TheBallroom scene (also known as theBallroom community,Ballroom culture, or justBallroom) is anAfrican-American andLatin undergroundLGBTQ+ subculture. The scene traces its origins to thedrag balls of the mid-19th centuryUnited States, such as those hosted byWilliam Dorsey Swann, a formerlyenslaved Black man inWashington D.C.. By the early 20th century,integrated drag balls were popular in cities such asNew York,Chicago,New Orleans,Baltimore, andPhiladelphia.
In the mid-20th century, as a response toracism in integrated drag spaces, the balls evolved into house ballroom, where Black and Latino attendees could "walk" in a variety of categories fortrophies and cashprizes. Most participants in ballroom belong to groups known as "houses", wherechosen families of friends form relationships and communities separate from their families of origin, from which they may be estranged.[1][2] The influence of ballroom culture can be seen in dance, language, music, and popular culture, and the community continues to be prominent today.
Since the beginning of colonial settlement in the United States, there have been individuals contradicting gendered expectations.[3] However, it was not until the mid-19th century, as urbanization allowed for increased independence and anonymity, that cities provided a space forLGBTQ+ communities to form.[3] In the 1880s,drag balls became a popular gathering space for people living different gendered lives.William Dorsey Swann, the first person known to describe himself as adrag queen, hosted secret balls inWashington, D.C.. Many of the attendees were Black men, as was Swann, who was formerlyenslaved. Swann and other attendees were arrested in police raids numerous times, but the balls continued. By the 1890s, drag events were also being organized in New York City.[4]
WriterLangston Hughes described his experience at a New York drag ball in the 1920s as the "strangest and gaudiest of all Harlem spectacles" at the time, writing inThe Big Sea that:
It is the ball where men dress as women and women dress as men. During the height of the New Negro era and the tourist invasion of Harlem, it was fashionable for the intelligentsia and social leaders of both Harlem and the downtown area to occupy boxes at this ball and look down from above at the queerly assorted throng on the dancing floor, males in flowing gowns and feathered headdresses and females in tuxedoes and box-back suits.[5]
By 1930, racially integrated public drag balls in Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and other US cities were bringing hundreds of cross-dressing and gender-nonconforming individuals together and attracting large crowds.[4] Use of family terms such as "mother" to denote rank among ball participants were recorded in the early 20th century, and phrases such as "strike a pose" and "vogue" can be traced back to the 1930s.[6]
As the 20th century progressed, organizations advocating for transgender rights were established and community spaces for LGBTQ+ people grew in number, but many were white-dominated and exclusive.[3] Though drag balls were often integrated, Black performers faced racism at balls, leading to a rise of Black balls in the 1960s. In 1972, Harlem drag queens Lottie andCrystal LaBeija founded the first house, theHouse of LaBeija, and drag balls evolved into house ballroom.[2]
In the ballroom scene, Black and Latino drag performers could achieve glory, find surrogate families, and feel a sense of belonging.[4] Miss Major, who came out as transgender in her teens in late 1950s Chicago and was part of African-American drag ball culture, describes the balls in a 1998 interview.[3]
"[The balls] were phenomenal! It was like going to the Oscars show today. Everybody dressed up. Guys in tuxedos, queens in gowns that you would not believe—I mean, things that they would have been working on all year. There was a queen in the South Side who would do the South City Ball. There was one on the North Side who would do the Maypole Ball. There were different ones in different areas at different times. And the straight people who would come and watch, they were different than the ones who come today. They just appreciated what was going on. They would applaud the girls when they were getting out of one Cadillac after another. It was just that the money was there, and the timing was right, and the energy was there to do this thing with an intensity that people just don't seem to have today. It seems to have dissipated. Then it was always a wonder—whether you participated, whether you watched, whether you just wore a little cocktail dress and a small fur coat —it was just a nice time." —Miss Major
