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Thursday, June 08, 2006
Last night I had the great pleasure of attending a special screening of How Do
I Look at In the Meantime Mens Group here in Los Angeles, and what I saw gave me a look inside the fabulous balls that originated in NYC but are now taking place all over the country. If you remember the famed documentary Paris is Burning from the late eighties then How Do I Look could be considered the unofficial sequel.
Presented by founder Kevin Ultra Omni(Kevin Burrse) of the House of Ultra Omni, we are escorted into a world where winning grand prizes are a rite of passage for talented GLBT people who may not have had the opportunity beyond the walls of the ballroom to display their God given gifts.
Once the ball ends and reality sets in, the children are faced with real life issues, HIV/AIDS, homelessness, rejection from family, and low self esteem. But for one night they get to live the fantasy, right before our very eyes we get realness, butch queens, high fashion evening wear, butch mod face, and they bring it!
I have never been apart of the ball scene so this was educational for me and a reminder of how diverse and special our community really is. It was also sad to reflect on how many beautifully talented legends have been taken away from us due to AIDS.They’re gone but not forgotten. So this post is dedicated to those who are no longer with us and who got this little black boy all excited about New York City from watching you live life according to your own rules in Paris is Burning.
Rest in Peace
Dorian Corey
Avis Pendavis
Pepper Labeija
Hector Xtravaganza
Venus Xtravaganza
and hundreds of others who touched our lives.
1 Comments:
It was great to meet you at the screening. "How Do I Look" was really amazing and it was great to get Kevins perspective on "Paris is Burning" too. I never realized what a mixed blessing that film was. Bringing so much attention to the Ball scene but not exactly showing the best parts of the scene.
June 09, 2006 3:09 PM
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