To take a break from my cringe-inducing struggle against my own body and this dance form, I want to take a look at some of my favourite performances in Ballroom. An in-depth analysis of each performance isn't entirely necessary, as I feel what each display can be surmised in a single paragraph.
What has drawn me to each performance can be counted under five categories: Technicality, Shade, Femininity, which can otherwise be called, Essence, Breakdowns, and Storytelling. Technicality feels rather self-explanatory, this refers to the technical prowess of a voguer, how intricate their hand performance may be, the precision of their *spin-dips, or the complete control over their centers of balance to accentuate grace and effortlessness. Shade exists, adjacent to Storytelling, and like its use as slang, is the art of backhanded or sidelong insults, this is often non-verbal. In the words of Dorien Corey, drag performer and Ballroom Icon from their appearance in 'Paris is Burning,' "Shade is, I don't tell you you're ugly, but I don't have to tell you you're ugly because you KNOW you're ugly". This is a quintessential aspect of Battling as each performer is expected to throw off their opponent morally via shade or through sheer talent. Essence is a bit more complex, as it is often read as an aspect intrinsic to a performer, some have it and some don't. Essence is mostly prescribed to femme queens and denotes their inherent femininity being a trump against other voguer's. This is not to say that essence cannot be captured and displayed by femme queens alone, however, it is far more common a descriptor for them as it is for say, a butch queen. Breakdowns refer to a voguer's momentum leading into a dip. I understand this to be the pinnacle of a voguers performance, something similar to the meat of a sentence before reaching its full stop. In Vogue Femme, dipping is the voguer's full stop, the end of their story. Finally, storytelling is exactly what it sounds like and an aspect, I've already described earlier in my Hands Performance post. Voguers' weave a story of their femininity, distilling it into a singular performance. I will also note exciting usages of literal storytelling.
Now, I will only go over five of my favourite's otherwise this post will go on and on and on.
1). Firstly, Leiomy Amazon, mother of House of Amazon is an Icon throughout Ballroom globally and is noted as the creator of the 360 spin-dip. She has been instrumental in the further development and refinement of Vogue Femme as a dance style. This performance of her 10s is, in my opinion, one of her best. It's simple, yet exemplary of her years and years of performing and refining her skill as a voguer. The technicality and precise control of her body and weight distribution are all at full display in this performance.
2). Puscee West is an upcoming legendary performer of the House of West and a very recent favourite of mine. I'm more a fan of femme queen performer, Pandora West of the same house, however this performance was incredible. The precision and sharpness of vogue accompanied by the storytelling, especially the painting of the nails, an homage to the deceased legendary Ballroom performer, Yolanda Jourdan. The sass of both the crowd and the audience is exciting and fun. Puscee displays what I think is a really strong fusion of both dramatics and soft-and-cunt vogue femme.
3). The battle between Makayla Lanvin vs. Honey Balenciaga had become viral a few years ago for Makayla leaping over Honey duckwalking. This was the pinnacle of Vogue Battles at the time and it's justified. The territorial nature of both performers as they vie for the stage is intense and sees the near falls of each as they subtle shift and shove around one another. The shade is so palpable yet so subtle that for those unaccustomed or untrained in the dance form might only see two aggressively flexible gay men dancing against each other on a stage.
4). Essence is what I feel when I watch this performance. Despite, the beautiful knee spin and dip, her following performance is rather messy. However, none of this matters because of the fact that she reached the pinnacle of her sentences and nailed her full stop. Everything else was collateral and you can even see this in Tati Miyake-Mugler's face. She oozes of a very comfortable and confident femininity that I love. This femininity is apparent even in Leiomy's 10s but this performance doesn't completely hold that same effortless sheen. I think that it probably makes this feel more acheivable for the voguer watching. Like, "ah, I can do that too someday."
5). Now this battle right here made up a good majority of my friends and I's roleplays. The shade bordering on a full-on fist fight, the unnecessary inclusion of Feminine Destruction that sees Katrina Ebony motioning her exit in her hands combo. It's incredible! There's not a lot I can say about this battle that isn't readily apparent upon watching. There is so much shade, so much technicality as Katrina and Leiomy attempt to best one another in a dip-for-dip. So much tension and it's so exciting. This battle remains a staple when discussing the history of Ballroom for all these reasons and more.
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