Nina West is the kind of drag queen who is all about the beauty of drag and extending that love and understanding to those around her. Whether it’s through sharing messages of love as a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race or her own music and videos, she’s constantly showing us a world filled with love ansdd acceptance.
That comes across beautifully in her latest video, The Drag Alphabet. The latest features amazing kids from all backgrounds, including Daniela Maucere, a deaf teen from Burbank, CA and Ivy Alona, an openly transgender, deaf 9-year-old. Both sign in the video, and it’s truly emotional to see a beautiful group of children embracing the world of drag and inclusivity!
I got to talk to Nina about her new video and the importance of teaching to younger audiences! She told me,
I wanted to start right at the top and make it really just, basically, children’s entertainment, and children’s phases of the alphabet. That was really my goal. Take the song we released on the EP last year and kind of start over and reintroduce myself into the children’s space. And I really wanted to have a colorful, vibrant video that helped do that.
From there, we talked about the idea of going into children’s entertainment and how Nina thrives with that space. She said,
I want to work in the children’s space because it’s interesting to me because I find that drag is more, to me, working as a character. And it’s putting Nina as a Barney or an Elmo and equating her to that rather than necessarily losing the conversation because people are so nervous about her being a drag queen.
But even more than that, Nina is incredible with kids, and using her platform as a performer and, specifically, a drag queen to educate acceptance and love is a beautiful message:
I think I’m naturally good with children and drag is the artform I perform right now. I mean, I’m an actor and I’ve done other kinds of work and performance. But no one else is doing it and it seems to be a no-brainer. What’s more fun than a really bright colorful palette and a big personality to help with things such as simple as the ABCs or lessons in kindness and generousity and loving yourself and knowing that you’re worth something.
But then, much like our previous interview, Nina West and I talked about Disney, because we both have a love for it and part of that informed my latest brilliant idea: Let Nina West have her own Disney+ show. She said,
I would love to work with Disney and be a member of their amazing talent pool.
Enjoy Nina West’s latest video, support her and her amazing career, and hopefully, someday, we’ll see a program with Nina West as our lovely, vibrant host!
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