The Bánh Mì Chronicles

(S5, EP 1) As we wrap up #AAPIMonth and begin #PrideMonth Longtime dancer, artist and model Kevin Stea kicks things off as my 1st guest for this Season 5's "Our Becoming: An Asian LGBTQ experience" on The Banh Mi Chronicles Podcast.  This interview was recorded in mid March right after the Atlanta shooting.  Kevin is of biracial, mixed Chinese American descent who danced for Madonna's worldwide hit tour, "The Blond Ambition" in 1990. He would go on to perform as an actor, model, and choreographed for many other icons, and still dancing today.  We talked about the disconnect he felt in not being able to connect to his Chinese heritage, and his father, also of Chinese descent, who was largely absent during his childhood. We discussed about what it meant being queer during the volatile AIDS / HIV crisis during the 80s and early 90s which wreaked havoc on the LGBTQ commmunity.  I got Kevin to talk about his experience working with some of the biggest icons as a dancer / choreographer, and being in a white-led entertainment industry that was not very welcoming to Asian Americans.  Check out Kevin on his IG @kevinstea or his FB at Kevin Stea 

///

Bio: After only 18 months of training, Kevin was hired as associate choreographer to legendary choreographer Vincent Paterson for Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour. He quickly became dance captain and dancer for the World Tour, for which both the movie “Madonna: Truth or Dare” and the video for “Vogue” were made, and performed in Madonna’s iconic performance on the 1990 MTV Music Video Awards. Soon after, he was working with Gloria Estefan, Prince, and Michael Jackson, among others, as associate choreographer/dancer, and won the Grand Prize on the television show “Star Search.”  He modeled for major designers like Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, Tommy Hilfiger, Romeo Gigli and Exté, and worked with celebrity photographers David Lachapelle, Matthew Rolston, Peggy Sirota, Herb Ritts and Santo D’Orazio, at a time when Asians were not accepted in the industry.  He has choreographed for other artists such as Britney Spears, Cher, David Bowie, Rihanna, Beyonce, Ricky Martin, among others.  Kevin performed in movies such as Sister Act 2, as Daryl in Showgirls, as Swifty the Rake in Newsies and as Goldman Girl Yum Mee in The Birdcage, for which he won a SAG award. In 2016, he reunited with his fellow dancers from Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour for the critically-acclaimed documentary, "Strike A Pose."