News / Jul. 04, 2018
In 2010, Jolin Tsai gave Vogue dancing a try in her single Honey Trap. She again pushed Voguing, which had already been popular in Taiwan, to another level. The very first one who brought Vogue from the American streets to the rest of the world, was no other than superstar Madonna. In 1990, she boldly performed this unique dance in her single Vogue. Since then, Voguing has raised in popularity, gaining followers all around the world. From music to movies, Vogue is everywhere. Everyone loves it. But where does it exactly come from? How many famous artists and works have been inspired by it? Let’s find the answer.
The Birth of Vogue – 1960’s
Vogue was invented by the gay community in Harlem, New York, during 1960’s. At that time, gay black jail inmates had no way to access any other entertainment besides the lifestyle magazines provided by the facility. Inspired by Vogue magazine, these gay prisoners started to imitate the professional models’ poses in magazines. They combined one pose with the next and added on music (especially later in the 80’s, using dance and house hits). That’s how Vogue dance was created, and it became popular among the African-American and Latino gay communities in the US.
At first, Vogue was characterized by the formation of lines, symmetry, and precision, plus the fluidity in the transitions between moves. As time went by, Vogue became more and more complicated and added some difficult moves like elaborate hand gestures, catwalks, squats, floor moves, spinning… etc.
Houses
Houses are like dance companies where voguers gather to practice and create new moves. The houses usually name themselves after international brands, such as Balenciaga, Yves Saint Lauret, etc. The team members not only learn dancing skills from each other and battle other houses, but also live together like a real family. Each house has a mother or father (or both) as a mentor. The members take care of each other and help each other to face the difficulties in their life. At that time, for those gay men who were suffered from social pressure and bullying, the house was their shelter, accepting these LGBT communities who were not allowed in mainstream society. Dance made them forget the oppression and pain they had suffered, a place where they could truly and bravely show their true self. Hence, voguing became a spectacular and beautiful gay carnival. The glamorous and sexual dancing style allow them to lash out their charms and sexuality as much as they pleased. You can see this phenomenon in British girl band Icona Pop’s MV of All Night, where the vogue ballrooms and culture were recorded in detail or, more recently, in Ryan Murphy’s TV series POSE (FX, 2018) that follows the lives of the members of one of these families: House of Evangelista (in honor of supermodel Linda Evangelista).
The Godfather of Vogue – Willi Ninja
Every classic style of dance has a legendary danger, and the icon of voguing is Willi Ninja. He was the pioneer of voguing during 1980’s and established his House of Ninja in 1982. Besides a major influence, his house became a shelter for many African-American gay and transgender teenagers. He was a famous dancer, musician and model trainer, and the ultimate icon of the gay community. He broke away from the chains of gender and lives as a bisexual queer man all his life. He was and advocate for AIDS groups and LGBT organizations. Willi Ninja died in 2006, but his unique performances and beauty still remain in our hearts.
Vogue in Film
As the Vogue subculture developed, films started to pay attention to these African-American and Latino voguers’ stories. Among them we need to highlight Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1991) and Kiki (Sara Jordenö, 2016).
The documentary, Paris Is Burning, was directed by Jennie Livingston. She spent six years interviewing dancers, shooting ballrooms and the lives in the houses. Paris Is Burning was screened in 1990, right after Madonna released her hit Vogue. Paris Is Burning unprecedentedly lead the American media to go deeper and learn more about drag queens, other LGBT communities, and made mainstream audiences start paying to attention to issues such as AIDS. In this film, Willi Ninja makes a stellar appearance.
Paris is Burning
The 3rd Taiwan International Queer Film Festival also included vogue-related film section. Among them, the documentary Kiki takes us back to New York where voguing was once originated from. Swedish director, Sara Jordeno, followed a group of African and Latino LGBT teenagers, and showcased their extremely sexual performances. She also genuinely presented the difficulties in their lives, such as homelessness, HIV infection, family acceptance, etc. Through their blunt performances, Kiki speaks about the black LGBT community’s struggle for visibility and human rights.
Kiki
Paris Is Burning (1990) and Kiki (2016) both won Teddy Award for Best Documentary at the Berlin Film Festival. The two films recorded the same phenomenon but in a different time: the meetings of black and Latino voguers in the New York underground scene. They convey a sense of inheritance.
Vogue in Pop Music
As voguing further developed, pop culture started noticing this style more and more. Madonna was the first one who brought it out of the Harlem underground subculture and took it to the stage. It soon became the mainstream of pop culture. At that time, Madonna visited the sound Factory ballroom in Chelsea. She was fascinated by the dancer voguing away all over the floors of the underground ballrooms in New York. She became determined to produce a song and to tribute to New York LGBT communities. In 1990, Madonna released the single "Vogue". She picked her dancers from the ballroom scene and presented a brand-new stylish dance. She opened the door for voguers enter pop culture.
"Vogue" music video
In 1990, Madonna dressed as Marie Antoinette, the French queen, and performed Vogue at MTV Awards. In 2014, this performance was nominated as one of the 15 best MTV Awards performances of all time by Billboard.
Since Madonna introduced voguing to pop culture, many professional voguers and artists followed through. British singer FKA Twigs’ trance voice and boldly sexual lyrics caused a sensation among the young generation. She used to visit countless gay ballrooms in New York, looking for voguers to learn the best moves. Later on, she added voguing to her own MVs as we can see on "Glass & Patron".
"Glass & Patron" music video.
In Taiwan, voguing was also brought to the mainstream by a superstar. In 2010, Jolin Tsai performed an astounding choreography for her single "Honey Trap" music video. She learned from the famous dancer, Benny Ninja, and during her tour, she also invited him to the stage to dance together making a unique hit.
"Honey Trap" music video
Film actor Channing Tatum also tried voguing in Vanity Fair magazine’s dance challenge. Though the film is quite short, we can still appreciate Channing Tatum’s hot voguing moves. He successfully deconstructed his usual macho appearance for the camera. Shocking but sexy!
In a few decades, Vogue has spread into pop culture. Since its inception during the 60s, it has been featured in films, documentaries, series and many, many choreographies by worldwide famous singers. From the streets to the stage, from gay culture to multiculturality. Vogue is everywhere. Its movements have been a symbol of everlasting glamor and style.