Ball culture was captured and shown to a mainstream audience inJennie Livingston's documentaryParis is Burning (1991). In 2006,Wolfgang Busch released the documentaryHow Do I Look, a response toParis is Burning, featuringPepper LaBeija,Willi Ninja,Octavia St. Laurent,Jose Xtravaganza andKevin Omni. Ball culture has since migrated to such countries asCanada,[7]Japan[8] and theUnited Kingdom.[9]
New York City is the center of the world's drag ball culture.Cross dressing balls have existed in the city since the 1800s; theHamilton Lodge Ball in 1869 is the first recorded drag ball in US history.[10][11] In the 1920s, female impersonators competed in fashion shows in bars two or three times a year. Black queens would sometimes participate but rarely won prizes due to discrimination.[12] In the 1970s, Black queensCrystal LaBeija and her friend, Lottie, began their own drag ball titledHouse of LaBeija, kickstarting the current ballroom scene in New York.[12] Crystal and Lottie are credited with founding the first House in ballroom.[13] In 1989, The House of Latex was created as a call to action in the ballroom community to bridge the gap betweenHIV and STI prevention and ballroom culture.[2]
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William Dorsey Swann organized a series of drag balls in the DC area during the 1880s and 1890s.[14]
This account from the metropolitanWashington, D.C. area describes how ball culture and drag houses developed about 1960:
Some regular house parties became institutionalized as drag "houses" and "families". The leader, or "mother", often provided not only the opportunity for parties but also instruction and mentoring in the arts of make-up, selecting clothes, lip-synching, portraying a personality, walking, and related skills. Those taught became "drag daughters", who in turn mentored others, creating entire "drag families". Drag houses became the first social support groups in the city's gay and lesbian community. House names often came from addresses of the house 'mother', such as Mother Billy Bonhill's Belmont House at 15th and Belmont NW, or associations with the "mother's" chosen personality, as Mame Dennis's Beekman Place.[15]
The dance styles which later characterized drag houses had not been developed; competitions between houses involved standard drag performances in which entertainers lip-synced or, rarely, sang. In contrast to the New York houses inParis Is Burning, some of the Washington, D.C. house mothers were white.[citation needed] African-American drag queens were a prominent part of the community:
Venues for drag shows and competitions were a constant challenge in the 1960s. The Uptown Lounge sponsored monthly drag contests, an event later duplicated at Johnnie's on Capitol Hill. Chunga's drag shows at the Golden Key Club inNorth Beach, Maryland, were a popular Sunday event. The major hotels' resistance to drag events was not broken until February 1968 when African-American drag impresario Black Pearl staged the gala Black Pearl International Awards at theWashington Hilton. It was the drag event of the year.[15]
The Washington, D.C. ball community consists primarily of African-American and Latino participants, and has adopted many attributes seen inParis Is Burning. Nineteen-sixties-style drag shows and competitions still exist, with their own audience. Ball patrons will find similar categories (such as "banjee thug realness" and "vogue") as audience members.
The Washington ballroom scene was created by Icon Founder Lowell Khanh (Lowell Thomas Hickman, (1987)) and Icon Eric Christian-Bazaar. The House of Khanh was the first House outside of New York that wasn't a part of a New York house. From the House of Khanh came the House of Milan.During the 1990s, more houses appeared in the area due to the efforts of Twain Miyake-Mugler ("father" of the House of Miyake Mugler, D.C. Chapter), Icon Harold Balenciaga (founder of the house of Balenciaga), Icons Shannon Garcon and Whitney Garcon (founders of the House of Garcon[16] and charter members of The Legendary House of Miyake-Mugler).[17] The city hosts a series of annual balls, in which contestants compete for trophies and cash prizes.
Baltimore has a well-established ball community.[18]
In 1931, the newspaperBaltimore Afro-American covered a localdrag ball. The article detailed the "coming out of new debutantes into gay society". By the 1930s, the drag ball culture was starting to emerge in the Black communities in major cities such asBaltimore,Chicago, and New York.The Afro reported that "The coming out of new debutantes into homosexual society was the outstanding feature of Baltimore's eighth annual frolic of the pansies when the art club was host to the neuter gender at the Elks' Hall."[19]
Philadelphia has a well-established ball community.[20] Philadelphia's first ball was the Onyx Ball which took place in August 1989.[21][22]
The documentaryHow Do I Look partially focused on the ball community in Philadelphia.
