Original subtitles

[MUSIC]

[MUSIC]

The categories are face, woman's runway,

Vogue femme, butch queen up in drags, femme queen sex siren.

Are you ready?

Are you bitches ready to walk for me?

Bring it to the runway now.

[MUSIC]

Just sweet, mysterious.

[MUSIC]

Bring it to the runway now.

[MUSIC]

Just sweet, mysterious.

How I look.

[MUSIC]

The ball people are black, gay people that were kept out of art society.

And they made their own arena.

The ballroom scene is a beautiful place.

And it's the only place where gay men and

gay women and transgenders can all come together as one and

do something that they can enjoy doing together as a community.

The history of balls, how Marie Antoinette had balls and

she would toss diamonds to the winner.

The houses popped up in the early 70s.

House of LaBeija was the first house.

After Paris is burning, after Madonna's vole,

then people started creating houses.

There's been over 100 houses created so far.

[MUSIC]

A new school legend would be somebody that began their career in 1990.

Anybody from 1989 and back is old school.

So icons are those people who go way back, 1989 and before.

[MUSIC]

There's three ways that you get a ballroom name.

Original name, a designer name, and a contrived name.

House of LaBeija was the first house.

In the 60s, there were groupings of people.

The Spanish drag queens were from Spanish Harlem.

I think they were called the Delightful Ladies.

And then they had the black drag queens were called the La Chanel's.

And they used to go to balls and battle against each other, but

only as those two groups, not as the house.

LaBeija, LaBeija, LaBeija, LaBeija.

The House of LaBeija will rain, darling.

It will always rain and there is no shade.

And for those of you that don't like it, learn it and learn it well.

[MUSIC]

We were friends before we got on that runway, but

once we hit that pinnacle baby, you see me,

I see you, you don't see me, I don't see you.

May the best man win.

[MUSIC]

A perfect ball would be hot performers, great categories, and

a great setting, and a great opening

presentation by the house that's pulling it off.

[MUSIC]

The balls are set up where you have a

panel of judges who score you from one to ten,

ten being the highest.

Balls have maybe 20 categories, some have 50.

These new cities that are operating balls like Detroit, Chicago,

Atlanta, they accept it real quick.

New York gave Philadelphia a hard way to

go when they first came onto the ball scene

in 1989.

[MUSIC]

When I started walking balls, this was years ago and they were up in Harlem.

It was very low key.

The balls used to start around four o'clock in the morning sometimes.

[MUSIC]

Used to come out at nine o'clock in the morning, people were bored of work.

[MUSIC]

The categories vary from best best man to best best woman to female body to male

body to transsexuals trying to walk and pretend that they are not a man.

[MUSIC]

Some of the winnings are cashed and some are just trophies.

The presence that we carry, the aura that we have around us,

it takes charge that you know that it's like if you're floating,

like you're an angel and you just walked in and you're the most beautiful thing in

the world.

There's a language involved in the drag ball world,

certain words that are not relevant to anything else.

There's certain type of music, there's certain dress,

there's modes of character, behavior, look, style, the name system.

To me the ball is an outlet.

It is a soap box for anybody who wants to express themselves in the gay community

that may not be able to do it at home.

Thus far that's where the houses come from and you have parents, mothers, and

fathers.

The purpose of the mother and the father of a house is find the right kids to

compete with, teach them, work with them, care for them like if they were actually

our own.

[APPLAUSE]

I'm the legendary icon, Kenny, Misha, Ebony, and

I'm just here to tell you a little about the ballroom history and

how legislation for stars developed.

It was that Ira and Dwayne Aphrodite Ball at the baseline.

They were running, they were pressed for time and

people was coming into the ballroom and the ballroom was packed.

So they came to me and got very Kenny.

Could you do something that would keep the kids occupied until we're ready for

grand march?

So I said, okay, so I went out there and I told the DJ, give me a beat.

And while I was sitting there, I said, well, I wanna introduce something new to

the people, something we're gonna call legends, statements, and stars.

By having the roll call of legends, statements, and stars gives everyone a

chance to see who are some of the competitors in the ballroom scene.

[MUSIC]

Because it was a matter of need, they created this house system.

[MUSIC]

It became a creative outlet to live that superstar,

supermodel moment under extreme competitive circumstances.

[MUSIC]

Some live this fantasy world every day.

Some take their talents to the real world, like Jose, Tracy, and Willie.

And some take it as a form of entertainment and leave it like that.

[MUSIC]

Living out on the edge prepares them for life.

And through their talents and achievements, they build their self esteem.

[MUSIC]

At balls, the entire community has the opportunity to participate and

to showcase their talents on the runway.

[MUSIC]

When I take straight people to balls,

I have to let them know that there are men in there that look like women.

And it is an illusion and sometimes they see someone who looks good and

they'll say, Jamie, she looks good, can you get her number for me?

And I'll have to let them know, nice and easy, honey, she's a man.

[SOUND]

I'm 40 years old right now and I think I'm aging pretty gracefully.

That's why I tell these girls when it comes to being the person that I am,

say after us, cuz you'll be happy in the long run.

Hey, hi, Buffy, this is Picasso, extravaganza.

