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While Dominick Allen didn’t walk away with a win after Pride Union’s Drag Show last year, he left with a better understanding of what drag means to him.

“I wasn’t really hurt because it was my first time,” said Allen, a junior psychology and television, radio and film major. “What I took away from it was that even if I didn’t get the crown, if I paid homage to Tina Turner that was my main goal. If I did Tina right … that’s all that mattered to me.”

Allen performed again this year at Pride Union’s 21st Annual Drag Show on March 23 in the Schine Student Center Underground. RuPaul’s Drag Race star The Vixen hosted the event and welcomed all student drag performers of any experience.

He started the preliminaries paying tribute to Beyoncé by performing to a recording of a live performance of “Crazy in Love.” In the finals, Allen paid homage to Tina Turner by utilizing her music and donning a bejeweled gold flapper dress.

Through his drag, he has tried to change the negative stigmas surrounding the gay community, their perceived promiscuity and the negativity surrounding the idea of sexual liberation. In his performance, Allen took inspiration from RuPaul’s drag. He said he tried to emulate that high drama with the snatched waist and pristine makeup that Rupaul is known for.

Allen’s goal is to own his sexuality and show people that being sexual doesn’t have to be a derogatory thing. This year he wanted to focus on really embodying and playing around with his drag name.

Luci is Allen’s middle name, but his parents considered making Lucciano his middle name — he decided to incorporate it into his drag name. Dirty came as an addition to display more of his flamboyant and fierce personality as well as his sexual side.

Allen said “dirty” has a negative connotation as people always associate being more sexual as a mark against someone’s character. He wanted to change that narrative.

“I want to put that in just to show people that, just because I am comfortable with my sexuality and some of my performances are sexual, it shouldn’t be seen as filthy or something that is wrong,” Allen said.

Allen credits his friends and team who have helped his drag grow and flourish. Last year, when he took the stage for the first time, he had three friends join him as backup dancers. The trio has also helped him with costumes, makeup and choreography.

Junior Kamille Montgomery, one of those backup dancers who now helps him with costumes, has known Allen since her freshman year. Allen said Montgomery has helped him cut his shorts for his preliminary costume and is always willing to give him her honest opinions about different costume ideas.

Montgomery emphasized how while she, along with other friends, helps with Allen’s drag, watching the dedication and work he puts into the show impresses them all.

“He’s very fierce, very sassy. He’s going to give you a good show,” Montgomery said. “It’s almost like you can really see his heart on the stage and how much he really wants to just give a good show to everyone and just making sure that everybody has a good time.”

Allen wasn’t always comfortable with his sexuality and identity, but being at Syracuse and finding a supportive community has helped him gain more pride in his identity. With his newfound confidence helping him embrace his identities, he felt inspired to give drag a try.

In his performance at the Pride Union Drag Show, Dominick Allen performed to songs by Tina Turner and Beyoncé. He takes inspiration from the show ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ by emulating the high drama of the performances.
Megan Jonas | Contributing Photographer

Junior Ethan Harrison met Allen through their fraternity, Sigma Alpha Mu, when Allen became his “big” in the fraternity. He said he gravitated to Allen because of his energy and admired his ability to balance having a good time and, when necessary, being serious.

Harrison said that the way Allen approaches drag with such authenticity captivates the audience.

“(Dirty Lucciano is) an embodiment of who he is,” Harrison said. “He puts on a show, but it’s so raw and truly him. He’s passionate and so ready to do anything he needs to get what he wants.”

Keeping true to that authenticity, Allen said he was excited to go into the Drag Show Finale, which was held on Tuesday in Goldstein Auditorium, trying to ensure the audience understands the story he was trying to tell. He also said he hoped audience members could appreciate the artistic aspects within his drag.

“I would say Dominic is very selfless. I’ve seen him go through a lot of things, a lot of struggles and tribulations, but he never lets that stop him from showing up for a friend or giving basically his whole body for someone,” Montgomery said.

That caring spirit also comes through in the way Allen tries to bolster positive representations for his community. With Tennessee becoming one of the first states to restrict drag performances and other states gearing up to follow, Allen feels drag is more important than ever. He said that having a space where people can be their authentic selves without worrying about judgment is important.

He also spoke about how important positive representation is for marginalized communities who often get pigeonholed into one stereotype.

Allen said important positive representations for marginalized communities who often get pigeonholed into a single stereotype are important. Through his drag name to the sexy aspects of his performance, he wants to help fight stigmas surrounding gay men and be a proud representation for his community.

“I would say that I’m a guy from Brooklyn that loves to wear makeup, loves to dress feminine, because that’s who I am,” Allen said. “I like to show people that being strange and being looked upon as something that is not seen as right is right. I like to make people feel uncomfortable because I deserve the same spot as everybody else.”

Published on April 25, 2023 at 11:06 pm