POSH BALL 2023

• Ticket gets you access to the ball area only (outdoor venue with bathrooms)
• For Spectators and Walkers
• No access to indoor D6 lounge area

Minors may attend the ball with a guardian - Please email guardian info to [email protected] 2 days before the ball.

• Ticket gives you access to both the outdoor venue where the ball is AND the indoor D6 lounge for the entire evening.
• D6 lounge during ball = access to your own bar, live stream viewing of ball inside
• Prioritized VIP section on side of runway

Didn't get enough at the POSH BALL and wanna keep the party going? Join us at the luxurious D6 lounge for an evening of fab beats, drinks and moves to wrap up a fabulous night.

• Ticket gets you into the after party D6 Lounge area only
• This is ticket will NOT get you into the ball area before 11pm
• No minors, strictly 19+ years of age

The chair has been an important artistic catalyst both in the gallery and design worlds - we ask you to bring your hands together to bring an artistically designed chair of your choice for your 10’s > moving onto standing for battles.

Dada was an art movement formed during the First World War in Zurich in a negative reaction to the horrors and folly of the war. Many of Dada’s visual imagery plays with the everyday, today we ask for your performance to bring an everyday prop for you 10’s > battles will move forward without any prop.

BQVF, FQ, Twister, Womens, Old Way vs. New Way, Drags

Show us the canvas that is your gorgeous new face, in a matching cream/canvas like effect.

New/Beginner = has been walking the category, but has yet to win within 1-2 years.

Walkers must bring it in a minimalism inspired effect - lines, black and white, less is more.

Virgin Category = people that have NEVER walked a ball

We ask all performers to walk in effect inspired by the 3 colours of Bauhaus - Red, Blue and Yellow. Must have all 3 colours present in order to make your 10’s.

Virgin Category = people that have NEVER walked a ball

Since the dawn of time the human body has been celebrated as one of the most devine artistic creations on this planet. We ask you to embody the statues of the past with Male Figure in metallic inspired sculptures, and Female Figures in statues of stone. Must bring reference image to judges for 10’s. Final MF and FF will walk for cash prize.

*Althea Branton - An accessible genderfluid skincare line to cleanse & nourish functioning skin

This stuff doesn't install itself! Bring it both Male Figure or Female Figure in an art handler effect - the people who help install artwork in the gallery. Final MF and FF will walk for cash prize.

You're going to the Vancouver Art Gallery, period. Give us an undeniably REAL look as if you were going to the gallery on a date, on a school field trip, or trying to impress the CEO. MF and FF will have individual cash and trophies.

Going once, going twice, going three times, SOLD! Commentators must bring it in a Sotheby's Auctioneer worthy effect, fit to sell only the finest art known to human existence.

You're invited to the opening night gala at the MoMa for a retrospective of a famous artist, what do you wear!? Looks should impress, and be undeniably the Best Dressed on the runway. Finals MF, FF and GNC will battle for the cash prize.

*Sponsored by - created for those who love delicate jewelry with unique designs, jewelry for people who know you don't have to be bold to shine bright.

Give us a face only Da Vinci could paint, and bring your masterpiece in a frame to match. Tag team pairs do not have to be house affiliated, and can be mixed MF or FF.

We want to see the multiverse of art all in one magnificent piece of art. HOW BIZARRE.

You are the ART. Walk the runway in some of the most iconic art pieces, with a walk that would make the judges gag. Must have looks specific to runway breakdowns:

European - Impressionism

American - Cubism

Drags Runway - Surrealism

Finalists from European, American and Drags will walk for cash prize.

1. Please come prepared knowing what to expect. If you are walking in a category for the first time.
2. Please do your research and understand that there can only be one winner per category.
3. Look up videos on YouTube, come to a VVJ session, look at the resources on www.vanvoguejam.com, reach out to us by e-mail or on Instagram. Please use the resources around you to be prepared. We also encourage you to ask us for feedback before you compete so that you feel strong going into the ball.
4. We want everyone to have fun, to feel they were able to serve their best, and we want everyone to have a fair chance at competing but you WILL be chopped during your 10s and unable to compete if you are unprepared.

We would like to acknowledge that we are coming together virtually to celebrate on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) Nations.

As an organization that is founded by non Black and Latinx people we acknowledge our ongoing need to question and reflect on how we navigate practicing our ballroom scene here in Vancouver, BC. We know we do not have all the answers and are always looking to be better. We are always seeking and open to how we can better support the Queer/Trans Black and Brown folks that founded the culture we love and share through VVJ.

Creating safe space has always been at the heart of ballroom culture and we hope that this event can be a safe space for everybody to enjoy.

Oppressive attitudes and behaviours including but not limited to misogyny, transphobia, racism, fat phobia, ableism, and general bigotry are not welcome here.

Racism, Anti-Blackness, homophobia, transphobia and sexism are ongoing battles that are being experienced in America, Canada and the rest of the world. We all have a lot of work to do in the ongoing fight for equality and have compiled a list of resources to help you support, donate, educate and take action to help you wherever you may be in your continued unlearning/relearning process.

If there are ways VVJ can better create an inclusive and safe space please do inform us by e-mail at [email protected] so that we may listen to your input and improve on this for future events.

Ballroom culture, drag ball culture, the house-ballroom community, and similar terms describe an underground queer subculture in which people "walk" (i.e., compete), perform, dance, lip-sync, and model in different categories, which are designed to simultaneously epitomize and satirize gender constructs, occupations, and social classes, while also offering an escape from reality. Category participants are required to “walk” one by one to receive full approval from all judges, known as ‘receiving your 10s’. Competitors are judged on their abilities, “effect” (costumes, appearance, theatrics, presentation), and perceived “realness” (embodied and/or visual believability, authenticity). Those who make their 10s battle one on one against each other for trophies, prizes, and glory.

Ballroom culture emerged in the late 1960s in New York City, birthed by the Black and Latinx LGBTQ2S+ community who were excluded from the drag pageant world of white America. The development of the Ballroom scene created safe and inclusive spaces for these communities to explore and experience life styles from which they were excluded due to systemic oppression.

Vogue is a freestyle competitive dance form that utilizes 5 key elements in an improvised battle with other competitors. Currently (although open to interpretation within various vogue communities), the five popular elements of Vogue Performance are catwalk, hands, duckwalk, spins and dips, and floor performance.

“For decades, ballroom, ball or house culture has been a way for queer blacks and Latinos to live their best lives – that is, to figure out how to respond to a society that devalued their lives and attempted to erase their presence. Through elaborate performances incorporating and commenting on race, class and gender, the ball community has historically reflected the American Dream and one’s exclusion from it.” - Les Fabian Brathwaith (Quote from Rolling Stones).

An event that hosts a series of competitive categories, each with their own focus. Having been birthed in NYC by communities of Queer Black and Latinex people out of a need for safe nightlife spaces due to the discrimination they faced, balls are typically centred around creating safe space for LGBTQIA2+ POC.

Spectators, competitors, and judges, come together to celebrate people within their communities and compete against each other in different categories. Some of the most popular categories are Vogue Performance, Sex Siren, Hands, Runway, Bazaar, and Face. Each of these categories have specific requirements, and competitors are judged by a panel on how well they accomplish them. Before competing against others, category participants are required to “walk” one by one to receive full approval from all judges, known as ‘receiving your 10s’. Competitors who make their 10s battle one on one against each other to impress the judges until there is one winner.

Please contact VVJ for more information at [email protected]

Event Venue

D/6 Bar & Lounge, 39 Smithe St, Vancouver, Canada

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

Get App