He's the next time I do.

Of course, just like mother.

[MUSIC] [SOUND]

I was chosen by only one person to become the mother of this house and

that was the mother herself, Angie.

There was no question if it's about it, as far as they were gonna have a meeting to

see who the mother was.

Angie already knew that she wanted me as mother.

You go from boy to femme queen.

I started taking hormones at the age of 16.

In 18 I got castrated.

You go through electrolysis.

You have a lot of hair in your face.

I didn't have peach buds, so I just took care of that.

And once you get castrated, everything falls in place.

So if you're a little skinny boy and you're still feminine,

you get castrated, you're basically a woman.

Makeup comes with it from within me.

What I wanna create in this face, what colors I wanna add,

what beauty I wanna bring out.

Like Octavia always say, that wicked beauty.

My stages of transformation was I was a boy.

Name?

Name?

You want my name?

My boy's name?

Never.

[LAUGH]

I would never give you my boy's name, and I'm a junior, mind you.

[MUSIC]

The gay kids and different house families,

we wanna do this because this keeps us together.

Angie always told me, keep the flame going, don't let it die.

You know, so I try to do that for my house.

The House of Extravaganza was our first Latino house.

You just have to look that essence.

We see it, we feel it, we smell it.

[MUSIC]

Why does it end up so many talented people in the ball community?

Because it just comes out.

People wanna be creative.

People wanna show what they can do.

[MUSIC]

Do you feel comfortable with your sexuality?

My God, you just don't know how comfortable.

I am so comfortable, I am happy.

[LAUGH] Very comfortable.

To be a film queen and to come off, to come off unclockable,

that is over, that is the complete over.

[MUSIC]

How we receive our status is through being drags.

From drags converting into transsexuals, from transsexuals converting ourselves and

being labeled film queens because we are what people come to see.

[BLANK_AUDIO]

I am truly proud to be what I am.

I wouldn't be a female, I wouldn't be a man if I had the choice.

And God willing, if I have to come back on this earth,

I wanna come back a third gender.

I refuse to come back anything else because I am so in tuned with who I am.

[BLANK_AUDIO]

They are afraid of me because I'm much more extraordinary, I'm much more exciting,

I'm much more beautiful, I'm much more enchanting.

I have powers of a man and the charm of a woman and it's dangerous.

Octavia is my first gay daughter.

[LAUGH]

That little bitch used to give me a hard time.

[BLANK_AUDIO]

I'm strong and I keep saying the devil is always trying ways to make me

feel like I'm nothing and I won't allow it.

[MUSIC]

The day that you're born, a candle is lit to guide and

protect you, to give you wisdom and wit.

The past you must choose wisely, you must follow them right.

It's up to you to choose the past into the darkness or into the light.

Beyond sight, body and soul, a power is passed.

God's powerful voices shall reveal thy task.

If you should succeed in life, your task has just begun.

For you shall now know God has claimed you to be the chosen one.

Transsexuals was a New York City deal.

I was only 18 and Carmen was 19.

This is me in 1985, that's Cindy Crawford, that's me, that's Diane Dewitt.

The doctors were better, the surgeons were better, the hormones were better.

And the transsexuals were considered the most beautiful in the world.

So because of this, lots of transsexuals from other countries was coming here

because where they from, they weren't getting the satisfaction of becoming women

as they were.

But when I was growing up, there weren't many transsexuals,

there were more third genders.

And this is what I was brought up to learn.

Now there are very little third genders because half of them have already died

from AIDS because of their lack of education, because of their lack of family

values, because of their lack of morals and principles and family and

friends support.

These people had no knowledge of anything and anything they had to learn.

They had to learn themselves and some of them had to die learning it.

A lot of these girls think that if they get a vagina or they go to some doctor

and let them cut off their penises and make it into a hole, that they can live

the lives as a woman and they can get married and maybe adopt children.

This is every transgender's fantasy, to have a rich white man.

I don't understand that.

But they fail to realize truth does not change.

No matter how much you cut it up, no matter how much you camouflage it,

no matter how much you deny it, truth cannot change.

And that sends them over into a self-destructive pattern after they've

decided to do the things in their life and

they realize that now after the operation,

they're nothing as opposed before they were special and no one was to help them

recognize that.

No one was around to let them know what you are is magnificent.

You're so busy fighting, hating yourself because society has made you believe that

you are nothing, that you actually became nothing by having this operation.

Me being a third gender, I don't know what it

is to be a man as far as a physical attribute.

I never looked like a man and trust me my

whole life I've tried until it got to a point

where I had to accept myself for who I am and what I am.

I don't know what it's like to grow a mustache.

I don't know what it's like to grow a beard.

I don't know what it's like to be big.

I don't know what it's like to have a muscular body.

And trust me my whole life I have worked at it.

I couldn't stand myself for being this freak of nature that everybody's so

viciously reminded me of every day of my life.

When I was growing up, balls meant something.

It meant that you were the best.

It made you work hard at everything.

It taught you about discipline and respecting

yourself and having ambitions to do something

that you thought would be impossible.

Third gender is basically you're born with

more female hormones than male and you don't

have to do anything to make yourself look

like a woman because only God knows you're

a man but you look just like a girl.

