Pose!

“Life is too short to be shy”

This was one piece of advice from Amber Vineyard as the students of Queer Life and Activism stood in a nearby dance studio at the beginning of our Voguing class last Thursday. Vineyard, with her effortlessly cool clothes and unapologetic confidence introduced our group to the main tenets of Vogue. Are you thinking of Madonna? Think again. In an interview with Pride Amsterdam in 2019 Vineyard said “Voguing is a stylized dance form that originated in the black and Latino LGBT scene in New York. It is the dance style that belongs to ballroom culture. Many people know the dance style, but know nothing about the culture that goes with it. Madonna came by and picked up some elements from voguing, but she gave nothing back to the voguing community. I don’t hate her, but she just doesn’t come out of the scene.” 

Vineyard is the house mother of the House of Vineyard, one of the largest ballroom houses in Europe. Created by Vineyard in 2015, this community offers a chosen family atmosphere for young dancers and members of the Queer community in Amsterdam. We are so lucky to have been taken under her wing for even an hour to learn about this important and historical form of expression. 

We began with posing. Even though you could feel the nerves in the room, everyone really went for it. Hands on hips, arms in the air, chests puffed out, the poses evolved again and again. From there we graduated to the catwalk, the ultimate test of confidence. We strutted across the floor to the pulsing music, going wild as we saw everyone leave it all out on the floor. As each group stepped up we would cheer their names, and marvel at the diversity of interpretations of the poses. By the end of our hour together, I’m sure I was not the only person disappointed to leave. As we were dancing, members of the House of Vineyard slowly filled the space outside the studio. They practiced behind us, twirling, strutting and posing. We left feeling a little taller, a little more confident in the beautifully unique bodies we inhabit. Who knows, a future star of the European ballroom scene may be among us!