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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE February 11, 2000

evening'sout

Leather weekend is much more than just a contest

by Dawn E. Leach

Columbus-This weekend, people from around the country are expected to come to Columbus for the Heartland Leather Weekend. The weekend is filled with leather, fetish and fantasy events planned around a sixstate regional preliminary contest for the International Mr. Leather contest, which will be held May 25-29 in Chicago.

This is the sixth year for the six-state regional, which includes Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia.

In previous years, the event was hosted by Boytoy Productions, but this year's event will be produced by Heartland Leather Productions. Although International Mr. Leather is largely a gay male event, the Heartland Leather Weekend is designed to attract people of all sexual orientations-as the producers explain, "a time that we can celebrate; leather, fetish, men, women, transgender, pansexual, and be ourselves."

"It's going to be like no other event Columbus has had," said Heartland Leather director Pat McCarthy.

The weekend kicks off Friday night at 7 pm with a Leather Fetish Drag show at Tabu nightclub. This is followed by a 9 pm Fetish Fantasy show which will take place on three different stages at the same time, to give attendees a choice of different types of performances.

Among the planned spectacles is a ritual suspension, in which a person is suspended by hooks through the flesh. Parts of the club will have dungeon equipment available for attendees to use during the event.

A private play party is planned at a professional dungeon space from 2:30 am until

International Ms. Leather 1999 Pam Meyer

6:30 am that night. Another dungeon play party-this one for men only-is planned at the Exile on Saturday from 2-5 pm. Tickets for both play parties must be purchased in advance because they will not be available at the door.

At 6 pm on Saturday, the contest kicks into gear with a pre-contest wet jock strap competition at Tradewinds nightclub.

The International Mr. Leather preliminary contest officially begins at 8 pm at the Eagle nightclub. The mistress of ceremonies will be professional dominatrix Queen Cougar. Several prestigious figures in the na-

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tional leather community will be on hand to judge the contest, including International Ms. Leather 1999 Pam Meyer, International Mr. Leather 1999 Bruce Chopnik, IML 1999 first runner up Sean Reilly, and Tony DeBlase, former editor of Drummer magazine, a gay men's fetish publication. The contest will be interspersed with dance performances, demos and other entertainment.

After the contest, there will be a victory party at Exile nightclub, followed by another private play party at 2:30 am at a location to be announced. Again, tickets for the play party must be purchased in advance.

Sunday afternoon begins with the "Hangover Pizza Party Brunch" at Slammers nightclub.

The weekend wraps up with the “Thank God It's Over Blowout" party at Tradewinds. "We're trying with this contest to give

people a lot for their money," McCarthy said.

To this end, Heartland Leather is flying in performance artists from Hawaii, California, and South Carolina, and has hired a dance troupe to perform opening numbers for the contest and the Fetish Fantasy show. Trained monitors will be present during play parties to keep things running smoothly. A traveling display of the National Leather Archives will be on display at IMRU bookstore throughout the weekend.

Weekend passes and tickets to individual events can be purchased at The Garden, Stained Skin and IMRU in Columbus, and at Body Work Productions in Cleveland. More information about the Heartland Leather Weekend is available at www. heartlandleather.com, or by calling 614-

228-9660.

A dance ceremony for gay and black America

by Michelle Tomko

Cleveland-Black History Month begins on February and serves to celebrate and educate the public on the contributions African Americans have made to our culture. Traditionally, programs are produced by two types of organizations: those who commonly produce minority works, as well as others who only produce events during the month of February.

"It was created out of good intentions to create awareness to our society. But I live black history every second of every day." said Michael Medcalf, artistic director of the newly formed Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre.

"I do know African American artists who will not perform in February, who won't take any new bookings because organizations are exploiting them," said Medcalf when asked about his reaction to Black History Month. "But any opportunity we have, let's do so." he added.

This reporter even committed a slight faux pas when she inquired if Medcalf was in Dobama's production of Truth, to which he cynically replied, "No. That's the other black dancer in Cleveland."

Medcalf's company will have its debut at Cleveland Public Theatre, which well represents the fringe of the artistic world and promotes new artists regularly.

The nine-member company will perform five works in New Beginnings, February 1720. The fifth is the world première of "Cer-

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emonies." This full company piece is choreographed by Medcalf and has been commissioned by the AIDS Task force of Cleveland and their Brother to Brother program.

"[It is a] work that comments on themes of love, identities, and subculture of gay African Americans," said Medcalf of his work.

The piece is a multi-media one involving video, dance, and speaking. When asked if speaking during a performance took away from the actual dancing, Medcalf replied, "Dance is evolving, we have to as artists change the perception of what dance is. It helps the audience. I want my mom to understand what I am dancing about."

The company's mission statement is "To celebrate, educate, and promote diversity in all of its forms through dance."

Medcalf, who is just returning home to Cleveland from a twelve-year stint in New York and abroad said, "It was difficult to come home knowing that I was gay in Cleveland's homophobia. If we are truly to be accepted, we must have some kind of presence."

When asked about any racism he has faced Medcalf said, "I feel it most within the gay community. When I'm in a club, I'm almost invisible."

Medcalf has performed in dance companies in Philadelphia, New York City, Atlanta, and Denver working with Katherine Dunham, Bill T. Jones, and Donald McKayle. He is an instructor at the University of Akron.