This Is Our House: The Resurgence of New York’s Voguing Balls
Steve Lewis
October 15, 2009
Hector Xtravaganza (Grandfather of the House of Xtravaganza)
Voguing broke into pop culture in 1990 with the debut of Madonna’s black-and-white “Vogue” video, which was choreographed by Jose Xtravaganza. When he was introduced to the pop princess at an audition he saw “this woman sitting on top of a speaker, with a long trench coat and all of her hair under a newspaper boy’s hat. Very stylish. She said to me, ‘I heard you’re the shit. I heard you’re the one who can do this vogue thing, and I wanna see.’” And thus the House of Xtravaganza inspired the first of the Material Girl’s manly reinventions.
Carmen Xtravaganza
House mother Carmen Xtravaganza (who I personally watched grow from a precocious brat into a beacon of responsibility) helps new members find themselves and make the transition into the transgender lifestyle. “I see them as they are, and how I was at their age, and how I struggled to become the person that I am—though they have it so much easier now.”
Q Xtravaganza
So what’s the philosophy of the House of Xtravaganza? According to Jose it’s a simple command for perpetual readiness: “To come done.”
Photography by Victoria Will. Special thanks to Greg Brier and Amalia.
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