đ¤đź The Street Symphony Kiki Ball đźđ¤Date: Sunday, 31st August 2025
Time:
đ¤ Q&A Panel Talk: 5PM â Ballroom 101, Culture, History, and Voices
đ Ball Start Time (Sharp!): 6PM â 10PM
Location: Factory International, The Social, Manchester
Open to All Communities | Celebrating Queer, Trans, and Black Excellence
⸝
⨠WHAT IS BALLROOM?
Born from the resistance and brilliance of Black and Latinx queer and trans communities in 1970s NYC, Ballroom culture is a space for expression, competition, survival, and artistry. Participants âwalkâ in categories judged on realness, fashion, performance, and storytelling. A Kiki Ball is a more intimate, community-based event â a place to train, experiment, and most importantly⌠bring it.
⸝
𧞠COMMON ABBREVIATIONS IN BALLROOM:
⢠FQ â FemQueen (Trans Woman)
⢠TM â TransMan
⢠VF â Vogue Femme
⢠BQ â Butch Queen (Cisgender Gay Man)
⢠OTA â Open To All (category open to all identities)
⢠RWT â Realness With a Twist (blend of realness and performance)
⸝
Imagine a city block at sunset. The streetlights flicker on as music floats through the air â a blend of subway brakes, jazz in a back alley, a car bassline passing, a boombox playing Aaliyah, a kid learning trumpet in the upstairs window. This city is alive with rhythm.
In this world, fashion and music become one. Itâs where high fashion meets corner hustle, where runway lives on pavement, and where every individual is both instrument and performer. The Street Symphony is the ball where every look plays a note, and every category is a movement in a living score.
JUDGES TBA
MC TBA
DJ TBA
OTA FACE (đđ)MF/FF
Portrait-Ready Icons
Male Figure:
Tailored or structured streetwear jackets
High necks, luxe t-shirts, oversized GQ-style coats. Color palette: monochrome with earth tones (deep olives, blacks, greys)
Female Figure:
Satin blouses, bandeaus with wide-leg trousers or pencil skirts
Rooftop-ready glam: windblown hair, glossy lips, gold foil details
Think Solange in Donât Touch My Hair meets Helmut Lang.
LIP SYNCđ
10s Songs:
Monica - Street Symphony
Missy Elliott - Work It
Raye - Oscar Winning Tears
Battles
Destiny Child - Survior
FASHION KILLAđ
This is the category for the textile poets. Youâre stepping out as if music lived in fabric. Imagine Yamamoto walking through the Bronx â your outfit blends tailored layers with chaotic rhythm. A trench with a piano key belt. Patchwork denim meets deconstructed elegance.
HANDS VS ARMSđ
The music starts, and your hands become the conductorâs wand. Youâve dressed for movement, not modesty. Tailored cropped jackets reveal gloved arms, wrapping around themselves like treble clefs.
OTA VOGUE FEMME (BQ/FQ/DRAGS/WOMENS/RWT/FQ)đ
Your look should feel like youâve raided a forgotten costume room in an abandoned opera house, but styled it your way. Think corseted tops unraveling into deconstructed tutus, puff sleeves torn and tagged with graffiti, opera gloves fingerless and ready to carry.
OLD WAY VS NEW WAYđ
Old Way enters the room like an 80s Bronx bandleader â crisp military precision, strong lines, shoulders squared like a drumline captain.
New Way follows â liquid limbs, asymmetry, and elastic defiance. This is Harlemâs street corner flex culture transformed into fashion: cropped hoods, skin-tight layers, and neon threads that move like static in the air.
BEGINNERS PERFORMANCEđ
Oversized school uniforms, ripped sheet music, spray-painted instruments. Youâre messy, creative, and not following any rules â and thatâs the point.
COMM VS COMMđ
Chant to a drumline beat to get your 10s.
Include ONE well known line from a popular song in your battles.
