LEARN’d: 10 Documentaries on Voguing & Ballroom Culture

Everyone wants to “Do Ballroom” but do you actually know Ballroom?

The international spike in interest towards the ballroom scene over the past 10 years has been undeniable. Whether you have been watching Pose and Legendary, quoting categories out of context from Rupaul’s Drag Race or binging hours of clips on Ballroom Throwbacks; you have been impacted by 50 years of ball culture.

Here are 10 documentaries ranging from 10 minutes to 2 hours to “Learn It, And Learn It Well!”

The Queen

This groundbreaking documentary about the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Pageant introduced audiences to the world of competitive drag. The film takes us backstage with the contestants as they rehearse, throw shade, and transform into their drag personas in the lead-up to the big event. Organized by LGBT icon and activist Flawless Sabrina. The most memorable moment from the film is THE READ by the icon Crystal LaBeija as she called out racial bias in the pageant crowning. Crystal would go on to form the influential House of LaBeija, kicking off the Black & Brown ballroom scene. A vibrant piece of queer history, The Queen can now be seen in full resplendence thanks to a new restoration from the original camera negative.

Paris Is Burning 

Paris Is Burning is the quintessential documentary on the ballroom scene, and one of the most important films in queer cinema history.  Made over seven years, the award-winning doc offers an intimate portrait into the black and brown underground ballroom scene of the 80s while breaking down the family structure, categories, and sexual identity. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza. In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”

How Do I Look

Wolfgang Busch began interviewing subjects from the ball circuit in the mid-1990s and continued filming for a decade. How Do I Look documents the ball culture, which began in the 1920s during the Harlem Renaissance, and has since influenced mainstream artists and musicians. The film follows several ball “legends” such as Willi Ninja, Kevin Ultra-Omni, Octavia St. Laurent, Pepper LaBeija and Jose Xtravaganza. Many of the subjects that are featured in How Do I Look were also featured in the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning.

Walk!

A short documentary by filmmaker Nicolas Jenkins has been capturing the ballroom scene for nearly 30 years. Features archival ball footage from the late 1980’s to 2016.  Highlights from The House of Pendavis, House of Chanel, House of Fields, Love Ball, House of Latex, and the House of Xtravaganza.

Ballroom 2.0 – The Enchanted Ball

PBS program “In The Life” produced a documentary called Ballroom 2.0 it featuring a segment about H.I.V prevention and awareness in the ballroom scene. The feature covers the “Enchanted Ball” thrown by GMHC and P.O.C.C, two prevention agencies with a history of providing resources to the ballroom scene.

NIGHT VISIONS – Episode 1 – The New York Vogue Scene

In a film made possible by Axe, THUMP heads to New York to delve deep into the hyper-stylish, hyper-competitive world of the ballroom. Our examination of vogue introduces us to the likes of Gisele Xtravaganza and MikeQ as we head to one of the legendary Vogue Knights events.

My House

My House is a documentary/reality series focusing on ball culture in New York City. It follows Tati 007, Alex Mugler, Jelani Mizrahi, Lolita Balenciaga, Relish Milan, and the commentator Precious Ebony. The series created by Elegance Bratton premiered on Viceland in 2018 and consists of ten episodes.

Strike A Pose 

 

The story about seven young dancers, including Jose and Luis Xtravaganza join Madonna on her most controversial world tour in 1990. Their journey was captured in Truth or Dare, one of the highest-grossing documentaries ever. Madonna’s flamboyant dancers became icons of sexual freedom, inspiring people all over the world to be who you are. Twenty-five years after the tour and the film that marked pop and gay culture as much as their own lives, the dancers, their dramatic stories, and their fierce moves inspire us once again.

Kiki

Twenty-five years after the community featured in Paris Is Burning a new and very different generation of LGBTQ youth have formed an artistic activist subculture, named the Kiki Scene. KIKI follows seven characters from the Kiki community over four years, using their preparations and spectacular performances at events known as Kiki balls as a framing device while delving into their battles with homelessness, illness, and prejudice as well as their gains towards political influence and the conquering of affirming gender-expressions. In KIKI we meet Twiggy Pucci Garçon, the founder and gatekeeper for the Haus of Pucci, Chi Chi, Gia, Chris, Divo, Symba, and Zariya. Each of these remarkable young people represents a unique and powerful personal story, illuminating the Kiki scene in particular, as well as queer life in the U.S. for LGBTQ youth-of-color as a whole.

LEGENDARY: 30 Years of Philly Ballroom

An inside look into the third city of ballroom and the effort to preserve Philadelphia’s scene history that has endured for 30 years.  Produced by The Philadelphia Inquirer, the documentary features Jacen Prodigy, Alvernian Prestige, Aamina 007, and Philly pioneers, statements, and stars.