Atlanta has one of the most prominent ball communities south of Washington, D.C.[23][24] In 2018,Vogue Magazine published an article discussing Atlanta's underground ball scene.[25]
Several balls are held in Atlanta each year. Also several major houses established in other major cities have opened chapters in Atlanta.[26][27][28][29]
Most of St. Louis' ballroom scene is intertwined with the drag scene since the ballroom scene is not as major as the other metropolitan cities like Chicago, Atlanta, New York, etc. According to Mapping LGBTQ STL, the first ball in St. Louis was called 'Miss Fannie's Artists' Ball', which began in the mid-1950s and was organized by the Jolly Jesters Social Group, and the ball helped to raise funds for charitable institutions in the Black community. This was at a time when those participating were called 'female impersonators', whom we refer to today as drag performers. Currently, there is a distinct separation between both drag culture and performers and ball culture and performers, even though as stated previously, most artists and performers participate in both.[30]
There is also a Kiki scene in St. Louis, smaller than both the drag and ballroom scene, but emerging.[31] One of the organizers for the Kiki and mainstream balls is Maven Logik Lee and one of the commentators/MC is Meko Lee Burr. A major ballroom house in the scene is the House of Ebony, St. Louis chapter, founded by Spirit Ebony.[32]
San Juan, Puerto Rico also has a prominent ballroom community.
Laboratoria Boricua de Vogue, or the House of Labori, is a major house in Puerto Rico that was established in 2021 and holds multiple balls each year. Puerto Ricans have influenced ball culture outside of the archipelago, with many New York houses having Puerto Rican presence and influence.[33]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2024) |
The ball community is heavily impacted by theHIV/AIDS epidemic, as transgender people of color andmen who have sex with men (MSM) are the highest risk communities for contracting the virus in the US. Since the 1980s, many notable members of the ball community died due to HIV/AIDS complications includingWilli Ninja,Hector Xtravaganza, andAngie Xtravaganza.[34] In the United States, MSM make up roughly 83% of all estimated HIV diagnoses in males.[35] Young black men have been found to be especially at risk for contracting the virus. From 2006 to 2009, the percentage of black MSM aged 13–29 who were diagnosed with HIV increased by 48%.[36] In 2022, new HIV diagnoses in MSM aged 13-24 decreased by 31%, although new HIV diagnoses amongst black MSM decreased by 16%.[37] Many healthcare providers and medical service professionals have reached out to the community to perform research, teach sex education, offer free testing, and host balls to promote safe sex, such as the Latex Ball that is hosted by the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) in New York.[38]
Researchers with ProjectVOGUE also reached out to the ball community for assistance with vaccine trials and testing because minority participation is generally very low. The lack of participation stems from a historical distrust that African-Americans andLatinos have had of the government due to government-sponsored projects such as theTuskegee syphilis experiment.[39] ProjectVOGUE is led by researchers and professionals from theUniversity of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry,Florida International University, theFred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and the MOCHA (Men of Color Health Association) Center. They aimed to create a partnership with theWestern New York ball community and held monthly meetings where safe sex methods were taught along with information about the HIV trial vaccine. Community members were initially incentivized to attend with $25 gift cards and transportation vouchers.[39]
These joint meeting sessions also branched out to cover topics such as substance abuse,STI prevention, violence within the ball community, and more. ProjectVOGUE researchers utilized the House "family" structure by taking 15 "mothers", "fathers", founders, and more on a retreat to gauge the community's knowledge of HIV, while encouraging them to teach their "children" about HIV prevention. At the end of the study, participants had an increased knowledge about HIV, HIV vaccine research, and were more likely to participate in a study.[39] The ballroom family structure amongst many Houses may also include HIV prevention activities internally, with house "mothers" helping educate their children on safe sex behaviors.[40] However, HIV prevention workers have expressed concerns that additional measures are needed to ensure that such behaviors are applied in practice.[41]
Many other partnerships have formed across the country between the healthcare industry and the ball community to encourage HIV prevention. Although HIV/AIDS took, and continues to take, the lives of many ball participants, the community has grown tighter as a result of collective mourning and shared celebrations of life in the wake of grief.[38] In the ballroom scene, the spread of HIV/AIDS has resulted in an increase of non-traditional thematic performances, as a means to express collective grief and solidarity while also fighting the stigmas associated with such diagnoses.[42]
Houses function as alternative families, primarily consisting ofBlack andLatino LGBTQ+ individuals, and provide shelter for those who feel ostracized by conventional support systems.[43] Houses are led by "mothers" and "fathers" who are experienced members of the ballroom scene, typicallydrag queens,gay men ortransgender women, who provide guidance and support for their house "children".[44] The children of a house are each other's "siblings".[44]
All houses were founded in U.S. cities, mostly in theNortheast. These includeNew York City,Newark,Jersey City,Philadelphia,Pittsburgh,Baltimore,Washington, D.C.,Atlanta[45] as well asChicago[46] andOakland, California. Houses that win trophies and gain recognition through years of participation (usually ten years) reach the rank of legendary. Houses with 20+ years of participation are deemed iconic.[47] Typically, house members adopt the name of their house as their last name.[48] Those currently not in a house carry the last name "007" (pronounced "double-oh seven").
