An unforgettable night in Ball History

The Greatest Ball on Earth

The Greatest Ball on Earth was held on Saturday, August 2, 2008 at the Frederick E. Samuel Center, 669 Lenox Avenue in New York City. The Greatest Ball on Earth was organized as a Grand Ball and Benefit.

A total of 40 categories were available for competition. Proceeds from the Ball benefitted the House of Manolo Blahnik Scholarship Fund, Harlem United, and the Greatest Ball on Earth Book Project.

Making their entrance at the Ball, Patricia Field and Andre J., among others.

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Legendary Andre Mizrahi was among the Legends, Icons, and new-comers who turned out to compete and support the Greatest Ball on Earth, an event organized by Terence Legend International.

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Fashion designer Richie Rich attended the Greatest Ball on Earth to show his support for the Ball community.

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Andre J., one of New York's celebrated "it" people, showed up. Pictured below, Andre J. is with a friend. During the Ball, Andre J. sat at a prominent table headed by the designer, Patricia Field.

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Lifetime achiever and Ballroom Hall of Famer Kevin Omni was on-hand, and he greeted fashion designer Patricia Field, the latter who is credited by Time magazine with helping to introduce the Ballroom scene into mainstream pop culture. Here, Mr. Omni and Ms. Field appear with filmmaker and community organizer Wolgang Busch.

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Also at the Ball was the dancer Jose Xtravaganza, who was "Vogue" choreographer for Madonna. Mr. Xtravaganza was one of the principal dancers in Madonna's music video for "Vogue," and he was also featured in her successful documentary, Madonna - Truth or Dare. Patricia Field is a fashion designer, who recently was the distinguished costume designer for the hit series, Sex in the City.

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After half of the categories had been judged, Terence Legend International presented awards to various individuals for their contribution to the Ball community. Here, Wolfgang Busch holds his award; standing next to him is Terence Legend International.

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Former Mother of the House of Xtravaganza, Carmen Xtravaganza received a tremendous reception from the audience. Carmen Xtravaganza is a transgendered beauty and one of the most respected mothers of houses in the Ballroom community.

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Fashion is important at Balls. Wearing a fishnet body suit and in pumps, Omar attracted a lot of attention, even when just making the rounds.

Later in the competition, Omar, who is a member of the House of Field, would go on to win in the category of BQ Runway up in Pumps.

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Winner in the category of FQ Legendary Face with an Iconic Attitude was Carmen Xtravaganza.

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To find out about other individuals, who are important in the Ball community, please visit the How Do I Look website.

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Madonna's music video for 'Vogue'

"Beauty's where you find it"

Of course, there is this video, which was responsible for bringing the "Vogue" style of dance from the runways of "Ball" competitions and onto the dance floors around the world:

According to Wikipedia (as of 27-Nov-2007), with the release of the music video for "Vogue:"

Madonna brought the hitherto underground "vogueing" culture into the mainstream with the release of her song (See Vogue_(song).

Meanwhile, Lady Bunny, a New York City night life personality, claims that it is not entirely clear who should be credited with bringing "Vogue" the dance form to the masses:

There are disputes over who first brought vogueing to the mainstream, but Willi definitely played a large part in it (See Lady Bunny's blog post about the Willi Ninja Benefit).

1989: A critical year for 'Voguing'

Update (20-Jan-2008): I have assembled an early history of voguing, as reported across newspaper and magazine articles in 1989.

History of 'Vogue' dance style in American pop music videos

Using the commentary by Willi Ninja in the documentary How Do I Look, I have assembled the history of how voguing progressed through mainstream American pop music on the Squidoo page for the 'How Do I Look' documentary.

Where are Madonna's vogue dancers?

Who were Madonna's vogue dancers? One of the men who dances in the music video for "Vogue" is Jose Xtravaganza, who also appears in the documentary, How Do I Look.

History of 'Vogue' according to How Do I Look documentary