Ball culture
The Ballroom scene is an African-American and Latin underground LGBTQ+ subculture. The scene traces its origins to the drag balls of the mid-19th century United States, such as those hosted by William Dorsey Swann, a formerly enslaved Black man in Washington D.C.. By the early 20th century, integrated drag balls were popular in cities such as New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
In the mid-20th century, as a response to racism in integrated drag spaces, the balls evolved into house ballroom, where Black and Latino attendees could "walk" in a variety of categories for trophies and cash prizes. Most participants in ballroom belong to groups known as "houses", where chosen families of friends form relationships and communities separate from their families of origin, from which they may be estranged. The influence of ballroom culture can be seen in dance, language, music, and popular culture, and the community continues to be prominent today.
History
Since the beginning of colonial settlement in the United States, there have been individuals contradicting gendered expectations. However, it was not until the mid-19th century, as urbanization allowed for increased independence and anonymity, that cities provided a space for LGBTQ+ communities to form. In the 1880s, drag balls became a popular gathering space for people living different gendered lives. William Dorsey Swann, the first person known to describe himself as a drag queen, hosted secret balls in Washington, D.C.. Many of the attendees were Black men, as was Swann, who was formerly enslaved. Swann and other attendees were arrested in police raids numerous times, but the balls continued. By the 1890s, drag events were also being organized in New York City.Writer Langston Hughes described his experience at a New York drag ball in the 1920s as the "strangest and gaudiest of all Harlem spectacles" at the time, writing in The Big Sea that:
By 1930, racially integrated public drag balls in Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and other US cities were bringing hundreds of cross-dressing and gender-nonconforming individuals together and attracting large crowds. Use of family terms such as "mother" to denote rank among ball participants were recorded in the early 20th century, and phrases such as "strike a pose" and "vogue" can be traced back to the 1930s.
As the 20th century progressed, organizations advocating for transgender rights were established and community spaces for LGBTQ+ people grew in number, but many were white-dominated and exclusive. Though drag balls were often integrated, Black performers faced racism at balls, leading to a rise of Black balls in the 1960s. In 1972, Harlem drag queens Lottie and Crystal LaBeija founded the first house, the House of LaBeija, and drag balls evolved into house ballroom.
In the ballroom scene, Black and Latino drag performers could achieve glory, find surrogate families, and feel a sense of belonging. Miss Major, who came out as transgender in her teens in late 1950s Chicago and was part of African-American drag ball culture, describes the balls in a 1998 interview.
" were phenomenal! It was like going to the Oscars show today. Everybody dressed up. Guys in tuxedos, queens in gowns that you would not believe—I mean, things that they would have been working on all year. There was a queen in the South Side who would do the South City Ball. There was one on the North Side who would do the Maypole Ball. There were different ones in different areas at different times. And the straight people who would come and watch, they were different than the ones who come today. They just appreciated what was going on. They would applaud the girls when they were getting out of one Cadillac after another. It was just that the money was there, and the timing was right, and the energy was there to do this thing with an intensity that people just don't seem to have today. It seems to have dissipated. Then it was always a wonder—whether you participated, whether you watched, whether you just wore a little cocktail dress and a small fur coat —it was just a nice time." —Miss Major
Ball culture was captured and shown to a mainstream audience in Jennie Livingston's documentary Paris is Burning. In 2006, Wolfgang Busch released the documentary How Do I Look, a response to Paris is Burning, featuring Pepper LaBeija, Willi Ninja, Octavia St. Laurent, Jose Xtravaganza and Kevin Omni. Ball culture has since migrated to such countries as Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Cities with prominent ball culture
New York City
is the center of the world's drag ball culture. Cross dressing balls have existed in the city since the 1800s; the Hamilton Lodge Ball in 1869 is the first recorded drag ball in US history. In the 1920s, female impersonators competed in fashion shows in bars two or three times a year. Black queens would sometimes participate but rarely won prizes due to discrimination. In the 1970s, Black queens Crystal LaBeija and her friend, Lottie, began their own drag ball titled House of LaBeija, kickstarting the current ballroom scene in New York. Crystal and Lottie are credited with founding the first House in ballroom. In 1989, The House of Latex was created as a call to action in the ballroom community to bridge the gap between HIV and STI prevention and ballroom culture.Washington, DC
organized a series of drag balls in the DC area during the 1880s and 1890s.This account from the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area describes how ball culture and drag houses developed about 1960:
The dance styles which later characterized drag houses had not been developed; competitions between houses involved standard drag performances in which entertainers lip-synced or, rarely, sang. In contrast to the New York houses in Paris Is Burning, some of the Washington, D.C. house mothers were white. African-American drag queens were a prominent part of the community:
The Washington, D.C. ball community consists primarily of African-American and Latino participants, and has adopted many attributes seen in Paris Is Burning. Nineteen-sixties-style drag shows and competitions still exist, with their own audience. Ball patrons will find similar categories as audience members.