Notable houses include:
To compete against each other, Houses walk a plethora of categories at a given ball. Participants dress according to the guidelines of the category in which they are competing. These guidelines are created by the promoters of a Ball and may/may not adhere to an overall theme for the Ball. Regardless, participants are expected to display appropriate adherence to the rules of a category.[84] Balls range in scale from "mini balls" (typically characterized by a small selection of categories, few people walking, and a runtime of 1 to 2 hours) to mainstream events (characterized by the presence of most, if not all, categories in Ballroom, a significant number of participants for each category, and a runtime exceeding 4 hours with the largest of Balls capping at 8 hours).[84]
New York's ballroom culture has had a highly significant cultural impact from the 1980s to the present day.[85]
Ball culture has influenced "the über-puffed-up peacock sexuality" of contemporary mainstream hip hop.[86] A professor atNew York University said about gay black culture that "today'squeer mania forghetto fabulousness andbling masks its elemental but silent relationship to even more queer impulses toward fabulousness in the 1980s."[87][88]
In September 2006,Beyoncé told a reporter fromThe Independent "how inspired she's been by the whole drag-house circuit in the States, an unsung part of black American culture where working-class gay men channel ultra-glamour in mocked-up catwalk shows. 'I still have that in me', she says of the 'confidence and the fire you see on stage'".[89]
The most notable influence of ball culture on mainstream society isvoguing, a dance style originating in Harlem ballrooms during the latter half of the 20th century. It appeared in the video forMalcolm McLaren'sDeep in Vogue, released in 1989, andMadonna's "Vogue", released in 1990 (one year before the documentaryParis Is Burning).[90] The dance group Vogue Evolution, fromAmerica's Best Dance Crew, has again sparked interest in voguing.[91]
Voguing started in Drag Balls held by the queer community of color. The competitions were divided up into Houses that then competed in different categories, including voguing. Named afterVogue magazine, voguing required dancers to mirror the poses held by models, with emphasis placed on arm and hand movements. Dancers would play out elaborate scenes such as applying makeup or taking phone calls while dancing down the catwalk.[92][page needed] Dancer and choreographerWilli Ninja has been recognized as the "Grandfather of Vogue" and the dance, as well as Ninja himself, were covered in the documentaryParis is Burning.[91][92]
Ballroom dialect became more widely used ingay slang, fashion industryjargon and mainstreamcolloquial language.[93]
| Ballroom music | |
|---|---|
"Cunt in a Box" (2005) by ballroom MCKevin Jz Prodigy | |
| Other names |
|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1990s to 2000s,New York |
| Typical instruments | |
A key element of balls is also the music, which is typically characterized by distinct uptempo beats that are overlaid with the "raps" of commentators or emcees.[97] Lyrics are just as stylized as the beats and often praise queerness and femininity through typically vulgar language and usage of words like "cunt" and "pussy".[98] Historically, the music featured at balls has been whatever is popular within the black LGBT community at the time, ranging from disco, to club music, to house, to rap and R&B. House music, the primary sound of the balls, is always upwards of 120 beats per minute and has African roots, which is reflected in the rhythm.[97]
Today, it is common for older house classics like "Work This Pussy" byEllis D, "Cunty" byKevin Aviance, and "The Ha Dance" byMasters at Work to be remixed into new hits by the current wave of DJs and producers.[98][99] Ballroom Icon DJ's Vjuan Allure,Angel X, andMikeQ, were the first DJs considered to have developed the first remixes of ballroom sound. In order, Vjuan Allure was the first to remix "The Ha Dance" in 2000, followed by Angel X in 2002, and then MikeQ in 2005.[100][101] Overall, ball culture has been a fertile ground for new forms ofhouse music and other genres ofelectronic dance music through itsDJs.[102]
