Voguing

The ballroom scene emerged from the Black, Latinx & Trans community in Harlem, NY. (1960's). The philosophy of Ballroom is freedom and empowerment. It is the art of expressing yourself and being whoever you want to be. It's a culture of history, pride, politics and art. Between the 1960s and 80s, the New York drag competitions known as "balls" turned into fierce "voguing" battles. Ball culture then grew to include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in particular. Participants vogued, walked, posed and supported each other in various performance categories. Ballroom was also there to educate people (younger generations) about political issues, e.g. New Way Vogue derives from "Old Way" and is characterised by a more rigorous, geometric pattern of movement and stretching, with an emphasis on precision, style and grace. It is an art form that incorporates movements with complex angles, boxes, lines and illusions with the arms, wrists and hands and is inspired by the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt. New Way can also be described as a modified form of mime and aims to show extreme flexibility and poses inspired by haute couture fashion, gymnasts, ballet dancers, martial artists, contortionists and circus performers. All movement backgrounds are welcome to join "New Way".