People are still concerned about what's

between my legs instead of knowing and I said to him

you know we could just be friends.

He was even too conservative to be my friend.

I don't understand people and how weak and

insecure men are or women are that they can't

even confront me as an individual without

looking at me as some sort of sex toy that

they're attracted to and they're trying to

avoid it by treating me like I'm absolutely

nothing.

And I was totally overwhelmed.

It really took me for a loop.

I'm strong and I keep saying you know I can't let that bring me down.

When you're young you have no fear because you're naive to a lot of things.

But as I started making money in the

fashion business and became more and more popular

slowly an insecurity set in is today's a day that people will find out about Tracy

and who she really is.

And if so how will they accept that?

Back in the 70s I started out as a model and

I was discovered by Irving Penn and my first

contract was with Clerol and I was on their

hair color boxes and I signed another contract

with Ultra Sheen Cosmetics.

The third contract that I signed here in New

York was with the Avon skincare products when

they were promoting a new line for women of color.

I lasted for at least two and a half years

in New York City before someone actually found

out and what happened was a part of the history.

The doors closed.

A house is like a family you know a home.

I mean for us it's always been that.

I mean we always have been and tried to be very family orientated.

Whereas okay this one doesn't have a place

to go here come with me you know you don't

have an outfit here wear this or don't have

any money to get into the ball or for whatever

here you know you're hungry here you know let's eat.

A lot of kids you know their parents don't

accept the lifestyle that they've chosen to

live and which is where we come in and we

try to we try to feel voids for each other.

I may have an emptiness inside of me maybe

of a of a brother that I never had one of

my dad's brothers will fill in you know to

the fullest and it'll make me feel like wow

it's really my family.

I'm all about love peace and respect.

I love helping people and that's what makes

me you know want to come back besides just

bogging dancing and carrying on because

these people supported me and you know they gave

me a attention and love and respect and that's

what I usually don't get in the outside world.

A house is an organization more like a gang

it's a gay gang they protect each other they

watch each other's backs it's a really

good place good you know people to be with and

it's very important to know who legends are because they teach you how it's done.

I think I'm like one of the youngest people

of my age and I was like really doing it up

in the ballroom scene and I'm bragging but

I think it's true and it makes me kind of

feel good because you know like I have people out in public oh that's Roxy.

A lot of kids don't get along with their

parents so we're like foster parents so they're able

to come talk to us about their problems

and we like to give them guidance in life too

like making sure they have a job making sure they go to school.

My advice to parents with a child like

Octavia is not to fight them it's not going to help

help them in every way and love them as they are.

I call my mom I'll get in contact with my

father and we always start and end our conversations

with I love you and that is right there

just I love that because I need that support in

my life.

I would do anything for her because she's done everything for me.

She's given me inspiration why because my mother's wheelchair bound but she's never

stopped her.

The first ball I ever walked she was there to support.

It was my sophomore year 1995 roughly

February and when I ran away from my mother and for

that whole year of 1995 she was so upset at

me she couldn't believe that her baby left

her and I felt bad that I did that to her

but I had to do it because I wanted to follow

my dreams I wanted to educate myself

better and I felt like I was going to be able to

do that in New York.

My own family had thrown me out and you

know they weren't really you know my parents or

my brothers and sisters but to me they were

you know in life you learn that your friends

are your family and they're the ones who made me who I am today.

My dad on the other hand was a little

rough on me he didn't understand what was going

on too much but he's fine now.

My mom always knew you know my dad also

even though it was it was never discussed never

never been disrespected either.

My father was black he was a Muslim and he

was very open-minded he was in the military

he traveled the world he's been around the

globe so he was very open-minded as far as

friends they accepted me right away so I had a pretty pretty easy life as far as my

parents were concerned they were very supportive of me.

After seven years of being a transsexual

that's when I received the respect and the love for

my mom and my dad.

I get a lot of support more from my mother

and my brother more or less than my father

but he do accept my homosexuality.

I have always been and always will be her daughter.

I remember the first person in my family I

told that I was gay was my sister Michelle

and I used the example of a TV program that

was on there was a character who was gay and

then I had to explain to my younger sister that I'm like Jodi it was called Soap.

Parents that have children that are going

through transformation is to give them all

the love and all the support.

You don't give them love and support you're gonna lose them.

They're just gonna go wild they're gonna be

lost jewels they're gonna need all the love

all the support that you can give them.

When I was rock bottom and I had no money

nowhere to go I had to do what I had to do

in order to maintain.

Angie mother infinity she has helped me so

much even when I didn't have a place to stay

she she was like come here come to my house

she gave me my first hormone shot so that's

the mother.

I think I make a good mother I support my kids I try to guide them the right way.

It's really hard to be transgender because

you have to deal with a lot of criticism and

a lot of judgment and if you don't do it right people will put you down.

When I began hormonal treatment I went to Callen-Lorde it's a health center for the

GLBT community.

They didn't want to give me hormones

straight off the back they just wanted me to go to

therapy and get counseling sessions and I did.

