the city on March 28.

Ken Jennings’s message to the city on March 27.

Demarre McGill’s message to the city on March 26.

Lynn Shelton’s Message to the City on March 25th.

Timothy White Eagle’s message to the city on March 24.

Cookie Couture’s message to the city on March 23.

Sarah Rudinoff’s message to the city on March 22.

John Osebold’s message to the city on March 21.

Ben Gibbard’s message to the city on March 20.

Nathan Chan’s message to the city on March 19.