Dance Voguing Research Papers

For the syllabus addition paper I chose the dance voguing. Created by gay Black and Latino Americans, voguing evolved out of Harlem in the 1980’s. Its origins date back to the 1930’s in the underground LGBT ballroom scene, where it was known as “performance.” Voguing was mostly done in ‘houses’, which are family-like collectives of members of the LGBT community, one of the most popular being The House of Xtravanganza in New York City (the mecca of voguing). Here, the dancers would strike poses striving for perfect lines and awkward poses similar to those of the models in Vogue Magazine (where the dance form got its name). Initially, voguing was an alternative to physical fights in a dispute. Through their movements, the dancers would ‘throw shade’ or casual disrespect towards their opponent and whoever did the best moves, ‘threw the best shade’ and thus won the battle. It was also a form of competition whenever there were balls between the various houses. Since then however it has evolved into a …show more content…
Voguing also gained recognition from a documentary called ‘Paris is Burning,’ which featured extensive footage of the LGBT underground ballroom circuit. Since then voguing has gone on to influence many different forms of entertaintment. Countless artistes have incorporated some aspect of it into their songs, dances, music videos and live performances. Artiste like Beyonce have done dances inspired by voguing while others like FKA Twigs have made songs specifically about voguing and its outlet for self-exploration and self-expression. Voguing has also been featured in film and television in shows such as MTV’s Best Dance Crew and movies such as Magic Mike 2 and The Phantom of the Opera. Some of the lingo of voguing has also become a part of today’s culture. Words like ‘shade’ are heavily used in modern day