I've always had a passion wanting to attend

college ever since I was little like someone

like my teachers my mom my father my family

everyone they would always say that college

is the key to success.

Welcome to Syracuse University.

I wouldn't be able to show them that I'm in

school right there next to you sitting right

next to you in your classroom.

I try to stay strong because I want my head

into the books you know like a boyfriend will

so distract me and so if my head is in the

books I can just stay focused and till at

least graduation.

Walking balls boosts me up in terms of self esteem.

I'm still nervous even to this day I walk

the category that I slayed and conquered and

I still get nervous.

I'm still a street boy in front of me now.

Doing gum too much or swinging their arms up

if they act like they can't really do nothing

with their hands like if they keep fondling

with their hands and stuff that's not something

a heterosexual male would do so I would chop

them for that or you know just loose the probably

the eyebrows on the arch or they probably

wear baseball cap down too low those are signs

that they hot and something so I would chop them for that.

When you judge a ball you're supposed to know exactly what the flyer is asking for.

I am a stickler for reading the flyer and

bringing it as the flyer says when someone

asks me to judge their ball I usually have

the flyer right in front of me so when you

walk I read the flyer and if it says teeth,

skin, structure, nose and I tell you to smile

and you're missing some furniture in your

living room and I spin you on your way don't

get upset with me because you didn't see the dentist read the flyer.

When they're going there to compete amongst one

another they're no longer gay people competing

for a trophy they're in their minds

competing for respect they're competing for harmage

they're competing to be the best of the best

that's why they it's so it's such an exciting

event because this is not out of fun for them this is a part of their lives.

The first ball that I ever walked I believe

and I remember being so scared of losing that

I wanted I was moving so fast I mean I was

like a machine like a robot and I remember

okay I'll just do everything really fast so

I won't get chopped so they'll see everything

that I've been working on and practicing and

not giving the chance to put up a nine because

they'll see everything so I remember

voguing at like 150 miles per hour at the speed of

light and people would just I don't think it was so much the voguing I think it was

like oh my god he's voguing so fast that they

were like overwhelmed by you know it was almost

like I was gonna take off like a helicopter.

When somebody's first walking a ball and they

get chopped or they don't win they get discouraged

and you know you got to be there for them

and I tell them it's just a ball and you go

and tap that person and you tell them guess what I'll see you on the runway.

If the commentator doesn't know who you are

that's one thing what a person needs to do

is when they hit that floor they have to show

the confidence to make the commentator realize

and recognize who they are.

If not then that could affect your whole confidence level.

A good judge is someone that's actually

read the ball flyer people that have experience

in the ballroom scene that has been walking

for years that has been judging for years.

When I'm asked to judge I have a certain

standard that I look at or if I go by what the flyer's

asking for and if the person is serving

that way we all understand who it is and it's a

shame to say but it's the truth it's the girlfriend thing or if your girlfriend is

walking they automatically get your 10 and that's not how it's supposed to be.

It takes courage to actually go up on the runway and have somebody judge you.

My first time I was real nervous because I

never knew what ballroom was or how it was

to be gay or how to have a ballroom attitude.

This kid just to come up and say you know

you're a big inspiration I like your effects

you know you're different you know it gave

meaning I mean okay I'm doing something right.

I found a place where I could feel

accepted and feel wanted just for being who I am.

I was one of those kids that actually sat back and

learned and watched before I put myself out there.

I just want to be in one stable house and build

my name and my foundation within that one house

so you know I can excel and maybe one day

become that legend and I can be on that panel

and judge the new kids that's coming up.

[Music]

Trophies will not feed the hungry, coat the homeless, hide the scars.

Grand prizes will not bring Lazarus or LaBeija back from the dead.

They will just sit in your closet fake idols

gathering dust before the gold paint chips away.

You cannot sell them for freedom. You cannot trade them in for love.

[Music]

We all have the ability to do something that we want to do.

It just depends on how we go about it and when we go about it.

You know I would hate to go through life saying

oh I should have tried this I should have did this.

So I'm one of those people who's always going to try

something at least once to see if it's going to work for me.

And this is one of those things that I said you know

what I'm not working right now I could use some money.

I have this skill I have this talent let me put it together.

I have some business sense and let me let it work for me and it did.

[Music]

The ball community can be a wonderful training ground for up

and coming designers and models if that's where you're going.

As the world evolved the balls evolved and then the dance moves evolved like

everything evolves as time goes by so it's

definitely very important to document that.

[Music] I definitely don't want people to know that I'm actually taking their picture

because when they're natural you get true feeling behind it.

There's nothing false about it. It's all real.

I think when people look at the pictures that I take they see reality and it's so

intense that it's almost like you want to be part of that.

[Music]

Being involved in the ball community definitely inspires me.

When people look at the actual picture they actually feel like they're in it.

They're in the picture that they're looking at.

I have this escape I can go to and be with

these fun people and see all this great energy.

[Music]

It's very inspiring to see people sew gun ho

about a particular category and pulling it off right.

[Music]

I am the father of the house. I am the founder of

the House of Infinity and I founded the house in 1990.

First I asked them what made them want to come to the House of Infinity.

You know what can we offer them? Their answer.

