Vogue (dance)
Encyclopedia
Vogue or voguing is a highly stylized, modern house dance that evolved out of the Harlem
ballroom scene in the 1960s. It gained mainstream
exposure when it was featured in Madonna
's song and video "Vogue" (1990), and when showcased in the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning
(which went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival
). After the new millennium, Vogue returned to mainstream attention when the dance group Vogue Evolution competed on the fourth season
of America's Best Dance Crew
.
magazine, voguing is characterized by model-like poses integrated with angular, linear, and rigid arm, leg, and body movements. This style of dance arose from Harlem
ballrooms by African American
s and Latino American
s in the early 1960s. It was originally called "presentation" and later "performance." Over the years, the dance evolved into the more intricate and illusory form that is now called "vogue." Voguing is continually developed further as an established dance form that is practiced in the gay ballroom scene and clubs in major cities throughout the United States—mainly New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Miami, Detroit, and Chicago.
Formal competitions occur in the form of balls held by "houses"—family like collectives of LGBT
dancers and performers. Some legendary houses include the House of Garcon, the House of Icon, the House of Khan, the House of Evisu, the House of Karan, the House of Mizrahi, the House of Xtravaganza, the House of Ebony, the House of Revlon, the House of Prodigy, the House of Escada, the House of Omni, the House of Aviance, the House of Legacy, the House of Milan, the House of Infiniti, the House of Pend'avis, the House of LaBeija, the House of McQueen, and the House of Ninja among others. ("Legendary" in ballroom terms refers to a house that has been "serving," that is, walking or competing on the runway, for twenty years or more.) The House of Ninja was founded by Willi Ninja
, who is considered the godfather of voguing. Members of a house are called "children." Sometimes children legally change their last name to show their affiliation with the house to which they belong.
It should be noted that the terms "Old Way" and "New Way" are generational. Earlier generations called the style of voguing the generation before them practiced "Old Way." Voguers, therefore, reuse these terms to refer to the evolutionary changes of the dance that are observable almost every ten years. Ten years from now, today's "New Way" will likely be deemed the "Old Way."
and locking
. New Way can also be described as a modified form of mime
in which imaginary geometric shapes, such as a box, are introduced during motion and moved progressively around the dancer's body to display the dancer's dexterity and memory.
movements influenced by ballet
and modern dance
. There are six elements of Vogue Femme: hands, duckwalk, catwalk, spins, dips and floor performance. The dip has been popularized through mainstream dance forms and is occasionally called the 5000, shablam, shabam, death drop, and suicide dip. When competing in a vogue battle, contestants must use each element in their routine.
with major balls being held in different regions (East, Midwest
, South, West). The major vogue city in the country has been and continues to be New York, but regional voguing "capitals" exist—Chicago and Detroit for the Midwest, Atlanta for the South, and Los Angeles for the West.
London
has seen a dramatic rise in ballroom balls starting in the late 1990s. However, in London, the main aspect of the ballroom scene is not voguing but the runway categories dealing with fashion and design. Additionally, ballroom participants in London tend toward older members of the LGBT community, usually over the age of thirty. Japan
is another region that is rising in the ballroom scene; Japan's main category is voguing, the same as America.
member of Vogue Evolution, Leiomy Maldonado, is responsible for making her signature voguing move, the "Leiomy Lolly," popular. It is featured in Britney Spears
' video for "If U Seek Amy
" and Beyoncé
and Lady Gaga
's video for "Video Phone." "The dip" originated from voguing. Lil Mama
and Chris Brown incorporated the "dip" in their music video for "Shawty Get Loose
" as well as Ciara
in many of her videos. Taiwanese singers like Jolin Tsai
also use voguing on one of her Music Video.
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
ballroom scene in the 1960s. It gained mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
exposure when it was featured in Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's song and video "Vogue" (1990), and when showcased in the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning
Paris is Burning (film)
Paris Is Burning is a 1990 documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, it chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the African American, Latino, gay and transgender communities involved in it...
