Eusexua on the Dancefloor: A Night of Liberation in Miami’s Queer Rave Scene
Ariel Rivera
Earlier this year, musician FKA Twigs revealed that her highly anticipated upcoming album would be inspired by her experiences in the Prague rave scene and the healing qualities hidden in the syncopation of the music. The album is titled Eusexua - a term coined by Twigs to describe that indescribable feeling before greatness. In the song, Twigs touches upon the closeness she felt with the strangers dancing next to her. A feeling deep inside, where all became one internally, where Twigs lost herself to the intimate closeness of the crowd.
Eusexua album cover | Image Credit: @fkatwigs
Eusexua is the moment right before an orgasm, or before an ingenious idea - it’s a feeling of liberation, of pure jubilant euphoria that does not exist tangibly, but floats around us in moments of rhapsody. It is the feeling I felt on Halloween, when I saw God in the form of a drag queen.
After weeks of feeling restricted both financially and spiritually, my greatest desire by the end of October was to shake off the bounded feeling I felt chained to. I wanted to become as fluid as the Tito’s shots I was taking, wanted all my stress to drip off my forehead and onto the dancefloor, wanted my unemployment to forget itself in the face of another.
Admittedly, I’m a horrible dancer. Naturally stiff, with no sense of flexibility, I’m clumsy with my spatial awareness - and things only get worse when there’s a rum and coke in my hand. All that to say that the Miami club scene isn’t as forgiving to these faux pas as one might think. It is the city I love, the city that raised me, but it is also a city marked by its superficiality. In its excess and loudness and straightness - and because of this, club culture and its sweaty denizens follow suit.
Enter Call To Action-- a local collective dedicated to celebrating the trans community in Miami through mutual aid parties and events.
Call To Action presents The Nocturnals | Image Credit: @calltoaction.mia
As America, and particularly Florida, grows more and more anti-trans in their behavior, rhetoric, and legislation, Call To Action provides a safe haven for trans and queer people alike to celebrate their existence and identity. It is a place that protects and aids its most vulnerable and provides contraceptives, harm reduction tools, and lollipops at the door.
Call To Action, and its subsequent Halloween party, was my Eden for the night. An escape from the overwrought, overfilled tasteless techno nightmares that loom in downtown Miami, and a space where I felt a sense of community for the first time in forever. It was as if everyone became liquid, there wasn’t this sense of singular compact groups dancing in their own worlds, but rather we were all molecules bumping, molding to each other’s bodies and movements.
For 4 hours, the world was mine. That is, until the performances started.
Drag performer Persephone Von Lips | Image Credit: @calltoaction.mia
Moving like mythological creatures with the attitudes of a god and a pop star, the drag performers of the night held the crowd in the palms of their hands. The costume contest, which turned into a Climax-esque dance circle, brought the whole crowd together with some friendly competition.
Call To Action is more than a party, with all the proceeds of the night’s events going to a community member's top surgery, it truly feels like you are part of a collective. Now more than ever it is vital to invest energy and time in supporting the local communities you are part of, especially ones like these where its member’s rights are actively getting restricted and the freedom to express themselves openly is becoming more and more dangerous by the day. Now is the time to to look out for one another, and carve out our own spaces where we can live freely.
The night felt like a crescendo, felt like a buildup that would never end, felt like I finally knew what Twigs was saying when describing Eusexua. This feeling of pure liberation - a collective liberation shared between everyone on the floor - is something I implore everyone to experience. Once you push past the initial discomfort of a packed dance floor, you begin to find a lullful warmth in the body heat of others. The synths and beats that first hurt your ears soon syncopate, taking control of your heart, brain, and cells for the night. Once you let yourself surrender to the music, you can reach an enlightenment like never before. You can reach Eusexua.
Strike Out,
Ariel Rivera
Editor: Carla Mendez
Ariel Rivera is a junior at Florida International University, majoring in Media Communications with a minor in English Studies. As a writer, Rivera is passionate about expanding on pop culture topics that may seem frivolous at first glance, but which, through his unique point of view, become pillars of discussion. A self-described crazy film nerd, Rivera enjoys watching and reviewing movies in his free time, as well as reading and lounging with his dog, Neo.
