Introduction
-tavia nyong'o
"If the wish to be in on the secret is part of what keeps the cool hunters forever sniffing around the ball scene [...] the public performance and dramatic display of the openness of the secret is what keeps them clueless and forever guessing."
America was introduced to the ballroom scene with Paris is Burning.
There was then accusations of appropriation.
However, the ballroom scene thrives with REACHLA.
We have formed a community partnership with REACHLA.
We want to do these things to help build their archive.
This raises many moral, cultural, and community issues, which we will explore in this chapter.
We are giving credit to the taxonomic system of their own invention.
In the wake of the 1990 documentary film Paris is Burning and the subsequent mainstream "awareness" of the queer of color ballroom culture, we ask ourselves, what is the nature of the once-alternative scene that has since been taken up by performers from Madonna's "Vogue," to RuPaul's Drag Race? Once positing as the queer space for community, a facilitating space for what Foucault would call a 'new way of life', a new way of sociality where dominant hegemonic practices may be made illegible [ILLEGIBLE?] for a few ephemeral moments - what has become of it now? [SIMPLIFY, REFRAME IN SIMPLE STATEMENTS ABOUT WHAT IT WAS PRESUMED TO BE -- BUT ALSO, FOR WHOM? STARTS IN 70S BUT BECOMES POPULARIZED IN 1990S. ARE YOU ASKING IF ITS SPACE AS COUNTER PUBLIC OR SUBCULTURE HAS SURVIVED THIS APPROPRIATION AND NOTORIETY?]
We interrogate this question by engaging in an archival relationship with REACH LA, a Los Angeles area community organization that has served queer youth of color at risk of HIV/AIDS since the 90's. to document a specific ball event they sponsor each year called 'Ovahness Ball'. [NEW SENTENCE]. With many of the organizers of this annual event being former participants in the L.A. ball scene, the Ovahness Ball occupies a very unique position. Is it a nostalgic thing, signaling the days of the past? Is it a continuance of this subculture in L.A.? How does the house-ball scene's intimate relationship to a non-profit organization complicate its status as a subcultural, alternative phenomenon? Or perhaps, does it signal a new hope for queer community, as a sort of post-ballroom scene that does not merely 'resurrect' or continue the subculture of Paris is Burning, but in fact serve to bring out a new type of queer engagement? [DO YOU IN FACT GET CLOSE TO ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS?] And lastly, what would an archival engagement with this organization and scene look like with the aid of new technologies like born-digital video footages and Scalar itself?
We seek to entertain these questions through our archive in this chapter. This archive is composed of an interesting mix of various sorts of ephemera, from video footages of some of the performances to old flyers detailing performance categories. Through archiving this queer assemblage of materials, we take seriously Alexander Weheliye's declaration that new social possibilities for minorities are already being re-imagined - the point is not merely to pay closer attention, but "to pay different kinds of attention to perceive them more clearly." [I AM NOT GOING TO CORRECT YOUR QUOTATION MARKS THROUGH OUT -- LEARN IT; DO IT]
[ALSO:
1) SAY SOMETHING UP FRONT ABOUT THE STATUS OF REACH'S COLLECTION AND OXY'S BEGINNING TO HELP THEM WITH AN ARCHIVAL SURVEY
2) MOVE YOUR ARCHIVE SECTION TO THE END, COMBINE WITH BIBLIOGRAPHY.
3) USE SCALAR NOTATION SYSTEM
4) EVEN IN CHROME THE AUTOPLAY ON THE PROGRAM IS CACOPHONOUS -- I WILL ASK DAVID ABOUT THIS BUT IF YOU HAVE IDEA LET ME KNOW]
REACH LA (founded in 1992) is a Los Angeles based organization aimed at providing HIV/AIDS testing, prevention, education, and treatment. The original audience of the organization was primarily young women of color. Throughout the early 1990s, the organization used alcohol free dances as locations for learning opportunities for youth. In the early 2000s, REACH began to focus on media and art, specifically film. Youth involved in their programs wrote, directed, and filmed short videos that were entered into festivals like Fusion (a film festival for LGBT people of color).
In 2006, there was a distinct shift in the organization's focus. Black Queer folk became the primary population REACH served, still focusing on HIV testing and prevention. Many of REACH LA’s new community members were involved in the drag ball scene; REACH saw this subculture as an opportunity to connect with their new community. In 2006, REACH LA hosted the first Ovahness Ball. Admission was $5, and free HIV testing and counseling were provided. Ovahness has become an annual event, and recently threw its 10th Anniversary Ball. Now, admission is $40, or attendants can get tested for HIV and are admitted for free. REACH LA now focuses on the black queer male community as their principal demographic.Featured above is a promotional video for Ovahness, produced by Gina Lamb, showcasing the ball performers as they prepare for the event. In this clip, Lamb gives outsiders a dramatized glimpse into the lives of ball performers. While this video shows the over-the-top, extravagant, and dramatic aspects of ballroom culture, there is also a gritty underside. [TOO MUCH -- MAYBE GRAINY CELL PHONE VIDEO, BUT WE ARE NOT GETTING NEAR ANYTHING LIKE AN UNDERSIDE] REACH LA chose the Black Queer demographic as their primary community, because they there are disproportionately at risk of being exposed to and contracting HIV. Though their melding of ballroom performance and HIV prevention activism, REACH LA is working to reduce the threat of HIV to the Black Queer community. [COMBINE THIS HISTORY SECTION AND YOUR INTRO. CONDENSE. PUT THE VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM IF POSSIBLE. NOTE THAT UNLIKE LAMB'S VIDEO (AND GIVE FULLER CREDIT TO HER AS A FOUNDER AND HER CENTER/PROGRAM), YOU ARE DEALING WITH PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL FROM EPHEMERA TO PHONE VIDEOS]
