i-D online | Behind-the-Scenes: Vogue New York for The Just Kids Issue

The Just Kids Issue: Vogue New York

Inside club Escuelita, off Times Square in New York, Paris is burning all over again as a new wave of Ballroom kids dip, dive and death drop the dancefloor, to a chorus of cheers and crazy beats… the legendary MikeQ (pictured right) and Tamera Williams from The House Of Prodigy take i-D on a tour of Vogue New York.

Originally appeared inThe Just Kids Issue, Pre-Fall 2012.

Vogue Balls have a legacy that can be traced back to New York’s Harlem district in the 60s. Then cult film Paris Is Burningcirca 1990 introduced an already established subculture to a worldwide audience and at once the idea of Vogue and Ballroom became embedded in our consciousness as a form of expression that in turn informed the mainstream, and pretty soon we were all at it… a movement was born. The music, dance and sense of occasion spawned a global phenomenon, its stars becoming household names. Today in New York the Vogue scene exists with it’s fundamental ethos intact, as a series of events that support the LGBT community on a number of levels, providing guidance via ‘Houses’, ‘House Mothers’ and safe spaces in which to state inventive and flamboyant forms of expression. Alive and flourishing in 2012 with a new breed of head-turning ‘House Children’ energetically dipping in the “New Way” (post 1990), “Old Way” (pre 1990) and Vogue Femme with walk-offs and classic moves, Vogue Balls today are still providing a catwalk of expressive gesticulation. At Gorgeous Teen Sundays at Escuelita, or Esco’s as it’s known by the locals, up near Time Square in New York City, an afternoon session is about to begin… Here we present an extra-exclusive behind-the-scenes video, for much more where this came from pick-up a copy our Just Kids Issue, copyhere.

Text: Princess Julia
Photography and filming:Matthew Stone
Film editing: Mr Wize
Music: ‘Vibes’ by MikeQ