(which went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
). After the new millennium, Vogue returned to mainstream attention when the dance group Vogue Evolution competed on the fourth season
America's Best Dance Crew (season 4)
The fourth season of America's Best Dance Crew premiered on August 9, 2009. All three judges and host Mario Lopez and backstage correspondent Layla Kayleigh from the previous seasons signed on for season 4. However, for the first time since the beginning of ABDC, DJ Rashida was not present as the...
of America's Best Dance Crew
America's Best Dance Crew
America's Best Dance Crew, often abbreviated as ABDC, is an American competitive dance reality television series that features street dance crews from the United States and around the world. It is produced by American Idol judge Randy Jackson and airs on MTV...
.
History
Inspired by VogueVogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
magazine, voguing is characterized by model-like poses integrated with angular, linear, and rigid arm, leg, and body movements. This style of dance arose from Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
ballrooms by African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s and Latino American
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
s in the early 1960s. It was originally called "presentation" and later "performance." Over the years, the dance evolved into the more intricate and illusory form that is now called "vogue." Voguing is continually developed further as an established dance form that is practiced in the gay ballroom scene and clubs in major cities throughout the United States—mainly New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Miami, Detroit, and Chicago.
Formal competitions occur in the form of balls held by "houses"—family like collectives of LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
dancers and performers. Some legendary houses include the House of Garcon, the House of Icon, the House of Khan, the House of Evisu, the House of Karan, the House of Mizrahi, the House of Xtravaganza, the House of Ebony, the House of Revlon, the House of Prodigy, the House of Escada, the House of Omni, the House of Aviance, the House of Legacy, the House of Milan, the House of Infiniti, the House of Pend'avis, the House of LaBeija, the House of McQueen, and the House of Ninja among others. ("Legendary" in ballroom terms refers to a house that has been "serving," that is, walking or competing on the runway, for twenty years or more.) The House of Ninja was founded by Willi Ninja
Willi Ninja
Willi Ninja was an American dancer and choreographer best known for his appearance in the documentary film Paris is Burning....
, who is considered the godfather of voguing. Members of a house are called "children." Sometimes children legally change their last name to show their affiliation with the house to which they belong.
Styles
There are currently four distinct styles of vogue: Old Way (pre-1990); New Way (post-1990); Vogue Femme (circa 1995); and Dramatics, which includes stunts and tricks. Although vogue "femme" has been used in the ballroom scene as a catch-all phrase for overtly effeminate voguing as far back as the 1970s, as a recognizable style of voguing, it only came into its own around the mid-1990s.It should be noted that the terms "Old Way" and "New Way" are generational. Earlier generations called the style of voguing the generation before them practiced "Old Way." Voguers, therefore, reuse these terms to refer to the evolutionary changes of the dance that are observable almost every ten years. Ten years from now, today's "New Way" will likely be deemed the "Old Way."
Old way
Old Way is characterized by the formation of lines, symmetry, and precision in the execution of formations with graceful, fluid-like action. In its purest, historical form, it is a duel between two rivals. Traditionally, Old Way rules dictated that one rival must "pin" another to "chop" (win the contest). Pinning involved the trapping of an opponent so that they could not execute any movements while the adversary was still in motion (usually voguing with the arms and hands called "hand performance" while the opponent was "pinned" against the floor doing "floor exercises" or against a wall).New way
New Way is characterized by more rigid, geometric movement coupled with "clicks" (limb contortions at the joints) and "arms control"—hand and wrist illusions, which usually include tuttingTutting
Tutting is a contemporary abstract interpretive street dance style modeled after Egyptian hieroglyphics. The term Tutting is derived from the name of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun...
and locking
Locking (dance)
Locking is a style of funk dance, which is today also associated with hip hop. The name is based on the concept of locking movements, which basically means freezing from a fast movement and "locking" in a certain position, holding that position for a short while and then continuing in the same...
