Ballroom Has Something to Say: An Ode to Black Gay and Queer Men

A performance-lecture conceived, curated, and presented by Ballroom Icon Founder Michael Roberson Maison-Margiela that explores these fundamental queries: What is performance? Does it have a politics? Does it have a theology? What are the conditions in which performance can open spaces of critique and propositions of freedom?

This performance explores these questions through the history and narrative of the Black LGBTQ+ House and Ballroom community. An intentional and inter-generational kinship communal structure whose roots stem from the Harlem Renaissance, Ballroom was created through the ethos of Black Trans Women in New York City and has now migrated across the US and the world. We examine the community’s pains, its struggles, its joys, its triumphs, and its brilliance, in ways that go beyond the 1990’s documentary “Paris is Burning”, the groundbreaking television show “Pose”, and HBO/Max’s ballroom competition show “Legendary”.

The performance weaves together the Black art forms of dialogue, song and spoken word, along with ballet and Ballroom’s signature dance form vogue. It features a stellar, star-studded cast of Ballroom’s most prolific artists, performers and voguers. It is our fundamental belief and assertion that “Ballroom Has Something to Say”: it teaches us what it means to be human in the struggle for freedom while confronted with catastrophe.

This event is organized by NYU's Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality and co-sponsored by NYU's Department of Art & Public Policy, Performance Studies, the Center for Ballet and the Arts, and the Center for Black Visual Culture.

Location: The program will take place at NYU's Grand Hall. 238 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10012

NYU campus access guidelines: Registration is required. Register with your first and last name as it is on your ID. Non-NYU guests will be asked to present a government-issued photo ID. NYU guests must present their NYU ID.

Accessibility note: If you have any access needs, please email [email protected] at least 2 weeks before the event.

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New York University, The grand hall, New York, United States

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