Game changing. Iconic. Groundbreaking. These overused and overstated words – posted feverishly on social media platforms minutes into an episode of HBO Max’s– are common hashtags used to describe what is now lauded as the world’s first vogueing reality competition on television. The influential dance style, which Madonna popularized with her 1990 hit, has its roots in a much older phenomenon also called “ballroom” that grew out of drag balls in mid-20th-century Harlem.
A significant part of this celebration of dance – which finds inspiration in the high-fashion poses of supermodels – is happening in Canada too, thanks to Toronto’s own Twysted Miyake-Mugler. In 2021, the dancer/choreographer/activist co-producedfor CBC Gem, wherein 10 queer and/or trans filmmakers battled one other in vogue categories such as “Sex Siren,” “Face” and “Runway” via short videos that sought to honour category conventions.
inched towards mass recognition in the late 60s and early 70s, when the formation of Houses came to existence by way of two drag queens, Lottie and Crystal LaBeija. Soon, performers such as Jody Watley tipped their hat to these pioneers by including voguing in mid-80s videos that predated Madonna’s 1990 hit., a documentary on ballroom released the same year, simmered along as a cult classic for years, eventually earning a re-release in 2020.
Yet, behind the glitz and word-play, Tati Miyake-Mugler wants to remind viewers of how much criticism not only comes with the territory but is appreciated as a form of coaching, in a subculture that is consistently trying to find its legs.
One such budding star is seven-year-old Sizzle Siriano, a beyond-their-years performer who started to identify as non-binary during the pandemic. Sizzle’s mother, Lisanne Lieberthal, quickly started to look for ways to support and inspire her child. The result was a visit to Sizzle’s first TKBA ball in July, 2021, organized by Twysted and the Toronto Kiki Alliance.
“This is Black history that should be studied and loved because it changed and changes lives,” adds dance music icon Ultra Naté who found her beat – and her confidence – as part of the House of Revlon during her youth. Her Pride anthemexudes the ballroom ethos, as Naté reminds her audiences “You’re free / To do what you want to do / You’ve got to live your life / Do what you want to do.
Presumably this will be mandatory viewing on CBC with viewers obliged to file compliance cards with the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism
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