Crystal LaBeija | |
|---|---|
 Crystal LaBeija in the film The Queen (1968) | |
| Born | 1930s |
| Died | 1990s |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Crystal LaAsia |
| Occupation | Drag performer |
| Known for | Co-founder of ball culture |
Crystal LaBeija (born 1930s, died 1990s) was an American drag queen and trans woman who co-founded the House of LaBeija in 1968. [1] The House is often credited as starting the house system in ball culture. She became a mother figure for homeless LGBTQ youth. [2]
In the early 1960s, before the emergence of regular balls, New York's drag culture was divided along racial lines—the Pattie Girls (white), the La Chanels (black), and the Delightful Ladies (Latina). [3] [4] Via the latter group, it became common parlance of the moment to use the phrase la bella—Spanish for "the beautiful"—to enhance one's image or merely describe another person. [5] Crystal, originally working and competing on the Manhattan drag circuit under the name of Crystal LaAsia, was widely known for her beauty and later adopted the phrase as her permanent moniker, with a rearticulated spelling ("Beija") of the -ll- sound in bella [ˈbe.ʝa]. [6] [7] In the 1960s and 1970s, drag queens of color were expected to whiten their appearance to help their chances at winning competitions and they often faced racist environments. [8] LaBeija was one of only a few African American drag queens to be awarded a "Queen of the Ball" title at a drag ball organized by whites during this era. [9] In 1967, she was crowned Miss Manhattan. [10]
LaBeija subsequently competed in the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Pageant held at New York City Town Hall, a competition documented in The Queen (1968). In a scene towards the end of the documentary, LaBeija, upset with the perceived racism of the white-run balls, accused the pageant organizer Flawless Sabrina of rigging the judging in the favor of a white queen, Rachel Harlow. [11]
Refusing to participate further in a discriminatory system, LaBeija worked with another black drag queen, Lottie LaBeija, to host a ball just for black queens. She agreed to participate in the event so long as she was highlighted in the ball. [9] This event, the first to be hosted by a House, was titled "Crystal & Lottie LaBeija presents the first annual House of Labeija Ball at Up the Downstairs Case on West 115th Street & 5th Avenue in Harlem, NY" and took place in 1972. [12] It was the first time the term "House" was used, coined by LaBeija in order to market the event, which would be a huge success. [13]
LaBeija continued to work as a drag performer and activist throughout the 1970s and 1980s. RuPaul's first experience of a drag performance was seeing LaBeija perform a lipsync routine at a nightclub in Atlanta in 1979. [14]
In 2019, Rolling Stone reported that LaBeija died of liver failure in 1982. [15] However, in 1993, the New York Times reported that Labeija was still alive and had attended a revival of The Queen at the Film Forum in New York. [16] The article reported that LaBeija was still "a fixture in the drag world" and had a reunion of sorts with contest winner Harlow. "She was very very lovely to me", Harlow is quoted as saying. "She came up to me and kissed me and said hello... She left before the end." [17]
LaBeija and The House of LaBeija have had a lasting influence on ball culture and popular culture.
The opening credits of the television series Transparent feature footage of LaBeija from the film The Queen . [18]
The novel The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara is a fictional account of New York Ball culture and features characters inspired by LaBeija and members of The House of LaBeija. [19]
The television series Pose features characters and events inspired by LaBeija and ball culture in New York City. The character Elektra Wintour, played by Dominique Jackson, delivers reads [20] similar to the LaBeija's speech at the end of The Queen .
A Season 3 episode of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars featured drag queen Aja LaBeija imitating Crystal during the Snatch Game episode.
The current House of LaBeija appeared in the third season of the ballroom competition series Legendary .
Frank Ocean's visual album, Endless , contains a clip of LaBeija on the track "Ambience 001: "In A Certain Way." [21]
The Crystal LaBeija Organizing Fellowship offers a 1-year fellowship, "open to all Black and Brown, trans, gender non-conforming, and non-binary individuals who belong to the ballroom community". [22] The fellowship empowers fellows "to address the issues impacting the lives of transgender women, transgender men, gender non-conforming, and non-binary people in the house ball community via community building, economic empowerment, advocacy, and activism through wellness and social justice lenses." [22]
Paris Is Burning is a 1990 American documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, it chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the African-American, Latino, gay, and transgender communities involved in it.
William Roscoe Leake, better known as Willi Ninja, was an American dancer and choreographer known for his appearance in the documentary film Paris Is Burning.
The Ballroom scene is an African-American and Latino underground LGBTQ+ subculture. Its origins can be found in drag balls of the mid-19th century United States, such as those hosted by William Dorsey Swann, a formerly enslaved Black man in Washington D.C.. By the early 20th century, integrated drag balls were popular in cities such as New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. In the mid-20th century, as a response to racism in integrated drag spaces, the balls evolved into house ballroom, where Black and Latino attendees could "walk" in a variety of categories for trophies and cash prizes. Most participants in ballroom belong to groups known as "houses", where chosen families of friends form relationships and communities separate from their families of origin, from which they may be estranged. The influence of ballroom culture can be seen in dance, language, music, and popular culture, and the community still exists today.
