When Ballroom culture came to the forefront of nightlife culture in the 1980s, it saved people from their gloomy reality; the city was broke, crime rates were up, crack was destroying neighborhoods, and the AIDS epidemic was in its infancy. Walking into a Ball was an escape for gay and lesbian revelers who could enjoy drama on a runway for a night before returning to their everyday life.
Celebrating gay, black, and Latino culture, the houses and balls put a spotlight on femme queers and butch queens for the first time. They competed in a variety of catwalk competitions to hypnotic house music with trophies and cash up for grabs. The houses also gave young gays a community to be a part of when a lot of the world had turned their backs on them.
Ballroom culture reached the mainstream in 1990 thanks to Madonna’s ‘Vogue’ and has been immortalized in pop culture thanks to the Paris Is Burning documentary and the TV series Pose. Fast-forward 30 years, Ballroom culture has been thrusted back on the mainstage - in large part thanks to Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE. Although, it never really went away. Vogue parties happen at various venues around the city and this week we’re featuring MikeQ’s House of Vogue party. We highly recommend heading to Good Room this Thursday to check it out if you want to see a piece of NYC history live.
11.02 - House of Vogue with MikeQ at Good Room
Queens will be serving up realness on the dancefloor tonightt at MikeQ’s House of Vogue party at Good Room. The New Jersey house/ballroom/vogue DJ and producer will be laying down the tunes for categories Face, Realness, Performance, Runway, Euro Runway, Beginners Vogue, and Beginners Runway. Expect a night of spine-snapping moves and finger snapping tunes.
11.03 - Soichi Terada live at Nowadays
In the year before Larry Levan’s death, he left a voicemail for Soichi Terada because Levan couldn’t get Terada’s song out of his head. Levan ended up remixing ‘Sun Shower’ and following its release in 1991, it’s since become a cult underground classic. Soichi Terada is known for so much more than impressing Levan, but it speaks to Terada’s level of genius. Terada is one of Japan’s most iconic house music producers, with a style from personable and fun to more moody and soulful. His broad sound palette is full of humor and real character, just like Terada himself. Catch Terada smiling behind the booth at Nowadays when he does a live show this Friday.
11.03 - Cosmic Skate with Yurk at All Night Skate
If you’re craving the night of childhood nostalgia then All Night Skate is the spot for you. Dancers are encouraged to wear skates while grooving and hoping that the DJ plays your favorite song (just like you did when you were a kid) at the Ocean Hill bar. Brooklyn-based DJ Yurk is bringing his funky mix of disco, jazz, Latin and electronic music to this Friday’s Cosmic Skate this Friday.
Follow the links for mixes and playlists from the DJs and Musical Hosts who will be playing at these venues.