OTA WAACKINđ
Youâre dancing under the spinning mirrorball of a 1980s disco club. You walk in with a wind machine in your soul â fringe flying off your sleeves, a wide-legged jumpsuit that sparkles with every sharp arm swing. Take it back to Studio 54.
OTA SEX APPEAL (CLOTHED!)đ
The door creaks open to a late-night jazz bar. Red lighting kisses your cheekbones. You glide through the haze in satin and silks, every movement deliberate, like youâre part of a slow-burning sax solo. Your shirt is slightly unbuttoned â not sloppy, just tempting.
OTA BODY (CLOTHED)đ
Your body is the bassline. Wrapped in high-shine vinyl, ruched leather, or skin-tight lycra, every inch of you is a sculpted note.
MF REALNESS (MANDATORY FOR RWT)đ
Youâre a fixture on the block â always seen, rarely noticed, until tonight. Your hoodieâs up, your jeans are cuffed just right, and your headphones rest around your neck like a crown. You carry a guitar case â maybe itâs real, maybe not â and the coins in your busking cup jingle in rhythm with your walk.
FF REALNESS (DRAGS, FQ)đ
Youâre walking home from dance class, sweat on your brow, Aaliyah in your ears. Youâre in low-rise cargos, a crop top, boxers peeking through the waistband. Hair slicked into a ponytail, you look like you just finished rehearsal with Janet. Or maybe youâre Lauryn, holding your book bag with pride, lip gloss in one pocket, lyrics in the other. This is the moment between class and real life â but tonight, you are the main character.
TM REALNESSđ
Youâve rewritten the rules, and youâve done it with timing. Youâre the jazz player that everyone counts on â always on time, always in tune. You wear a well-fitted shirt, pressed slacks, a smart jacket, or maybe a clean-cut polo with fresh kicks. You carry a trumpet, or maybe just the energy of someone who plays one. You nod in rhythm as you wait your turn, sharp fade catching the light.
EU RUNWAYđ
Youâve just left a symphony afterparty in Milan. Your coat sweeps the floor. Your silhouette is extreme: shoulder pads slicing the air, collars popped like orchestral crescendos. Your outfit speaks in foreign tongues â maybe thereâs a music note clutch in your hand or a corset that laces like a violin. Thereâs sophistication in every stitch, but underneath, a whisper of rebellion. This is streetwear that got a PhD in fashion.
AA RUNWAYđ
Youâre the star soloist at the cityâs street parade. You bounce down the block like you own the pavement. A varsity jacket flashes with your name embroidered, sneakers laced in parade-ready colours. Your hatâs cocked, your grinâs cockier. You might have a whistle around your neck or a baton as a prop. But make no mistake: youâre here for fun â and a little bit of flair.
BEGINNERS RUNWAYđ
Youâve just stepped off the bus, headphones on, volume up. Your favorite track is blasting. A hoodie worn sideways like a drumline sash. Maybe your belt is an old CD, maybe your walkman is clipped to your pants. Youâve turned your bedroom playlist dreams into a full look. Think Y2K mixtape energy, headphones oversized, attitude larger.
TEAM PERFORMANCEđ
âGraduating from Art Schoolâ
This is your final show. After years of training, fighting, falling, and flourishing, your class members are finally taking the stage for their graduation moment. Youâre not walking â youâre presenting your thesis in movement.
Each member is a different kind of artist. One is the choreographer, twirling in chalk-dusted rehearsal wear. One is the costume designer, draped in pins and muslin. Another is the composer, dragging a staff-lined cape behind them. Together, you form the graduating class of the Street Symphony Conservatory â and this is your final project.
Your performance should feel like a gallery opening mixed with a showcase.
Minimum: 4 People
Maximum: 6 People
All productions to be emailed before 25th August 2025 12PM to [email protected]
TICKETS LIVE TUESDAY.
MORE INFO TBCđ¤
đ
Event Venue
Factory International, Aviva Studios,Manchester, United Kingdom
