A still from the video
Purple Crush’s “Vogue Opera”
The producer, singer duo's ode to vogue
Just last week, in my Queer Politics lecture, the professor spoke about queer safe spaces. Vogue nights and the ballroom scene were discussed — Paris is Burning was referenced though academically discredited (and rightly so. I suggest you read our feature on Pier Kids’ Elegance Bratton, from Issue 3, to further familiarize yourself on the topic). Still, with vogue nights being reduced to one night a month, you have to ask; after years of providing LGB&T minority youths with spaces of solace and familial vibes, where is voguing in 2016? The answer can be found in producer, and singer duo Purple Crush, who recently premiered their “8-minute long video “Vogue Opera” (directed by Ash + Bone) [which] is a miniature Vogue exhibition indebted both to the art, and a celebration of their own Banjee Ball.”
“Divided into four separate performances, individual dancers and teams compete by exchanging sensual spins and poses before color-filtered cameras. Joining them is Purple Crush’s singer Isla Chanel, herself a competing (and Grand prize winning) voguer in the house of Chanel.” From start to finish the video is nonstop neon, glamour, absolutely synchronized, pristine realness. Moving through a series of vignettes that get more gag-worthy as time progresses.
Voguing is fantastic and in the last few years has been hyper-visualized by social media in arguably the wrong way (as has everything else… tbh). But to fix that, GAYLETTER tries to do our share by throwing our annual ball during Pride weekend. If you missed the House of LaBeija and the House of Mugler at last year’s…. it was bananas, to say the least. But on the real, voguing when done right is a celebration of the body, of sex, of anything and everything that people say shouldn’t be shown in the street. It’s triumphant, athletic and meant to entertain (but also slaaaayyyyyyyyyyy!). If you plan on coming to 2016’s Pride Ball, start practicing now, queen!
