Welcome to the Ball: the World of WIG OUT!

Kevin, State to State Ball, Harlem, NY, 1998. Photo: Gerard H. Gaskin.

WELCOME TO THE BALL

Balls — competitive dance and fashion events run by primarily black and Latinx LBGTQ people — developed from 1930s drag balls in Harlem into today’s elaborate competitions held worldwide in which Houses walk and “werk” to show just how Legendary their House is. Houses are self-made families within the ball community. Their names are often adopted from famous designers, and they support one another both on “The Floor” and off: emotionally as shoulders to lean on, physically in encouraging AIDS/HIV awareness and testing, and professionally by helping members secure long-term employment.

In 1989, vogue legend Willi Ninja (1961-2006) collaborated with Malcolm McLaren on the single “Deep in Vogue” choreographing and dancing in the video, bringing dance from ball culture into popular culture.

In 1990, Madonna tapped Ninja and dancers from the House of Xtravaganza for her single “Vogue.” Paris is Burning, the 1990 documentary about the New York ball scene, likewise brought the dance and slang of ball culture to wider prominence.

Although terms from ballroom such as “voguing,” “throwing shade,” and “fierceness” are widely used today, this mainstreaming hasn’t included an awareness of ball culture’s history of resistance and support in the face of the AIDS epidemic, the disproportionate murder rate of women of trans experience, or homelessness among LGBTQ participants of color. HIV/AIDS hit the ball community hard during the 1980s, and as a result, many Houses have integrated testing and support for positive members. Then as now, Houses engage, educate, and empower LGBTQ people of color by advocating for housing, health care, and other means for social justice while holding fierce balls.

Willi Ninja (1961-2006), vogue legend and Mother of the House of Ninja.

“Ballroom emerged in response to a history of oppression. It’s as much a response to our state of being as Black Lives Matter or the NAACP.

Despite appropriation and parody, ballroom culture remains a vibrant site of community-building and self-expression as activism. A place to show off and to belong, balls offer community and shelter from the violence of racism, homophobia, and transphobia that many ball participants face in the wider society.

Ballroom was a response to an epidemic. It emerged in response to youth being forced onto the streets because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression; it emerged as a response to communities that should embrace young people who instead allowed them to die.”

Adapted from “Ballroom is Not For Sale,” Alison Kozberg, Walker Art Center

— Fatha Jazz Bordeaux, founder and father of the House of Bordeaux in Minneapolis.

D.E.N.I.M’s Wonderball,Washington, DC, 2016.

WHY WE WALK:

VOICES OF THE DC BALLROOM

“ I came to ballroom for the community. It was a safe space at a much-needed time, especially for trans women. And I love this community — our strength, our resilience, our love. I use ballroom as a platform for social justice causes and to educate about LGBT issues at large: To communicate, to advocate, to create safe spaces for all.”

— Rayceen Pendarvis, entertainer, activist, and “Goddess of DC”

Rayceen Pendarvis.

“ The family aspect of ballroom does make a real impact on your life. I’ve been involved in the ballroom scene for almost ten years, and for a time I went inactive. And even during that time my House family reached out to me, checked up on me. I really felt a part of the family.

It was very comforting to know that even though I wasn’t active, walking, building up the name of the House of Garçon at the balls, they were still helping me, making sure that I was on the right track.”

— Romeo Garçon, House of Comme des Garçon (DC) Romeo Garçon.

“ There is true talent, true creativity, true uniqueness that comes from the ballroom community that a lot of people overlook because they don’t understand it. Some people look down on ballroom, like it’s too flamboyant; they don’t want to accept people as they are. I’ve seen a lot of people who I know get life when they see people out there flipping and turning, walking and prancing. But because society says they shouldn’t, they look down on it.”

— Kahlib Barton-Garçon, House of Comme des Garçon (DC) Kahlib Barton-Garçon.

Vanessa, Milan Ball, Manhattan, NY, 1997. Photo: Gerard H. Gaskin.

“TO BE REAL:” GENDER IN BALL CULTURE

“Gender is a multifaceted thing at balls, encompassing far more than the male-female binary we’re asked to accept elsewhere.”

— Kai Wright, Colorlines journalist

“Balls are typically structured like a competitive fashion event with categories. The categories are typically listed in advance in promotional materials, and some categories such as Vogue, Realness, and Runway regularly reoccur, as well as various fashion categories.

I think that Realness is the most responsive and unintentionally politically charged category. It is a category in which people compete based on their ability to “pass” in different roles: gender Sean, POCC Ball, Manhattan, NY, 2007.

Photo: Gerard H. Gaskin. roles, gender-specific roles, roles in society. For a community in which people are regularly told they aren’t masculine or feminine enough it’s empowering — it’s an act of taking back.

When you think about Butch Realness or Trans-Man Realness or Femme-Queen Realness (a term that refers to women of trans experience) these categories allow people who have been discriminated against for their gender identity to come to a place where their identity is celebrated. In a society that says I can never be who I am, ballroom says you can, that you have made it, that you can compete and win as your gender identity, and provides validation.”

— Fatha Jazz Bordeaux, founder and Father of the House of Bordeaux in Minneapolis

“In ballroom, we can be whatever we want to be. I can choose to be masculine or feminine.

In this House, I don’t want us to be up into labels. Simply this: You walk realness. It doesn’t matter what realness it is. You know that whoever your character is, it’s real. It’s you.

You’re real.”

— Omari Mizrahi, Founder of the House of Pink Lady​

Gerard, Eric Bazaar Ball, Manhattan, NY, 1998.

Photo: Gerard H. Gaskin.

RR, Ebony Ball, Manhattan, NY, 1997.

Photo: Gerard H. Gaskin.

WHY WE WALK: VOICES OF THE NEW YORK BALLROOM

“ Being a black person in America requires you to be strong as fuck. Being a queer person in America requires you to be as strong as fuck. We not only survived; but we made it through and we thrived. We have set up a system for ourselves that works for us, that affirms who we are and how we are in the world and helps enable us to live our truth.”

— Twiggy Pucci Garçon, Mother of the House of P.U.C.C.I. and co-writer of the documentary Kiki

Twiggy Pucci Garçon.

“ Self-advocacy is all we have. We come from very oppressive communities and arrive at ballroom to be liberated and free. Ballroom is more than just dancing.

It’s a life saver for us. We do it to heal and survive.”

— Gia Marie Love, Queen Mother of the House of Juicy

Gia Marie Love.

“ Vogue is expression. It’s catharsis. It’s taking your energy to a place of beauty and letting all that transphobia and racism and negativity out in the most fab way.”

— Derek Auguste, Son of the House of Prodigy and choreographer

Derek Auguste.