According toPBS Sound Field interview withMikeQ, one of ball music's pioneers, ball music started as house music that was being played at ballroom parties.[103] Over time, distinct features of ball music emerged, for instance the "Ha" crash, being placed on the every fourth of4 beats and the minimal repetitive vocals, provided by ball commentators.[103] The "Ha" crash cymbals often signify the time for ball dancers to strike a pose or hit the floor.[103] Modern vogue music, along with house, incorporates elements ofdisco,funk,hip hop,contemporary R&B,Jersey club and other electronic music.[103]
The culture has also influenced a wave ofqueer hip hop artists such asZebra Katz,House of Ladosha, andLe1f.[69][104]
Most of the New York-based houses of the time appeared in the 1990 documentary filmParis Is Burning.[50] In 1997,Emanuel Xavier published a seminal poetry manifesto titledPier Queen. In 1999, his novelChrist Like featured the first fictional main character involved with the Houses. The 2016 filmKiki provided an updated portrait of the ball culture scene. In 2017, as part of a documentary series on New Zealand cultural identity,Vice Media produced an episode about New Zealand's ball culture, entitled "FAFSWAG: Auckland's Underground Vogue Scene".[105]
In 2009,Logo TV aired thereality television seriesRuPaul's Drag Race, a competition show where drag queens face off in a series of challenges heavily inspired by competitions commonly seen in ballroom culture. Created by prominent drag queenRuPaul Charles, competitors sew, act, sing, and lip sync for a chance to win $100,000, a one-year supply ofAnastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics and the title of "America's Next Drag Superstar". The show has won a plethora ofawards and spawned severalspin-off series. The competition format, slang, and type of drag exhibited on the show is heavily influenced by ball culture.
In 2018,Viceland aired adocuseries,My House, following six people in the New York City ball culture.[106]
Additionally, In the spring of 2018, the television seriesPose premiered, set in New York and following participants in ball culture, as well as others in the 1980sManhattan. The show was created bySteven Canals,Brad Falchuk, andRyan Murphy.[107] The show's third and final season aired on May 2nd, 2021.[108]
On April 18, 2019, it was announced that the premiere of the feature filmPort Authority, a New York love story between a black trans woman from the ballroom scene and a cisgender man from the Midwest would compete in theUn Certain Regard competition at the prestigious2019 Cannes Film Festival. It was backed and produced byMartin Scorsese and RT Features.Leyna Bloom's debut inPort Authority was the first time in the festival's history that a trans woman of color was featured in a leading role. The film is credited with authentic casting and representation.Port Authority features scenes at balls, as well as during rehearsals and of queer youths' chosen family.[109] Almost every actor that plays a role of significance in the ballroom scenes in the film, including competitors, judges, and house members, are active members of the ballroom scene today. Prior to being cast,Leyna Bloom became known internationally as a model and dancer, and she is active in the mainstream ballroom scene as New York City mother of the House of Miyake-Mugler. She is known in ball culture as the "Polynesian Princess", having made an international name for herself walking the category of face.[109]
In 2020, thevoguing reality competition web seriesLegendary premiered on theHBO Max streaming service. The series followed members of eight prominent houses as they navigate their way through nine balls (dancing, voguing, etc.), with a $100,000 prize awarded to the winner.[110] The show was cancelled after three seasons in December 2022.[111]
In 2022, theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation premiered the web seriesCBX: Canadian Ballroom Extravaganza, which challenged teams consisting of one ballroom performer and one emerging filmmaker to create short films highlighting performances in each of five ballroom categories.[112]
In 2024, theAndrew Lloyd Webber musicalCats was reimagined off-Broadway at thePerelman Performing Arts Center asCats: The Jellicle Ball, taking several pages from Ball culture. Junior LaBeija, the emcee featured inParis is Burning, portrays Gus.[113]
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