Love, trust, understanding and most of all unity.

And that's what the House of Infinity is all about.

Being a family, you know helping each other,

looking out for one another in any time of need.

[Music]

[Music]

The legendary Avis Pindavis and the legendary Dorian Corey.

They creations would you know really open up my eyes

to really go into bizarre at the ball and futuristic.

And if we don't keep it in our hearts how it used to be and

how we compete against one another at these balls and what not.

To remember that we have to still love one

another and keep a good tradition going on.

To order to be a good winner you have to be a good loser.

A person that can hug its opponent and walk off with pride.

[Music]

When I go to a ball I'm always prepared. I have

Band-Aid, Bobby pins, powders, deodorant, face wash, Mac makeup.

I might not have your color but I have it all and

I guess that's why I was voted mother of the year.

Since 95 I've won women's face seven years in a row at the awards ball.

This past year I won mother of the year which was never done by a lesbian before.

You can't just get your face made up and just walk out.

When you come out you have to come out with confidence and with a glow like a aura

or the judges will not pay you attention.

You have to come out there like you know you deserve that trophy.

Everything is a blank to me when I walk.

The only thing I see is the front of the judges panel and that's it if I see that

because sometimes I'll focus on the back of the

wall and just everything is blocked out to me.

[Music]

Since my outfit at the awards ball was made by

designer Angel LaScaia as well as my jewelry and my headpiece.

I prepared myself for that night by not eating. I was

actually very nervous and smoking a lot of cigarettes.

In the beginning I wasn't winning and I wasn't feeling it.

So when I started winning I started putting more effort into it.

I would make sure like watch over my designers make sure my outfit was perfect.

I would sell it in the mirror for like hours because I

was always told you have to sell it like a femme queen.

[Music]

When I walk face and you hear from the sidelines sell it bitch.

I don't really take bitch negatively in that aspect.

I actually take it as being positive because you're walking.

You're getting the audience hot because you're

selling it and they want you to sell it more.

So they're like sell it bitch so it gets you

excited and it gets you hot so you sell it more.

After a ball your emotions wind down. If you had a successful night, if your house

had a successful night, your emotions are high.

You want to go out to eat, you want to go to the

club, you want to go anywhere just to keep the high going.

If you had a, you know, if you lost that night and

you're feeling kind of down, you just like to unwind at home.

Maybe go home, have a nice cup of tea and go to sleep.

We tolerate no violence or disrespect to one another as well as anyone who is

disrespectful to the house name by being a

quote-unquote troublemaker will be expelled from the house.

The ballroom community has been incredibly influential

in the worlds of fashion and music and style and language.

I am E and the end is what I just did

And the wire door extra box

This is what he's fixin' for

Now I'm a GTT for she

All the girls with a PPP

Remember, all Avers of them used to tell me what was good and what was bad

And I learned, but now these days, the new generation is hard

Because they take everything as shade

They think everything is shade

I gotta feel it, and they gotta feel it

And I know, when I make them feel it, it's like, oh, I have to get this trophy

I have to get this tense

I gotta make the girls know it

So it's that energy that's between the

commentator and the, you know, the people that's competing

When you're voguing fem fem fem just to get your ticketee ten ten ten

You're the creme de la cookie creme creme creme

Let me see you stop

Show in

The girls can't take my life, fight

The girls can't take my shade, shade

The girls can't take my plate, plate

The girls can't take my attitude

The girls can't take my chicken, too

The girls can't take my life

2001 is gone

2002 has passed

2003 is no longer here

2004 no longer exist

2005 are you ready?

So you see, they take that and they run with it, okay?

But I'm not giving the credibility because I'm not on the mic

But that's okay

Because that's just how the game runs

People are doing it again, people are, they

are wanting it again, they are feeling it again

I mean, face it, it's the true gay dance

They do it, they do it, they do it

Madonna did something, the next thing that

came along in what Madonna has been doing

Capturing trends, she really did wonderful for the House of Extravaganza

The great exposition and the money that they made taking them on tour

[music]

Vogueing was actually manufactured on Rikers Island in jail

At first was presentation, then they called it performance

It didn't become vogueing until the 80s

[music]

I was what, 15 when I first met Madonna in Sound Factory

And I mean, I remember her saying to me, she didn't

understand how so much talent came out of such a little body

I think that what she was so amazed by was, in your face,

I'm real, this is what it is, take it or leave it, attitude

And it was something that we didn't have to try very hard to do

It was just the way we were, you know, it

was what we projected, it was what we lived for

To just be in your face, yes I'm fabulous and you can't tell me different

Yeah, I was always a little spiteful, shady, I was the

shadiest one, I was the youngest one, I was the most spoiled one

But I think she was more, she was like, don't you realize what you're doing?

