Fast forward to New York City in the first half of the 20th century, when masquerade balls for predominantly Black queer individuals were thriving, but still underground (it was against the law to wear clothes of the opposite gender, for starters). By the 1930s, lovers of drag had the Annual Odd Fellows Ball, a charity gala featuring extravagant performances, pageantry and music. It was one of the biggest events in Harlem and as author and playwright Abram Hill recalls in an essay, the ball drew in thousands of spectators from across the country—even if it was still considered taboo and illegal for the time period.
While you can walk on your own, most people enter as a representative of a ‘house.’ While this term can mean team, ‘houses’ are more like chosen families, offering support, shelter and mentorship to a community that often faces shunning from their biological families. Houses are usually run by a ‘mother’ and/or ‘father’ and feature drag ‘children’ that all take the house name as their surname. There are currently over 100 houses around the world, with the largest concentration in New York and Washington D.C.
The 21st century has seen an abundance of content surrounding ball culture—from How Do I Look, which interviewed legends like Willi Ninja and Pepper LaBeija, to 2020’s Legendary, a competition show on Max where ‘houses’ compete for a $100,000 grand prize. But the two most popular sources have to be Rupaul’s Drag Race and Pose.
Rupaul’s Drag Race began in 2009 and continues to bring in a new generation to drag and ball culture. Its 14-year run has launched household names, multiple spin-offs and a greater appreciation for the art. On the flip side, Pose changed the TV game ten years later, thanks to employing over 140 LGBTQ+ actors and crew members. It also featured the largest cast of trans actors, such as Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Indya Moore and Dominique Jackson.
Think words like “werk,” “spilling tea,” “realness,” and “serving.” And it continues to influence the way we see fashion, music and even general self-expression—just look at Beyoncé’s latest Renaissance album which pays homage to the subculture.
Bottom line: Through it all, ball culture has remained a beacon of being who you are, trying on new personas and embracing joy and weirdness of every color. And if that’s not serving realness, we don’t know what does.
The Category Is Inclusion
Voguing Takes Center Stage
Ball Culture Today
“
- Dominique Jackson, Vice
The ballroom scene has always been
a place where, if you’re a person of color and you’re looking for a home, this is a place where you’re found.
The ball scene took me in. I was in Baltimore when they saved me, they gave me a place to stay and even though it was eight people to a one-bedroom apartment in 1993,
it was still a great time for me
because I was discovering myself.
The
Category is…
Part pageant, part competition, since the ‘70s, balls have been a safe space for queer Black and Latinx people to be seen, heard and celebrated. Join us as we learn about the history of ball culture and where it’s
headed today.
ball culture.
Get your score cards ready! This June, we’re talking all things
Get your score cards ready! This June, we’re talking all things ball culture. Part pageant, part competition, since the ‘70s, balls have been a safe space for queer Black and Latinx people to be seen, heard and celebrated. Join us as we learn about the history of ball culture and where it’s headed today.
The First Drag Queen
According to journalist and historian Channing Gerard Joseph, the original balls date back to the 1880s, when William Dorsey Swann, a Black man born into slavery, became known as the first drag queen. In Washington D.C., Swann started a small group of likeminded individuals and hosted events featuring dancing, fashion and other forms of (at-the-time) prohibited celebration. These balls were by invitation only, and most attendees were formerly enslaved individuals.
By the 1970s, Lottie LaBeija and Crystal LaBeija, two Black trans women heavily involved in the NYC scene, had had enough of the current racist ball space (where contestants were essentially forced to present as white women) and joined forces to start their own drag ball. The “Crystal & Lottie LaBeija Presents First Annual House of LaBeija Ball” opened in 1972 in Harlem at the Up the Downstairs Case, and was the first chance for Black and Latinx individuals—regardless of gender or sexual orientation—to express themselves proudly as non-white performers. It also became the blueprint for what ball culture is today.
Ball Culture 101
The ball scene is broken into a variety of categories dedicated to specific attributes or skills. Whether it’s showing off your outfits or performing specific mannerisms or dancing, anyone can walk (aka compete) to win a trophy, cash prize or recognition based on scores from a round of judges. Categories often challenge gender and sexual orientation with themes like Femme Queens, Butch Queens, Voguing, Face or Realness (which means “passing” as the gender you’re presenting).
The practice of voguing was started by queer people of color wayyy before Madonna ever put on her famous cone bra. (Fun fact: the video for “Vogue” was actually choreographed by two iconic figures in the ball community, Jose Gutierrez Xtravaganza and Luis Camacho Xtravaganza). Named after Vogue magazine, the dance started out using eccentric hand, arm and foot movements similar to the poses done by the runway models of the ‘70s and ‘80s (this form of voguing is known as the Old Way).
But in recent years, voguing has morphed into a new style (the New Way) which features more athletic movements, like the duck walk, spins and death drops along with more flexibility and armwork. Though there’s debate as to who actually started voguing, we give special thanks to Willi Ninja (also known as the Grandfather of Vogue) and Paris Dupree (mother of the House Dupree and the pioneer behind the first Paris Is Burning ball in 1981 in New York City).
From The Queen to Legendary…
In 1991, the now-famous documentary Paris Is Burning brought balls to the mainstream. The film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance that year, spent three years chronicling the ballroom community in New York City. It followed notable queens while also tackling issues like AIDS, racism, violence and homophobia, and it became the film to epitomize the movement. Decades later, it continues to be a learning source for many—despite mixed debates over appropriation
and ownership.
As a new generation learns about ball culture through social media and pop culture, the foundation still remains the same. At its core, it’s about inclusion, activism, empowerment and community. It’s also the source of so much language we take for granted.
“
- Dorian Corey in Paris Is Burning
In real life, you can’t get a job as an executive unless you have the educational background and the opportunity. In a ballroom, you can be anything you want. You’re showing the straight world that I can be
an executive if I had the opportunity because I can
look like one.
“
I think the ballroom scene
does a great job bringing awareness to LGBTQ issues in
a variety of ways. Ball
throwers have innovative
ways of incorporating
activism and advocating for queer issues in categories which help bring issues to
the forefront.
- Tati Miyake Mugler, Instinct Magazine
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The House of Balmain wins the first season of Legendary
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2020
The History of Ball Culture
Annual Odd Fellows Ball becomes the first known ball in New York City
Crystal LaBeija and Lottie LaBeija organize their first ball for Black queens
Paris Dupree throws first Paris Is Burning ball, where categories like Realness and Face take shape
Xtravaganza throws the
first ball to be held in a proper nightclub
The House of Latex is formed to bring awareness to HIV/AIDS prevention
Paris Is Burning is released in theaters
RuPaul’s Drag Race is released on Logo TV with nine contestants
Pose is released on FX
with the largest trans cast
in TV history
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