A woman calls herself Lulu Alvarado. They say she is a cannibal at night and a self-sufficient human during the day. They also say: an artist. A golden body that knows how to move, dress and let itself be savored by the gaze of others. His eyes expose the edge of a virgin razor and the piety of an infant. All of her professes danger and tenderness. Currently accompanies Juliana Gattas in his adventure as a solo singer and, together with other allies, collaborates with the aesthetics of the shows where the album is presented Make up in bed. They also say: a myth without origin and an aesthetic model of behavior for night owls.
A woman faces a flood of memories: two red macaws fly among the Mayan ruins of Copán, a friendship begins in the Violeta de forum Miranda!the first kiss on the dance floor, perfuming words into a microphone while the couple djs at the Compass party, posing for an aesthetic postcard New Raversa graduate diver that was never made because it seemed scary, the eroticism of Pete Burns and the humor of Miss Piggy. Throughout a lifetime, a woman seeks to reinvent herself and thus be able to find, even if it is, a name of her own.
—How did the nickname Lulú come about?
— I prefer not to say. I like everything that is mystery.
Lulú Alvarado was born in Ramos Mejía in a year that cannot be revealed. She is the daughter of a writer, English teacher and tango dancer. She is also the daughter of a plastic artist with dual nationality: Costa Rican and Honduran, a bohemian obsessed with the Mayans, painting and world travel. He knew how to be an important diplomat and thanks to his charisma he had all eyes on him, a bit like what happens to Lulú. She died in 2012. She says: “My favorite person”.
— When I was 4 years old I asked my parents to take me to tap classes. Luckily they humored me and I danced for many years. I loved the classes but the best moment was dancing on stage. At 16 I started taking acting classes and from that moment I had a very clear goal: I wanted to enter UNA. (IUNA, at that time). I finished school and entered a Dramatic Arts degree. From that point on I began to act in plays and, little by little, I began to disconnect from the world of dance because, very confused, I believed that I had to define myself between one thing or another.
You could say that it is an actress, a dancer, a performer. For now, you could say. For 10 years she has been taking classes with the contemporary artist Flor Vecino and it shows: her body is a drop of gold that falls discreetly on the world, there are no grand gestures or the stereotyped movements of those trained in dance. What there is is a minimal fragment of revelation, the promise that there is something more behind that face in which the Lady Gaga of Alexanderthe English dancer Perri Lister, the Madonna of True Blue and the most important almodóvar girl of all: Marisa Paredes.
Lulú belongs to that civilization that He was educated between recitals and discos, between the underground of the western zone and that of Buenos Aires. Since adolescence, he understood that a good look contributes to the conversation of the night, an attitude that can be read as frivolous, but that is very necessary for people who feed on the visual dimension of things. In an interview, the Di Tella Institute artist Dalila Puzzovio stated: “Through fashion, one manifests but also hides. With clothes we send encrypted messages, secrets that cannot be said out loud, we betray our personal tastes and tendencies. The garments function as a form of protection.”
Alvarado seems to apply this lesson very well: always infectious heels, always a black that sticks to his body like oil, always a golden hairstyle that would give Manuel Puig a mental short circuit. Style as a way of inventing a life.
—What is your favorite era of Madonna?
— I’m going to a dinner. Then I respond to you with great attention.
An artist who does not paint, does not draw, does not make sculptures. Who does not work with his hands but with his eyes. She is a drag queen who injects large doses of 80s references, a victim of shoulder pads, accessories with sensual finishes and geometric cuts. that offer dresses and underwear. A woman who thinks in relation to music and the dance floor. Her presence at a party translates into the search for a set that makes her feel invited and, if she is invited, she returns strongly. Of course: its internal protocol prevents you from standing in any kind of line. You always show them inside the club, never outside waiting.
—I’m a whore, I always was. All my references turn me into the whore that I am and it is impossible for me to escape from that, they feed me, they give me a hundred billion years of life and I cannot live without consuming them. They are my drug: Madonna (my absolute queen), Steve Strange, Miss Piggy and the entire Jim Henson universe, Bob Fosse, Pete Burns, the B52s, Serge Lutens, the Pet Shop Boys, Almodóvar, Debbie Harry, Barbra Streisand, Antonio López, Boy George, Gena Rowlands, Helmut Newton, Marc Almond, Sandy Linter, Raffaella. The list is endless.
It is also a club kid, the urban tribe of extravagant young people who inhabited the nightclubs of New York during the 90s. Lulú knows that scene well, she had the opportunity to cross paths with Susanne Bartsch, the legendary creator of parties and night events that were a must on the agenda of every good New Yorker. He also met the original cell of drag Amanda Lepore. It does not reveal what the interaction was with both but there are photos that prove the encounters. From Lepore’s photo he made hundreds of stickers that he gave on his birthday and that he offers to the privileged people who agree to visit his house. Another internal protocol: being cautious with your privacy is showing elegance.
Talk about your participation in the shows Juliana Gattas It excites her, it is a moment where the perfume of mystery runs out and a thick joy enters the scene, as if this stage were the bow with which she opens an indecipherable chapter of her life.
—With Juliana we have a similar cultural language and it is very easy to create together. I love their premise when making shows: enjoy. I accompany her dancing, doing the choreographies. Together we put clothes on the stage, we give it color and shape, we choose costumes, textures, expressions, we fill it with beautiful, absurd and funny characters. We have more accomplices to put together the staging, of course. Tornasol is essential to fuel all that fantasy. He was in charge of devising, giving life and shape to those fantastic mirrors that reflected lights and sparkles like a good jewel. He illuminated the presentation shows of Make up in bed in a very particular way. Natalio and Juan Wolf did the art: they dressed Niceto in elegant red and created that giant telephone for Juliana to go crazy on stage.
Lulú affirms that on stage she feels true to herself. It seems that being consistent with textures for a look is just as important as making the healthiest decisions for your career: going slowly and at your own pace is the most palpable premise for building a world with its own logic. She is not interested in taking “the big leap” but rather revolving around music. house, Italian Disco and pop.
— Are you a nostalgic person?
— No. I’m just nostalgic with my objects. With people or what has never happened, I love things to end because what comes next will always be the best.
Lulú affirms that she is a graduate of the Pareja DJ school, icons of the Buenos Aires and Latin American scene, joyful professionals in the art of putting together an infinite geography of parties, music and instances to consume the night. Their more than 20-year career includes the friendship of Lulú, who has always admired them and decided not to separate themselves from them. We asked the duo about their relationship with the performer and this is what they responded:
—We have known Lulu since she was approximately 18 years old. She came to dance at the legendary Compass parties at Niceto Club where we were residents in 2007, 2008. He was one of the regular characters at the party, he even appeared on the flyers. It was the time of nu rave and fluo. She was always dressed impeccably, very high up, we loved her looks, her personality, her earrings, seeing her on the runway made us feel better. A true club kid. Furthermore, he liked the same music as us, that is, we became friends on the spot. She was always the soul of the party, especially in gay spaces at night in Buenos Aires, always with a fun attitude, lots of sparkle and the best outfits.
In a neighborhood infested with an obituary calm, between streets as far away as the end of the world, there is a woman who remembers exactly how a speaker burned down in Dengue Dancinga woman camouflaged among hundreds of Raggedy Ann, Pierrots and Pierrettes dolls. In a house where cats get scared and hide, a memory-laden woman laughs at her antics and those of her whore friends. She calls herself Lulú Alvarado and is waiting for another night, one that does not worry about being true but, rather, suspiciously plausible.
—A beauty tip?
— Go to a good party and open the dance floor.