I think that it came so natural to me, that it was nothing

I didn't learn to appreciate what I had accomplished so much later in life

I was so young, you know, and I think with her, it was also a thing where she would

just like, you know, she would just play the music and watch me do my thing

And next thing you know, she wanted everyone to do what I was doing, you know, and

everyone had to be still and watch Jose at times

Everyone had to be still and watch Jose and Louis, you know, do their thing

And just from watching her, I was like, wow, this woman is really impressed by me

It's Athena Trutha Dera actually, where she's just like, you know, just kissing my

feet and I'm like standing there like, okay, I have one of the biggest stars in the

universe just telling me how incredible I am

And she's at my feet, I think it should be the other way

around, you know, because I was always a big fan of hers too

And it was amazing to get the opportunity to go and work with her

I think it's something that you feel, you know, that's what street voguing is to me

More of a rough urban, you know, in your

face type of, it's like acting out your dreams

I was a dreamer, I was curious, you know, there

was a certain mystery to everything I wanted to know

I wanted to, if you said to me, don't put your hand

there, that's where I was going to lay it down first

All the goatee gigs, Francesco Scobullo working with

all the amazing photographers, those were all highlights

I mean, not even just gigs, just highlight moment, you know, I'm meeting Elizabeth

Taylor, incredible moment, you know, having her tell me how incredible I am

You're an athlete, I like to see it as, you know, so dress for it, you know, so I

started that whole cat suit and, you know,

knee pads and hot shorts and, you know, no shirt

And just really like, you know, adding to what I'm doing, which is voguing

Performance, also known as vogue, is the art of

improvising dance and drama-oriented modeling presentations

It is the interchanging of poses, struts, and ethnic dance gestures

Expressions of famous entertainers such as Alvin Ailey, Diana Ross, and Beverly

Johnson inspired those who imitated them at

showcase venues and New York Correctional Facilities

During the mid-70s, the dance became a category at

balls, marking the beginning of the conventional era

The term presentation was then replaced by performance, originally a feminine dance

category with Arabic dancing, flamboyant struts, and fashion magazine poses

[music]

During the birth of hip-hop culture, the influence

of breakdancing heightened the standard for acrobatics

By the late 80s, categories like performance with gymnastics, also performance with

stretch, now known as new weight, began the Olympic-type performance era

As long as African Americans are descendants of

Ethiopian Kushites, performance will never perish

Who would have thought this would have went around the

world, you know, and this came from the ball community

Andre has a lot of qualities, all I can say, he's always got something going

When you can get 75 people to do anything you want them to do, then you have power

I've been walking balls for about 12 years,

I try to take it beyond the ballroom scene

[music]

I dance for a living, I'm a choreographer, I perform for Puffy Combs, Missy

Elliott, and a few other stars, trying to take it as far as I can

So that's another reason that I walk balls too, because I feel that balls can take

people places, it depends on what you do and how you do it

[music]

A lot of people never use their shoulders when they're...voguing usually

And then this movement here, those were my

signature movements, and now they seem to be standard

[music]

A little bit of martial arts, a little bit of pantomime

When I started it, it was because I'm in the club having fun and they get my face

and lo and behold here comes a new movement

Working with various recording artists, from Grace Jones to Queen Latifah, it was

just about having fun and just goofing off

[music]

If you have a fierce song, your body is going to do what that song is telling you

Or if the commentator is turning it out and he changes the beat, but you can match

him, your body is going to match what he's saying

I create it in my mind and then try to create it on the floor

[music]

I feel it later and I have to soak in a tub for a couple hours

Twisted ankle, in Germany, this scar from going into a prop on the stage

[music]

Muscle spasms from all the arm flicks, and especially if you're doing it during

performances and you're doing it for an hour or so

Believe me, the older you get, the harder it gets

So all you young kids, you're going to need a lot of Van Gogh Netflix songs

We have so much against us, being black or Latin and gay

Taking what we do and branching out and

showing the world this is us, look at our talent

And just bringing the spotlight to the community

To me, that's a legend

[music]

First time Vogue was ever seen was Jodie Watney's second video

It's called "Still a Grill"

Tyrone Proctor, we were in a dance group together, choreographed that

And he was best friends with her

Second video, Carol Dane

Shape was a choreographer as well

Bobby Brown's choreographer was in that video

It was weak, maybe because of the old straight boyfriend

[laughter]

Trying to do a little Vogue

Then there was Liz Torres

A house underground house classic

Then there was my video

Then there was Latifah

Coming to my house

Then Delight, good beat

Then Madonna

[music]

[music]

My house is mixed, it's straight, it's gay, it's multiracial

And the reason I do that is, if we want to be accepted, we gotta accept everybody

[applause]

[music]

Don't call me in the morning

[music]

It's gotten me to see various cultures

And experiences that I'll never forget

[music]

Looking at the history of the ball community,

Pepper was one of the last surviving legendary mothers

When we were going to the ball, balls were a special event

They didn't have them every month

Every one or two a year, and you prepared yourself for that night

But you couldn't come in there giving them an abortion, because they would chop you

Because she's been doing that for over three decades,

it was well overdue that she'd be honored in this fight

[applause]

Pepper was truly an icon

Pepper Lolita Labesia

Had two children and a beautiful mother

There is a whole new generation of ball kids now

And very few of them knew Pepper's struggles

And the survival skills she required to live her life

In addition, Pepper has seen the comings and goings of hundreds of ball children

Whom we lost to HIV and AIDS

We've lost a wonderful world, people with so much experience, talent, beauty

We've lost a lot of people along the way

[music]

