{"id":2052,"date":"2024-12-20T14:45:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T14:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marianorrman.net\/?page_id=2052"},"modified":"2026-02-17T12:09:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:09:04","slug":"john-and-stephanie-lind","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marianorrman.net\/?page_id=2052","title":{"rendered":"John and Stephanie Lind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

John and Stephanie Lind<\/strong>
2 channel video + sound
38 min
2025<\/em>
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Actor Corrado Di Lorenzo as John Lind, Maria Norrman as Stephanie Lind<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I’ve researched the life of John Lind<\/strong> (aka LIND\/?Lind? 1877-1940), Sweden’s most forgotten female impersonator (drag queen) and his Russian-French wife Stephanie Lind<\/strong> nee Klein (1882-1973) who was his dresser, manager, and no 1 fan. Stephanie grew up in present day Ukraine.

John Lind<\/strong> grew up in Karlskrona, Sweden, and performed on stages around the world, such as Moulin Rouge in Paris and Hammersteins Theater in New York. His career started in Sweden but after age 20, he performed very seldom in his native country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He created variety stage acts which included dancing (ballet and dances from different nations), singing, impersonations of celebrities – all which included costumes chosen by him and made by fashion houses in cities like Paris.

Lind did quick changes between female and male roles. His wife Stephanie helped him get into the gowns and corsets, as well as worked as his impressario.
Lind built his female acts on passing as a woman, and it created a sense of wonder and mystery around his actual gender.
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The artwork<\/strong> John and Stephanie Lind<\/em> shows the collaboration between John and Stephanie in a two channel video work. The actor Corrado Di Lorenzo plays John and I play the role of Stephanie, as they prepare and show six of Linds acts on a stage.

One side of the work shows how the couple interact backstage during the costume changes. The other side shows Di Lorenzo performing as Lind, in reimagined dance and singing acts. Simultaneously, we see Stephanie’s reaction as she watches her husband perform from the wings, and how she prepares for the upcoming costume change.


Corrado Di Lorenzo<\/strong> (b. 1989, Italy) is an artist currently based between Malm\u00f6 and Rome. He began his career as a ballet dancer, performing with various companies across Europe, before transitioning into contemporary dance and the broader field of performing arts. Today, he works primarily as an actor, both on stage and on screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Supported with a project grant from:
The Swedish Art Grants Committee<\/em>

Developed at: Inter Arts Center, Malm\u00f6 and Danscentrum Syd, Malm\u00f6<\/em>

Edited at: Inter Arts Center, Malm\u00f6 and Notam, Oslo

Thank you:
Malm\u00f6 Opera
Blekinge L\u00e4ns Museum, Karlskrona<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Images curtesy of Blekinge Museum<\/em>, Karlskrona, Sweden<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Millennium Star \u2013 John Lind Story Hour<\/strong>
Video ca 15 min
202<\/em>5

In the video Millennium Star \u2013 John Lind Story Hour, I read selected excerpts from John Lind\u2019s memoirs, while in the role of my drag Millennium Star. The stories show both amusing confusions and threatening situations based on which gender people perceived that Lind belonged to.

Millennium is styled to look like a kind of great grandchild of Lind, wearing a costume which includes his characteristic question mark-symbol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The backgrounds consist of details from John Lind\u2019s actual costumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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John Linds costumes and props:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sylvia<\/strong>
Made after combining two photos of Lind performing his Dance of the Dove act. The silver color was chosen from his description of himself as dancing \u00aba silver ballerina\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Rainbow<\/strong>
I imagined what a costume for the act \u00abThe Rainbow\u00bb could have looked like and took inspiration from his existing costumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Courtesan (La Belle Ot\u00e9ro)<\/strong>
The inspiration is taken from photos of Lind and of persons he imitated, like the courtesan Carolina \u00abLa Belle\u00bb Ot\u00e9ro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Parts of the costumes were borrowed from Malm\u00f6 Opera, and modified:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tarantella Siciliana<\/strong>
A folksy outfit from Malm\u00f6 opera, with Lind-esque details added to it, like the glittery shapes on the bodice, green ribbons and the seemingly random huge bow on the side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blue Pierrot<\/strong>
Hat, pants and poofs made by me, and added to a Pierrot robe from Malm\u00f6 opera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sailor Boy<\/strong>
An outfit from Malm\u00f6 opera, and a privately owned sailor hat with a custom made LIND-ribbon added to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under garment and props:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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John and Stephanie Lind2 channel video + sound38 min2025 I’ve researched the life of John Lind (aka LIND\/?Lind? 1877-1940), Sweden’s most forgotten female impersonator (drag queen) and his Russian-French wife Stephanie Lind nee Klein (1882-1973) who was his dresser, manager, and no 1 fan. Stephanie grew up in present day Ukraine. John Lind grew up… Fortsett \u00e5 lese John and Stephanie Lind<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2052","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marianorrman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marianorrman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marianorrman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marianorrman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marianorrman.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2052"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/marianorrman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2250,"href":"https:\/\/marianorrman.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2052\/revisions\/2250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marianorrman.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}