The ballroom is ready to reopen on Sunday, June 9th with 10 shady episodes of the drama series Pose. Pose explores the underground world of ballroom; an LGBTQ sub-culture in which people ‘walk’ (compete) to win trophies at elaborate balls. The show features the largest cast of LGBTQ characters for a scripted series ever, plus a large amount of transgender actors.
Pose explores the juxtaposition of several segments of life and society: the underground ball culture, the rise of the Trump-era luxury universe and the downtown social and literary scene that came to define New York in the 1980s. Voguing, we are reminded with bodies not words, is more than a way of life. It’s an act of black queer resistance.
So far, Pose—which was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canals—has been nominated for a 2019 Golden Globe for Best Television Series Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series Drama for Pittsburgher Billy Porter, and earned a Peabody Award nomination.
Inspired by the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning, Pose gives a nod to everything from John Waters to Glow. Blanca Rodriguez works in a nail salon by day and is breaking away from the House of Abundance by night. She is part of a team that is competing in the underground ballroom scene, populated mostly by black and Latino trans and gay people. These “houses” are run by formidable “house mothers,” defiantly and poignantly recreating the families that once rejected them. Then there’s the city of New York, “the most iconic house mother of all,” who welcomes everybody into her bosom and stands for both nurture and danger.
Season 2 will make the leap into the following decade, opening on the day Madonna’s single “Vogue” was released in 1990. Also, on the heels of the ballroom community establishing itself in pop culture and going mainstream, the House of Evangelista is forced to re-evaluate its goals. Meanwhile, the AIDS crisis worsens and the reaction from a group of activists reaches a fever pitch. Lead actress MJ Rodriguez will share many scenes with the double Grammy and double Tony winner Patti LuPone.
LGBTQ icon Bette Midler and stage veteran Judith Light will also join the Pose cast, with show writer Janet Mock set to make her directorial debut. Murphy has also hinted that Madonna may well make a cameo.
Pose treats with respect, pathos, and love both the glamour of the ballroom and the guts of the AIDS crisis, transphobia, sexism, and racism. It’s a charismatic dance-off between appearance and reality, in which both sides are equally matched.
In Pittsburgh, community organization True T holds balls throughout the year. Visit them on Facebook or at TrueTPgh.com
