spotlight
SERVING REALNESS WITH STEVEN CANALS
by joel martens HAVING A BALL &
“Strike a pose…” Everyone who had any awareness of
the ‘90s pop world knows the iconic song “Vogue “ from Madonna’s album,I’m Breathless. But, most probably don’t know that “The Material Girl” took her inspiration for the song fromHarlem’s‘80s “House Ball” community and Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza and Luis Xtravaganza, two of the more famous vogue dancers and choreographers.
“Ball culture,” which began in Harlem
more than 50 years ago,has roots as far back as the ‘20s or ‘30s in events consist- ing primarily of white men competing in fashion shows in local N.Y.C. bars two or three times a year. Though Langston Hughes described Harlem’s mostly Black ,1920s Hamilton Club Lodge Ball as the “Strangest and gaudiest of all Harlem spectacles… where men dress as women and women dress as men.” Resistance, non-conformity, and defiance around traditional gender norms are the common threads that
run through its subculture, though the powerful undercurrent of race and civil rights are ubiquitous to it as well. In modern ball culture, “houses” compete against one another and are judged on dance skills (voguing), costumes, appearance, and attitude based on categories posed. Houses, typically headed by “mothers” and/or “fathers,” who care for their “children” often represent the only safe space that many gay, gender nonconforming and trans youth have ever known. It’s also one of the few welcoming, non-critical spaces
for queer youth of color, Blacks and Latinos/Latinas, to express themselves freely. New York’s Stonewall Riots repre-
sented a turning point not only for the larger LGBT community, but also for the colored queer culture and those who participated in the ball world. It was a catalyst that changed the guilty weight of societal judgement to feelings of self-acceptance and pride. No longer would we apologize. Because of that ideological shift,
the ‘70s and ‘80s saw an expansion of queer culture as well as ball participa- tion, expanding well beyond New York, with houses existing across the United States and in over 15 cities. The new FX Network showPOSE,
created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canals takes a moving picture of that world, showing us the ins and outs of life in the mid-‘80s at the
same time stark and unforgiving, yet filled with beauty and indulgence. It was also the moment when the LGBTQ community was battling the AIDS crisis and the series boldly “tells it like it is,” in painful, raw moments that were almost too vivid to watch. Gritty and at the same time beautiful, the series opens a door into a world that many have never gazed upon. It illustrates the devastation of homophobia, rejection and loss, while at the same time managing to communicate the humanity and sense of home and family we in the LGBT community often create for ourselves.
Creator Steven Canals
took a moment to chat with us about the powerful series and how it all came to be.
46 RAGE monthly | JULY 2018
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