Vogue (dance)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2012) |
| Vogue | |
|---|---|
 A dancer voguing during a performance | |
| Genre | House dance |
| Inventor | N/A - Gay Black and Latino Americans |
| Year | 1960s |
| Country | United States |
| Competitions | House Dance International |
| Related topics | Vogue magazine Willi Ninja Kevin Aviance House music Vernacular dance |
Vogue or voguing is a highly stylized, modern house dance that evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene in the 1960s.[1][2] It gained mainstream exposure when it was featured in Madonna's song and video "Vogue" (1990),[3] 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).[2] 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.[4]
History
Inspired by Vogue 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 Americans and Latino Americans in the early 1960s. It was originally called "presentation" and later "performance".[2] 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.[2][5] Some legendary houses include the House of Garcon, the House of Icon, the House of Khanh, 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, the House of Ninja, and the House of Andromeda 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.[5][6] 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.[2][5]
Styles
There are currently three distinct styles of vogue: old way (pre-1990); new way (post-1990);[7] and vogue femme (circa 1995).[2] Although vogue "femme" has been used in the ballroom scene as a catch-all phrase for overtly effeminate voguing as far back as the 1960s, 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. Egyptian hieroglyphs and fashion poses serve as the original inspirations for old way voguing. In its purest, historical form, old way vogue is a duel between two rivals. Traditionally, old way rules dictated that one rival must "pin" the other to win the contest. Pinning involved the trapping of an opponent so that he or she could not execute any movements while the adversary was still in motion (usually voguing movements 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 rigid movements coupled with "clicks" (limb contortions at the joints) and "arms control" (hand and wrist illusions, which sometimes includes tutting 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. New way involves incredible flexibility.
Vogue femme
Vogue femme is fluidity at its most extreme with exaggerated feminine movements influenced by ballet and modern dance. Styles of vogue femme performance range from dramatics style (which emphasizes stunts, tricks, and speed) to soft style (which emphasizes a graceful, beautiful, easy flow). There are five elements of vogue femme (six including the unofficial element, spins). When competing in a vogue femme battle, contestants should showcase all six elements in an entertaining fashion.
| Elements of vogue femme |
|---|
| Hand performance |
| Catwalk |
| Duckwalk |
| Floor performance |
| Dips |
| Spins (unofficial) |
Hand performance refers to the illusions and movements of the arms, wrists, hands, and fingers. The catwalk is the upright sashaying in a linear fashion. The duckwalk refers to the crouched, squatted, foot-kicking and scooting movements requiring balance on the balls of the feet. Floor performance refers to the movements done on the floor using primarily the legs, knees, and back. The dip is the fall, drop, or descent backward onto one's back with one's leg folded underneath. The dip originated from voguing.[citation needed] Mainstream dance forms popularized the dip, which is occasionally called the "death drop" when done in dramatics style. Due to popular media, the dip is sometimes incorrectly termed the "5000", "shablam", and "shabam".
Development
The ballroom scene has evolved into a national underground dancesport 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 and Charlotte for the South, and Los Angeles for the West.
London has seen a dramatic rise in ballroom balls starting in the late 1990s. Initially the main aspect of the ballroom scene was not voguing but the runway categories dealing with fashion and design, and ballroom participants in London tend to be older members of the LGBT community, usually over the age of thirty. In the last ten years, there has been more awareness of voguing within the younger gay scene in London. Houses have been formed and balls and competitions are becoming more and more popular as evidenced by such venues like the HMD Summer Ball at Horse Meat Disco, the House of Trax, Tribe, and Dalston Superstore's Paris Acid Ball but especially The Grand Vogue Ball.
Japan is another region that is rising in the ballroom scene; Japan's main category is voguing.[citation needed]
Mainstream attention
Many performers, particularly female performers, have used vogue-style dance as a part of their routines. Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai and Swedish singer Hanna Lindblad extensively feature voguing in their music videos for "Honey Trap" and "Manipulated", respectively. The transgender member of Vogue Evolution, Leiomy Maldonado, is responsible for creating and popularizing her signature voguing move, the Leiomy Lolly. The Leiomy Lolly is featured in Britney Spears' video for "If U Seek Amy", in Beyoncé and Lady Gaga's video for "Video Phone", and in a Dance Central routine to the song "Lapdance". Leiomy can be seen voguing in Willow Smith's video for "Whip My Hair". The masquerade ball scene in the 2004 film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera also features voguing.
Several music videos quickly showcase the dip: Lil Mama and Chris Brown's video for "Shawty Get Loose", Chris Brown's video for "Kiss Kiss", Christina Milian's video for "Dip It Low", Beyoncé's video for "Get Me Bodied", and Kat DeLuna's video for "Drop It Low". In the tenth episode of Dance Moms, young dancer Nia Frazier successfully completes a dip in a group routine after receiving training from Shangela.
See also
References
- ^ Gregory, Deborah (2008). Catwalk. New York City: Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-0-375-84895-7.
- ^ a b c d e f Freeman, Santiago (August 1, 2008). "The Vogue trend returns". DanceSpirit.com. MacFadden Performing Arts Media. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
- ^ Guilbert, Georges-Claude (2002). Madonna as postmodern myth: how one star's self-construction rewrites sex, gender, Hollywood, and the American dream. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-1408-6.
- ^ Kinon, Cristina (September 27, 2009). "'America's Best Dance Crew' loses its luster with Vogue Evolution gone". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
- ^ a b c "The History of Voguing - Tributes to Willi Ninja". UKBlackout.com. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
- ^ "Willi Ninja, godfather of 'voguing,' dies at 45". MSN.com. September 7, 2008. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
- ^ "The House of Diabolique vs. Runway, Ballroom, and Voguing music". HouseOfDiabolique.com. Retrieved 2010-11-14.