Inspired by the poses and perfect lines of the models found on the
pages of Vogue, the dance which integrated angular, linear, and rigid arm, leg,
and body movements began in Harlem during the 1960s. Voguing continually
developed further as an established dance form and came to be practiced not
only in the gay ballroom scene but also in clubs in major cities
throughout the United States and can be seen even today.
Vogue was first danced by black
drag queens who admired the rich and glamorous white women they saw strutting
down Fifth Avenue and in magazines. The original category was called 'Poses,
Poses and More Poses' where dancers would freeze while moving as if they were
being photographed. The dance became a non-aggressive battle between two
feuding individuals who would use dance, to settle differences and to bring
pride to their houses. No touching was allowed during vogue challenges, even
though dancers would often become intertwined in each other's extended arms,
legs and hand moves. The voguer with the best dance moves was declared the
winner of the battle.
Soon, voguing became not only a
dance but a culture. For the LGBT communities in Harlem, creativity found
its home in the ballroom culture. Ballroom culture saw people group
together in social circles, called houses. These houses acted like
families; in a society filled with individuals cast out of their homes for
being perceived as moral abominations and living a life of taboo, the house
system provided a support system to those in need and trained young newcomers
how to compete in the ballroom.
The houses would "walk" against one another in
balls which were judged on dance skills, costumes, appearance
and attitude. There were several categories to compete in including Realness,
Butch Queen, Executive, School boy/girl, Face and Body. Such categories
took on the characteristics of the heteronormative and classist society which
they lived in and reclaimed them, providing an escape from the oppression which
was prevalent for many.
Paris is Burning (1990), directed
by Jennie Livingston, documented the lives of those in the New York Ball scene
in the 1980s. Their monologues shed light on the ball culture as well as on
their own personalities. In the film, titles such as "house,"
"mother," and "reading" emphasize how the subculture the
film depicts has taken words from the straight and white worlds, and given them
alternate meanings, just as the "houses" acted as families for their
members. Livingston said of the film "it's about survival. It's about
people who have a lot of prejudices against them and who have learned to
survive with wit, dignity and energy. It's a little story about how we all
survive."
Madonna brought vogue into the
mainstream in 1990 with her song by the same name. Asking Jose and Luis
Xtravaganza to choreograph the dance sequences for the music video, Madonna
pushed voguing into mainstream culture. As interest in voguing spread, the
popularity of the already critically-acclaimed Paris Is
Burning skyrocketed.
Meanwhile the focus of the
ballroom scene shifted. The ball culture has devoted itself to rebuilding
its community in the wake of the AIDS crisis.
Even now, decades after the height of the crisis, voguing legends
continue to be affected. Most recently, Willi Ninja passed away at the
age of 45 after a long battle with AIDS-related heart failure. By forging
a long-standing relationship with the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and various
HIV/AIDS organizations, ballrooms have focused on providing sexual health and
lifestyle education to young members of the LGBT+ community.
Today's house ball scene features
over 100 active "houses" in more than 13 cities across the
country. While every individual ball can often have dozens,
sometimes even hundreds, of specific criteria, the categories are still
organized around six major concepts: realness, face, sex and body, runway,
performance and fashion.
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