Meet Manny Dingo, the magnetic drag king redefining Black masculinity on stage

Manny Dingo is just one of the many extraordinary subjects featured in the fourth season of Canada’s a Drag, a docu-series from CBC Arts that shines a light on some of this country’s drag heroes.

Manny Dingo is a queer, Black drag king who wants his work to confront stereotypes. His performances — which fuse vulnerability with Manny’s exceptional skills as both a gymnast and a voguer — have an undeniable force, as does his philosophy behind it.

“Black men get masculinized a lot,” Manny says. “And they’re not allowed to reach in for their femininity. And I grew up around a lot of men that embrace their femininity, whether or not they really knew it.”

Originally from Nova Scotia, Manny moved to Toronto in 2019, where he’s been performing ever since. That’s where we had the privilege of showcasing him on an episode of Canada’s a Drag, which you can watch in all its glory here:

Manny’s episode focuses on his process preparing to perform “The One Man Manny Mandingo Show” at Toronto’s iconic queer space Glad Day Bookshop.  In that show, Manny shares his personal identity and explores Black identity all while giving his audience a little Nova Scotia history (Manny’s family is from North Preston, a community outside of Halifax that has the highest concentration of Black residents of any place in Canada).

“‘The One Man Manny Mandingo Show’ is literally just a love letter to Black men, from Manny,” he explains. “And it’s also a love letter to my grandmother too. When you live your life outwardly queer, there’s an attachment of hyper vigilance that comes with it, just because of the need to keep yourself safe while also living in your truth.”

Manny says part of keeping himself safe was growing up knowing how to fight. 

“My grandmother taught me how to fight,” he says. “I’m Black, I’m queer, I’m non-binary. But I was born into a body that people would have categorized me as a girl or a woman. I will tell you that drag has literally saved my life. People are so confused what a drag king is, but we gag them every time and people are starting to learn and they’re starting to see us and we just need our flowers.”

By offering his truth on stage (and gagging people in the process), Manny is giving so many a chance to see something he wished he could have seen when he was younger.

“You know that thing where you just want to be that person that you wish you had when you were younger,” Manny says. “I wanted to do that onstage as a drag king. If I was the person that I got to see when I was a kid, then I was a lucky son of a … beautiful mother.”

Follow Manny Dingo on Instagram and watch all of our released episodes of Canada’s a Drag on the CBC Arts YouTube channel.