The Washington ballroom scene was created by Icon Founder Lowell Khanh and Icon Eric Christian-Bazaar. The House of Khanh was the first House outside of New York that wasn't a part of a New York house. From the House of Khanh came the House of Milan.
During the 1990s, more houses appeared in the area due to the efforts of Twain Miyake-Mugler, Icon Harold Balenciaga, Icons Shannon Garcon and Whitney Garcon. The city hosts a series of annual balls, in which contestants compete for trophies and cash prizes.
Baltimore
has a well-established ball community.In 1931, the newspaper Baltimore Afro-American covered a local drag ball. The article detailed the "coming out of new debutantes into gay society". By the 1930s, the drag ball culture was starting to emerge in the Black communities in major cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, and New York. The Afro reported that "The coming out of new debutantes into homosexual society was the outstanding feature of Baltimore's eighth annual frolic of the pansies when the art club was host to the neuter gender at the Elks' Hall."
Philadelphia
has a well-established ball community. Philadelphia's first ball was the Onyx Ball which took place in August 1989.The documentary How Do I Look partially focused on the ball community in Philadelphia.
Atlanta
has one of the most prominent ball communities south of Washington, D.C. In 2018, Vogue Magazine published an article discussing Atlanta's underground ball scene.Several balls are held in Atlanta each year. Also several major houses established in other major cities have opened chapters in Atlanta.
South Florida
Icon JoJo Ebony 'is widely recognized as the founder of the Florida ballroom scene. Drawing from experience in the New York ballroom circuit, JoJo Ebony brought the House of Infiniti — originally based in New York — to Miami in the 90's, establishing the first organized ballroom house in South Florida. This marked the beginning of structured ballroom culture in the region. Following the establishment of the House of Infiniti, the House of Lords' emerged shortly thereafter. Together, these houses became central to the growth of the regional scene, attracting queer Black, Latino, and multiracial participants and integrating South Florida into the national ballroom circuit.St. Louis
Most of St. Louis' ballroom scene is intertwined with the drag scene since the ballroom scene is not as major as the other metropolitan cities like Chicago, Atlanta, New York, etc. According to Mapping LGBTQ STL, the first ball in St. Louis was called 'Miss Fannie's Artists' Ball', which began in the mid-1950s and was organized by the Jolly Jesters Social Group, and the ball helped to raise funds for charitable institutions in the Black community. This was at a time when those participating were called 'female impersonators', whom we refer to today as drag performers. Currently, there is a distinct separation between both drag culture and performers and ball culture and performers, even though as stated previously, most artists and performers participate in both.There is also a Kiki scene in St. Louis, smaller than both the drag and ballroom scene, but emerging. One of the organizers for the Kiki and mainstream balls is Maven Logik Lee and one of the commentators/MC is Meko Lee Burr. A major ballroom house in the scene is the House of Ebony, St. Louis chapter, founded by Spirit Ebony.