Few sub-cultural wells have been, and continue to be, as thoroughly pumped (or “pimped”) as ball culture – especially the African American and Puerto Rican-forged ball culture captured for the ages in the seminal but flawed documentary Paris is Burning.
In that film (for the uninitiated,) members of the culture explain its core elements as follows. The various Houses (usually named after either a famous fashion designer or the Mother of the House) are surrogate families ruled by Mothers, who are sometimes trans women, sometimes larger-than-life gay men. “Fathers” are occasionally present in secondary roles. The “children” are largely LGBT runaways, though sometimes members still live with or are in contact with blood relatives; some refer to themselves as “gay gangs” who battle through dance.
Voguing is the stylized dancing that is the lingua franca of it all, originally inspired by fashion model poses in magazines, though the form has evolved and mutated from its original source moves. Madonna brought the culture to mainstream attention (with great personal profit) with her classic track “Vogue.” (Ball culture flavor also permeates her influential documentary Truth or Dare.) Lady Gaga has referenced it repeatedly, as have Beyonce, Janet Jackson, and a host of lesser pop divas. And lingo from the culture (“shade,” “reading,” “realness”) has been beaten like the proverbial horse by countless culture journalists, pop culture figures, and white suburban housewives chasing trends.
FKA Twigs – singer, songwriter, dancer, visual artist, all-around artistic beast – has long nodded to ball culture in her live performances, slipping voguing into the choreography that accompanies her esoteric musical stylings. It’s not surprising that she’s in full-on tribute mode in her latest video, “Glass and Patron,” which she also directed.
Photo: FKA Twigs, Facebook.
The clip opens with the camera moving slowly through a misty forest before settling on a white van. Inside, Twigs is giving birth to rainbow colored silk (i.e., the gay flag) which turns out to be covering her multi-racial, multi-gendered brood of children. After some writhing by the full grown newborns beneath the cloth, a tribal beat kicks in and Mother and children are then shown voguing on a sleek catwalk (still in the woods) wearing outfits that range from haute couture banji boy to Fifth Element inspired drag.
The visuals are absolutely gorgeous – rich, vibrant colors fill the screen, from the dark black skin of one dancer to the neon colored attire of others, with the camera moving fluidly from close-ups to wide and long shots that let you fully take in the movement. The crew kills the choreography, which features many iconic vogue moves – including some patented by ball legend Jose Extravangaza – and also throws in a subtle nod to krumping.
Considering how many wack culture vultures are doing ball culture badly, it’s thrilling to see someone get it right – paying tribute to the forebears while putting their own twist on it. And unlike so many pop divas who’ve fed on the culture, Twigs – while playing the fierce Mother – makes it clear that this is a community of kindred spirits, and not just human frames for a pop star.
Ernest Hardy is a Sundance Fellow whose music and film criticism have appeared in the New YorkTimes, the Village Voice, Vibe, Rolling Stone, LA Times, and LA Weekly. His collection of criticism, Blood Beats Vol. 1: Demos, Remixes and Extended Versions (2006) was a recipient of the 2007 PEN / Beyond Margins Award.
