DSU (DiGiorgio Student Union) hosted its first ever ball on Saturday night. The International Legend Ball commentated by ballroom legend, “Big Mama” hosted both ballroom pros from houses like The Xclusive International Haus of Wintour along with students new to ballroom.
Ballroom, a culture that combines elements of fashion, modeling, pageantry and dance is typically an underground scene that has provided a “safe haven for black and brown young people” in the LGBTQ community for decades. Ballroom is now “widely seen and celebrated (and appropriated) in the mainstream—across fashion campaigns, music videos, social media,” time.com reported.
Ballroom appeared in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance, as a “response to a decades-long campaign undertaken by the Black church to rid the New York neighborhood of its LGBTQ residents,” according to time.com.
And, “In the quest for Black freedom, these community leaders decided queer folk did not deserve representation.” As the black LGBTQ community was displaced, “the ballroom scene centered its participants’ radical presence in an empowered performance space,” according to time.com.
Junior Shaniah McLellan is the founder of The Blueprints, an on-campus organization for Black women, by Black women. She said, “I really enjoyed how energetic the participants were. I believe that Ballroom Culture is very beautiful and everyone should have a chance to experience it!”
While the room filled with cheers at every dip and spin, seasoned pros and legends went up against “virgins,” a ballroom-coined term for first time performers.
“The energy was amazing the entire time!! It was just really just a space that I felt really comfortable in, even though I’ve never experienced it before,” early childhood education major Tia Pittman said.
Students competed in the form of voguing, “runway battles in face, realness, and body.” And, the prize was $50 in categories like, “Virgin Vogue,” “Body” and “International” while categories like, “Commentator”, “Schoolgirl/Schoolboy Realness” and “Runway” had prizes of $100.