Eric really shined white on the ballroom

He was always fair, he gave everybody a chance

A real inspiration to the ballroom community, he was a real creator

We're here tonight to pay homage to our brother Eric Christian-Bazar

Because there will never be anyone else like him on the mic

On the mic

Or for Pope Ron

Or for Bazar

Or for Puddin' Eyewear

Let's just say, all around

For it's queen

Legendary

Always know what

Felling you don't have to say it

And believing it

Yes, that's right

[music]

I'm not going to sit here and lie that the girls was using condoms back in 1982

Condoms, we didn't even know what that thing was

I don't know why I'm alive

I thought that because I was HIV that I would never be able to have sex again

This is what I'm thinking, I'm never going to have sex again

I'm never ever going to let a man touch me

I couldn't think about being with somebody

Knowing that I have A's

But HIV is not having A's

HIV is not really harmful to anybody unless I make it harmful

We don't know everyone's status

And everyone's not going to tell us their true status

So protect yourself, you know, treat everyone with universal precaution

[music]

This is my boyfriend Justin, we've been together for almost a year

I titled this one "Justin came to me in a dream"

I did this in a series of photographs that came from dreams that I was having

I have very vivid dreams

Partly because of some of the medications that we take

One of my favorite people to photograph is Cleo

He's my best friend, he's in the ballroom community

He walks, puts you up in drags categories and I live

Luna Louise Ortiz has been a member of the Visual AIDS Archive Project since 1998

And in that time we've seen his work mature as

an artist and photographer, activist and teacher

Through the direct support that Visual AIDS offers artists living with AIDS

We hope to be able to empower them to continue making work

As well as to document and hold a visual record of the AIDS pandemic and the art

that's come from artists living with AIDS

[music]

I choose to do portraits of my friends because I've lost so many of them

Sort of like a visual diary

So I could keep my friends with me at all times

And sometimes I have them all over the apartment

[music]

As an adolescent I was not supposed to think about sex

Yet I did think about it and I engaged in it

Unfortunately I was not informed about what was safe and what was not

I became infected by HIV in 1986 at the age of 14 with my first sexual experience

HIV made me think about how I wanted to be remembered

It was important for me to let people know that I exist

I thought at the time that I was going to get really

sick and look like the images of AIDS we saw in the 1980s

But I didn't want to be seen as an AIDS victim

Around the time that I met Justin I was having difficulty finding a relationship

A lot of people refused to date me because I was positive

[music]

Justin came to me and he was always very supportive about it

I remember I was afraid to tell him that I was positive

And I always wondered why was I afraid when I was always a show off about my virus

He basically held my hand through the whole thing

[music]

Our sexual part of the relationship is very beautiful

It's intimate, it's just as normal as anybody's relationship

And it's very protective, it's a healthy protective relationship

[music]

Throughout the years people that I came out with and

people that I was raised with just like start dying on me

It affects me a lot, I mean, that's a lot

[music]

Personally I've lost over 400 of my friends

I can count more than personalities and people that are gone, it hurts

When I had to go to Ken Pindarvis' funeral

I was left baffled, bewildered and bothered

Because I remember when all two of us, or three of us

were on the bogging floor performing against each other

And they're not here anymore

I've lost a lot of friends, but I've lost a lot of clients

So how it affected me is that I couldn't help anyone

Find your HIV positive, that doesn't mean it's the end of your life

A lot of them kiss turn to drugs as a comfort for being HIV positive

But once you eat like I tell them, once you eat right, you take care of yourself,

you take your meds on time, you'll be alright

I thought I'm still here, and number two I'm still negative

And the reason why is that I didn't drink and I didn't take drugs

And I said no, and that's it

GMHC, I know that they do wonderful things for the gay community

In the beginning they did, like they were

bringing in houses to do, you know, safe sex ads

But then they stopped all of that, you know

And you would see them at the balls and it

became a thing where a latex chopping someone

And it's like, wait a minute, aren't you here to save the day?

As far as the house of latex, no comments

The people who organized it aren't purely

bald people that would have kept this going

At one time we had the cream of the latex there

We were all contained, we were all showing entries,

we were all showing meetings, and then it just dropped

[Music] It feels almost like you're a celebrity

And it's the excitement, you want to get there and see

who's wearing what, who's with who, who's in what new house

[Music]

For someone to be considered a legend, you

have to at one particular point be the best

Or at the top of that particular category that you want

[Music]

The Hall of Fame, what does it mean to me? It means a lot to me

Because it shows that the community approves of me, they see me

It made me feel like all the time by me being in the ball scene, it would pay off

[Music]

Being inducted into the Ballroom Hall of

Fame, you know, of legendary status, I made it out

And I walked my first ball when I was 14 years old, I don't have to walk anymore

And there's some people out there sometimes that would

have been like, okay, I want to walk against this person

Against someone of my caliber, of my status,

you know, that would excite me enough to say, okay

This person is going to give me a run for my money, but

I don't think there's no comparison to what I did with it

And what they're doing with it now, so there's

no need for competition because there isn't any

[Music] [Music]

