I just saw a video of people dancing, they were doing it in a style called Vogue dancing. The only 2 things I know about it are that it looks like nothing I’ve seen before and that it is part of LGBT culture.

Can someone explain the move-set and the history behind this dance culture? (The arm flailing, the extreme “falls”, etc..).

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[deleted] t1_j6esk92 wrote on January 29, 2023 at 9:04 PM

#1,590,502

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cantrell_blues t1_j6ev19j wrote on January 29, 2023 at 9:19 PM

#1,590,875

Vogue evolved from the culture of queer ballrooms where dance gatherings, contests and shows were held. Modern "vogue" almost died in the 80s with the AIDS crisis, but ultimately survived by spreading to Europe and East Asia fused with other queer forms of dancing like whacking. Both voguing and whacking have major elements of character work (pretending to be a model or a super star) and story telling (moving your arms in a way that convey a message or tell a story). These are crucial elements that have acted like coping mechanisms for the often disenfranchised black and Latin performers.

I don't know the origin of the death drop, but I know that it is more common in certain styles of vogue than others. The main move set is whacking, which we've covered as stylishly flailing your arms, catwalking which is a model strut, duckwalking which walking while crouching, story telling which is moving your arms to convey a message or meaning (ex. swiping over your face to emphasize your looks) and the death drop which is it falling on your back but using one leg to catch you as you fall.

The main styles of vogue are old school which emphasizes more geometrical moves, new school which is usually divided into stunty which emphasizes dramatic stunts jumps spins and drops, and femme which emphasizes soft and "cunty" moves as well as feminine story telling.