Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour co-judged the fiercest event of the year last night (11 June); a vogueing competition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Historic ballroom legends were in attendance at the held at the David H. Plaza in New York City.
The event was to celebrate Pride Month in the city and the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, along with honoring the.
Standing in front of a dozen disco balls and metallic pink shimmer curtain, ballroom historian and MC for the night Jack Misrahi said: ‘Wintour is coming.’
The Condé Nast artistic director was a judge at the first Battle of the Legends Ball. A Versace-clad Wintour stepped outside of the historic Metropolitan of Art to an emphatically snapping crowd.
Moreover, as always, Wintour’s iconic chunky sunglasses and smooth bob shined in the Manhattan sun.
Furthermore, fellow judges included Jose Xtravaganza, father of the house of Xtravagana. New York style staple Dapper Dan was also in the crowd.
Performers who posed included: Asia Balenciaga, Bootz Prodigy, Dashaun Lanvin, Omari Mizrahi, Tamiyah Mugler, and Ty Ebony.
But Misrahi, a ballroom heavyweight and head of the House of Mirahi, hand-selected the six contenders. All fighting for the position of ‘Legend Slayer.
Wintour was among the ‘panel of icons’ that judged the battle. She wore
No, Madonna didn’t invent it.
An art and a sport, as well as a way of life for countless LGBTI people, vogueing is a style of dance that mimics the poses models took when gracing the pages of Vogue, hence the name.
A giddy swish of limbs and sashaying hips, vogueing is an expression of the body that finds its roots in ballroom culture in New York City.
The historian Tim Lawrence dates underground drag balls back to 1869. That’s when Harlem’s Hamilton Lodge threw its first queer gala.
Moreover, as the 1930s carried through, the festival became an annual convention. It emerged as a way to outfox the police, and drag became as much about entertainment as it was safety.
However, for queer people of color in Harlem, for the houses of Xtravaganza and Mishari, vogueing is not only a . Nor is it the title of that one Madonna song.
To them, vogueing is a way of life.