. New Way can also be described as a modified form of mime
Mime
The word mime is used to refer to a mime artist who uses a theatrical medium or performance art involving the acting out of a story through body motions without use of speech.Mime may also refer to:* Mime, an alternative word for lip sync...
in which imaginary geometric shapes, such as a box, are introduced during motion and moved progressively around the dancer's body to display the dancer's dexterity and memory.
Vogue femme
Vogue Femme is fluidity at its most extreme with exaggerated feminineFemininity
Femininity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women. Though socially constructed, femininity is made up of both socially defined and biologically created factors...
movements influenced by ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
and modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
. There are six elements of Vogue Femme: hands, duckwalk, catwalk, spins, dips and floor performance. The dip has been popularized through mainstream dance forms and is occasionally called the 5000, shablam, shabam, death drop, and suicide dip. When competing in a vogue battle, contestants must use each element in their routine.
Development
The ballroom scene has evolved into a national underground dancesportDanceSport
Dancesport denotes competitive ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. It is wheelchair dancesport where at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair....
with major balls being held in different regions (East, Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
, South, West). The major vogue city in the country has been and continues to be New York, but regional voguing "capitals" exist—Chicago and Detroit for the Midwest, Atlanta for the South, and Los Angeles for the West.
London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
has seen a dramatic rise in ballroom balls starting in the late 1990s. However, in London, the main aspect of the ballroom scene is not voguing but the runway categories dealing with fashion and design. Additionally, ballroom participants in London tend toward older members of the LGBT community, usually over the age of thirty. Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
is another region that is rising in the ballroom scene; Japan's main category is voguing, the same as America.
Mainstream attention
Many performers, particularly females, have used vogue-style dance as a part of their routines. The transgenderTransgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
member of Vogue Evolution, Leiomy Maldonado, is responsible for making her signature voguing move, the "Leiomy Lolly," popular. It is featured in Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
' video for "If U Seek Amy
If U Seek Amy
"If U Seek Amy" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, Circus. It was released on March 13, 2009 by Jive Records as the third single of the album, and was chosen by a poll on Spears's official website. "If U Seek Amy" was co-written and produced by Max...
" and Beyoncé
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
and Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
's video for "Video Phone." "The dip" originated from voguing. Lil Mama
Lil Mama
Niatia Jessica Kirkland professionally known as Lil Mama, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, and dancer.-Early life:...
and Chris Brown incorporated the "dip" in their music video for "Shawty Get Loose
Shawty Get Loose
"Shawty Get Loose" is the third single from rap artist Lil Mama's debut album, VYP: Voice of the Young People. "Shawty Get Loose" is Lil Mama's first number one single. The single is the remix version, where it features Chris Brown singing the chorus, and T-Pain rapping on the second verse. In the...
" as well as Ciara
Ciara
Ciara Princess Harris , known mononymously as Ciara, is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, actress and fashion model. Born in Austin, Texas, she traveled around the world during her childhood, only to land in Atlanta, Georgia where she met music producer, Jazze Pha...
in many of her videos. Taiwanese singers like Jolin Tsai
Jolin Tsai
Jolin Tsai was born on 15 September 1980. She is a Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning Mandopop singer, dancer and actor. She is managed by Mars Entertainment Ltd .-Career:...
also use voguing on one of her Music Video.
See also
- Paris is BurningParis is Burning (film)Paris Is Burning is a 1990 documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, it chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the African American, Latino, gay and transgender communities involved in it...
- How Do I LookHow Do I LookHow Do I Look is a LGBT Historic Art Documentary, released in 2006 as a documentary film directed by Wolfgang Busch, assistant directors are Kevin Omni and Luna Khan. Distributed by Art From The Heart; USA , 80 minutes...
- Ball cultureBall cultureBall culture, the house system, the ballroom community and similar terms describe the underground LGBT subculture in the United States in which people "walk" for trophies and prizes at events known as balls. Those who walk often also dance and vogue while others compete in various genres of drag...