PHOTOGRAPHY:
Toronto’s exploding ballroom scene, headed by House of Monroe, brings young people together in a joyful celebration of endless possibilities
For the past five years the House of Monroe has led an outburst of ball culture in the city, where queer youth and their friends dance at wildly exuberant events, competing in categories like vogue, face, realness, runway and best-dressed. Behind all the infectious fun is a complex support network that young people of colour have created for themselves. Organized into houses, these groups are families, sometimes more nurturing than the members’ own biological families.
An exhibition of ball photography by Christopher Cushman anchors this year’s Queering Black History Month. We talked to Cushman, event organizer Lali Mohamed and house mother Travoy Monroe about what they see in these images.
“They say that life is a runway,” says Travoy Monroe, aka Tyra or TKO Monroe. “Well balls are high school with runway. You have the same groups: the smart ones, the nerds, the mean ones… and you have to prove that you are better than the rest on the runway. If that sounds both a good thing and a bad thing, I mean it that way. You have to rise above all the shit or it will eat you alive.”
Travoy, now 25, is eager for newer houses to start up and for more people to get involved in the balls. “It’s a competition. Most Torontonians see it only as a show. You don’t have to belong to a house to compete. If you can walk you should walk.”
“It’s incredibly inspiring to see young black men so free”, says Queering Black History Month’s Lali Mohamed. “The space-making, culture-producing, family-building and gender-bending that the House of Monroe participates in every day is deeply political. The ballroom scene imagines a world where queer and trans black youth can be the fiercest and healthiest versions of themselves, free of homophobia, transphobia, racism and gender policing.
“The House of Monroe and other houses are really surrogate families that queer and trans-identified youths, some as young as 15 or 16, have made for themselves. These youth have created places of support and love and wisdom. That’s really powerful stuff.”
“I go to as many balls as I can,” says photographer Christopher Cushman. “This is history in the making. Though there’s a long history of balls in the US, this is new to Canada. It’s something really different, fresh and full of energy. There’s a spirit, a camaraderie that goes much deeper than any other gay event.” Cushman is culling thousands of shots he’s taken in the hopes of turning them into a book. A familiar face on the scene, he’s been given the nickname of Snaps Monroe. “It’s honorary. Usually you have to walk first before getting a name. Luckily they haven’t made me walk.”
Cushman used to belong to a house in Detroit where he grew up. “The scene here is different from the ball scene in the US, it reflects the multiculturalism of Toronto. Voguing is meant to be a street fight without ever touching. People face off in ‘battles.’ What I find most amazing is that after each battle, the first thing the loser does is walk over to the winner to give him a hug, with a big smile on his face. I mostly see the world as kind of a dark place these days, but not in the balls. They give me hope.”
HOUSE OF MONROE There’s a mini-ball performance, to conclude the Queering Black History Month, around 8pm on Wed, Feb 29 at Ryerson Students Centre. 55 Gould St. (There's a reception at 5:30pm; with a panel discussion at 6:30pm.) Look for a women’s ball in May and a big anniversary ball in September.
TORONTO KIKI BALLROOM ALLIANCE Events at York University on Wed, Feb 1 and Fri, Mar 2. Look for both groups on Facebook and YouTube.