Pepper LaBeija was an American drag queen and fashion designer. She was known as "the last remaining queen of the Harlem drag balls".
How Do I Look is a 2006 American documentary directed by Wolfgang Busch. The film chronicles ball culture in Harlem and Philadelphia over a ten-year period.
Founded in 1982, the House of Xtravaganza is one of the most publicly recognized "houses" to emerge from the New York City underground ballroom scene and among the longest continuously active. House of Xtravaganza members and the collective group is recognized for their cultural influence in the areas of dance, music, visual arts, nightlife, fashion, and community activism. House of Xtravaganza members continue to be featured in popular media and travel the world as ambassadors of voguing and the ballroom scene.
Aisha Diori is an Events Director, Community Mobiliser, HIV/AIDS Preventionist, educator, Talk Show Host, Event MC, Pan-Africanist, and has been named "Iconic Mother" in Ball culture. Her father is Abdoulaye Hamani Diori, a Nigerien political leader and business person, and her mother is Betty Graves, the first Ghanaian / Nigerian woman to own a travel agency in Nigeria.
"Kiki", a term which started in ballroom culture, and was also for decades used in lesbian lingo to refer to a woman who was neither butch nor femme. The use of kiki as a gathering was later made more famous in the 2012 song "Let's Have a Kiki" by the Scissor Sisters, and has recently been brought back to slang by the LGBT community, is loosely defined as a gathering of friends for the purpose of gossiping and chit-chat.
Leiomy Maldonado, known as the "Wonder Woman of Vogue", is a transgender Puerto Rican dancer, instructor, model, activist, and ballroom dancer. She is the founder of the House of Amazon and best known for her voguing. Maldonado introduced a new style of voguing which is more athletic and dramatic when she entered into the scene in early 2000s New York.
The Queen is a 1968 American documentary film directed by Frank Simon and narrated by Flawless Sabrina. It depicts the experiences of the drag queens organizing and participating in the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Contest held at New York City's Town Hall. The film was screened at the International Critics' Week section of the 1968 Cannes Film Festival; however, the festival was ultimately curtailed and ended due to ongoing civil unrest in France before any awards could be given out.
The House of Aviance is one of the "legendary/iconic" and major vogue-ball houses in the United States, with its base in New York City. It was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1989 by voguer/dancer, record label owner (CEO/A&R), nightclub host, music artist and secretary Mother Juan Aviance—one of the nightlife personalities of New York City. Since its founding, the House has played an integral part in U.S. and world ball culture, especially U.S. nightlife.
Mother Juan Aviance is an American secretary, voguer / dancer, music artist, nightclub host / promoter, record label owner, and CEO / A&R. He is the founder and "Mother" of the House of Aviance, one of the legendary houses that emerged from the U.S. ball culture in the 1980s, a House which is still active in New York City." He is also founder, CEO and A&R of Aviance Records, LLC, a multi-genre record label that promotes new and upcoming artists. He is regarded within the ballroom scene and is "House Mother" to the nightlife personalities and recording artists Kevin Aviance, and Erickatoure Aviance.
Kia Michelle Benbow is an American fine artist. Her most well known series, 24, is a sociopolitical commentary on the effects of growing up as a young woman of color with HIV. She is a former Mother of the Royal House of LaBeija.
My House is a documentary/reality series focusing on ball culture in New York City. It follows Tati 007, Alex Mugler, Jelani Mizrahi, Lolita Balenciaga, Relish Milan and the commentator Precious Ebony. The first of ten episodes premiered on Viceland on April 25, 2018.
The Royal House of LaBeija is the first house of Ballroom founded by Crystal LaBeija and Lottie LaBeija in 1968. It was the first ballroom house to host benefits to raise awareness during the 1980s HIV/AIDS epidemic. Crystal and Lottie established the House of LaBeija in response to the racially oppressive drag pageant system of 1960s America. In 1972, Crystal & Lottie LaBeija presented the 1st Annual "House of LaBeija Ball” at Up the Downstairs Case in Harlem, NY. This is thought to be the birth of house culture within the ballroom scene—as it is known today. Houses serve as alternative families, primarily for gay, gender nonconforming and transgender youth and others who feel ostracized from conventional support systems.
Kim Aviance is a performance and visual drag artist, and nightclub hostess from the voguing and ballroom House of Aviance. She is a classically trained dancer and musician, and one of New York City's nightlife personalities. She is deemed a "New York nightlife queen", and has won numerous awards in the ball culture world. Aviance is a gender-non-conforming, and trans appearing.
Michael Cox, known by the stage name MikeQ, is an American DJ, musician, music producer, and prominent figure in the ballroom community. He is the founder of the record label Qween Beat. In 2020 MikeQ was the DJ for HBO's Legendary.
Dashaun Wesley is an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and ballroom performer, MC, and commentator. He is known for hosting the voguing competition series Legendary and for his appearances on the television series America's Best Dance Crew and Pose. He is often called the "King of Vogue".
Carmen Inmaculada Ruiz, known as Carmen Xtravaganza and formerly as Carmen St. Laurent, was a Spanish-born American model and singer. A house mother of the House of Xtravaganza, she was featured in the 1990 documentary film Paris Is Burning.
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