Vogueing empowered me in a lot of ways

It's something that it became like so natural to me

because of, you know, my talent and my gift and what I love to do

[Music]

It gave me reassurance, it gave me secureness

[Music]

For those five minutes that I was out there doing this art, creating, you know, it

made me feel like I was doing something and I was

And that's great for my ego, it's great for anyone's ego

To feel like, wow, I just did something and got

applauded and rewarded for it, you know, it's a wonderful feeling

And that makes you feel really good and feeling good, I

mean, that's all you need, it shows, you know, you got to glow

I mean, if you feel good, you know, you walk down the street, there's a certain

walk to your walk, there's a certain talk to your talk

You know, when you feel good, you feel invincible,

you feel strength, you feel everything that's good

And the fact that that can bring all those things to you just from doing that, like

doing anything that you love, anything that's being appreciated

It's definitely a force not to be reckoned with

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

It's given me a career that is amazing, I mean, I never thought, you know, me, the

kid from the projects, what the hell was I going to do

When you put creativity out there, what you get back is, wow, amazing

If you really respect yourself, you love yourself, you

love what you do, people will learn how to cope with you

They need, all these corporations, all these businesses,

these fashion houses, they need the drama, they need all that

I wish to God I had videotaped every day of my

life, though, I'd be a really rich queen right now

What they do does have impact, it does affect the whole world

It's been an honor for me to sit with Willy Ninja and Hector Extravaganza and all

these people as a total outsider who knows nothing

And partake in all this, you know, bedazzlement and

to help judge the contest, it's really been fun for me

If only like the world didn't have stereotypes or the hangups about round being

GLBT, like I could just imagine how much more beautiful this world would be with

the creativeness that comes out of this subculture

Be safe and certain in what you do and don't grow up too fast

Take time out to live before you start making

decisions that are just going to hold you back

I have a lot of doors open to me in Spain, they know who

I am, they know what I'm about, they know what I can do

So they open a lot of doors to me

The point is, never give up, and that's what the

legacy will continue is as long as no one gives up

Let me live, let me feel the rain, let me

feel the sun, let me be happy, let me feel alive

Today I'm fighting for the cause to keep hope alive

It's not over until it's over and it's not over yet

There's a rumor going around that we've never heard before

Are you an E.B. or an Y.E.B. or are you

the new mother of the house? A woman of love

I always look to everything in my family, but I am the mother

One of totally different awards,

congratulations, it's going to get some beer up in you

The categories are face, woman's runway, Vogue

film, butch queen up in drags, film queen sex siren

Are you ready? Are you bitches ready to walk for me? Bring it to the runway now

How do I look, just real mysterious?

How do I look, just real mysterious?

Bring it to the runway now

Just mysterious

How do I look

Walk for me

Just real mysterious

How do I look, just real mysterious?

Bring it to the runway now

How do I look, just real mysterious?

How do I look, just real mysterious?

How do I look, just real mysterious? How do I look, just real mysterious?

Bring it to the runway now

Just real mysterious

Just real mysterious

How do I look

It's a celebration

Let's celebrate to be alive

It's a celebration

Let's celebrate to be alive

It's a celebration

Let's celebrate to be alive

It's a celebration

Let's celebrate to be alive

People can't be very cruel

Life can't be so very hard

But you need another that you're not alone

So be happy and celebrate

So be with me

Give yourself a chance

I understand

What you're going through

So don't give up

Come from the center of the rain

It's a celebration

Let's celebrate to be alive

It's a celebration

Let's celebrate to be alive

It's a celebration

Let's celebrate to be okay

It's a celebration

Let's celebrate to be alive

Let's celebrate to be alive

People can't be very cruel

Life can't be so very hard

But you need a lot that you're not alone

So be happy and celebrate

So that you will please give yourself a chance

I understand that you're going through

So don't get in box, come and celebrate

It's a Penal THIS Pyre

It's a upholding the It's a Syria big Gay Gay Gay Gay Gay Gay

It's a Syria big song

It's a Syria big song

Let's a Syria big to be in love

It's a Syria big song

Let's a Syria big song

(upbeat music)

Oh yeah, yeah, hmm

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

Do not fear me, human.

I've come from afar to grant you every whim.

God has commanded that I please thee

to give you true happiness

and love in its purest form.

Take my hand, my love,

and I will take you to a place filled with wonders.

I think you humans call it paradise.

I am the one who is the one who is the one

and I call it home.

All my life I've walked on holy ground

Before you came my world was burning down

And every time I think about you loving me

It sets me free

All my life I've walked on holy ground

Before you came my world was burning down

And every time I think about you loving me

It sets me free

Oh, I loved you

Loved you

And God commands me to grant you every wish

And make your dreams come true

I've come from a place that is high above

Where angels fly

And grows as the purest love

So climb aboard my wings and you and I will fly

To paradise

I loved you

And you will love me too

And in return I'll be so good to you

All your life I've watched you move with grace

And your loving touch and your angelic face

And I command that you will be with me for life

I'll be your guiding guide

I loved you

Please believe it's true

Oh, I love you boy

Cause God commands me too

Hi ha ya, hiya ya, hiya ya ya

I loved you

I loved you

I loved you

I loved you.