Fake It Till You Make It !

Today, voguing is popular thousands of kilometres away from its place of inception; namely, the underground theatres of Harlem where, in the mid-1960s,1 1  - According to some specialists, voguing may have originated in the 1930s in the decadent parties held in such Harlem theatres as the Elks Lodge and the Rockland Palace. See Chantal Regnault, Voguing and the House Ballroom Scene of New York City 1989 – 92 (New York: Soul Jazz Books, 2011). heavily made-up “queens” and other LGBT performers (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender individuals) struck highly stylized poses inspired by Vogue magazine. At these vogue balls, where dance, fashion, and pop music2 2  - House music defines this style as of the 1980s. flourished together, local stars aspired to shine on the stage of the international fashion scene. Over the years, some certainly earned their share of the spotlight thanks to the culture of music videos. However, the majority succumbed to the AIDS crisis and were never able to witness vogue’s emancipation.

At the time, no drag queen could have imagined that a contemporary dance/performance show inspired by voguing would ever become a glittering success on the world’s leading stages. Recently, one show, Paris Is Burning at the Judson Church by New York choreographer Trajal Harrell, was able to accomplish this unexpected feat. The work (which circulates in several versions) has inflamed large audiences from Montreal’s Place des Arts (where a medium-length version titled (M)imosa³ 3 - (M)imosa was presented in 2012 at the Cinquième salle de la Place des Arts during the Festival TransAmériques (FTA). was presented) to the Théâtre national de Chaillot in Paris. Harrell can proudly claim to have fulfilled the ultimate dream of the legends of vogue: to make the City of Lights — the cult destination of haute couture — “burn” by dazzling it with talent and eccentricity. Watching this excessive, carnivalesque androgynous work is a breathtaking experience. Audience reactions range from roaring laughter to suppressed shouts, but most pay heed to the decorum appropriate to such bastions of the cultural establishment. Through a series of one-(wo)man shows, incredible performers such as Cecilia Bengolea, François Chaignaud, Marlene Monteiro Freitas and Trajal Harrell, attempt to convince the public that they are the real Mimosa. Their fervour is as hilarious as it is relentless. By alternating between histrionic dance sequences, romantic songs, tear-jerking narratives, and pageants, they appropriate the identity of an unknown character. Their zeal is the only measure of their authenticity.