Elize's theory page

PARIS IS BURNING

Before the theory lessons started I watched Paris is burning. Before I watched the documentary, I didn't have much knowledge about voguing. After watching the documentary, which lasted more than an hour, I was overwhelmed by the documentary in a very positive way. I love how in voguing everyone is free to express themselves in the way the person wants. Everyone is treated and accepted equally. Space is offered in which they can show everything about themselves, nothing has to be hidden because this can be found "strange" by others.

Elize's practical page

Illustration by: Rooney

Beautiful quote from Dorian corey

“we as black people for the past 400 years is the greatest example of behavior modification in history of civilization we have had everything taken away from us and yet we have all learned how to survive. That’s why in the Ball room it is so obvious that if you have captured the great wat of white living or looking or dressing or speaking, you is a marvel.”

“but its still a fame, it’s a small fame, you like the applause, the people cheering you on, the winning. It’s like a physical high, a good high, it’s an addictive high, like all highs in the long term turn out to be. But it’s a high that won’t hurt you. If everybody went to balls and did les drugs it would be a fun world, wouldn’t it?

I will never forget Venus Xtravaganza. The fact that she was found dead under a hotel bed made me feel sad. Her dream was to be a rich white woman, a model behind the cameras in a high fashion world. To earn money she did escort work. In the documentary, she tells how she once escaped from a client who became aggressive when he found out she is transgender. The chance that she died of a similar situation is high. What makes me angry is that the killer has still not been found and is running free.

The Voguing Dance Scene in New Zealand

The great thing about this documentary is that "normal life" is also shown here. The grief, the family, being at home without make-up, dancing. By also showing these sides it becomes even better to understand.

Roy aati is filmed in his house. He talks about Paris is Burning:
"Everyone in Paris is burning documentary have this bit of a lost soul but fount trought the ballroom scene. You know like past lifes, it just felt like i was there one time. All these people seeme like they walked the same path as I do".

Paris isn't always burning

Reading the article "Paris isn't always burning" has been an eye opener for me. It was wonderful about the documentary to see all the fame and the beautiful sides of life. But of course life isn't always that glamorous. ritici highlight how documentaries realism, a claim to truth and to showing life as it actually is, does not automatically produce ethical and emancipatory projects. What the camera documents is always mediated in some way. There are filmic snatches of the ordinary included: brief close-ups of nonverbal interactions like walking down the street side by side; glimpses of dialogue in Spanish; a writer discussing craft. These scenes create a temporality outside the narrative framework of Paris Is Burning, outside the charismatic and larger-than-life productivity the documentary demands. It would have been so nice if this had also been given a stage in the documentary.

Kia LaBeija

"I'm badass, i'm definitely badass"

"I'm ready to puch harder and puch forward"

"And although i live in a country that for many years was designed to hate me, i'm better at time, i own this. "

CARMEN WINANT - BIRTH AND ITS METAPHORS

When I saw the performance Birth and its metaphors I became very emotional. The way of performing came in undeniably, the images with the words, so powerful. Never before have I had so many photos of pregnancy and delivery. So pure and the woman so powerful. It is such a beautiful thing.

When I found this painting, it captures my attention with its vibrant patterns and tones. But it's the undeniable bond between mother and child that really gives us all the feels. Jamaican-born, London-based Henry-Lowe shows the beauty of black women, in a scenario we can all relate to.

Motherhood by Mikela Henry-Lowe

Another example of a representation of the power in a woman is this one. She is standing there, so powerful and strong, embracing heritage with her traditional costume.

Ijo by Àsìkò