Nita Aviance

Last updated

Nita Aviance
Birth name [1]
Born1980 (age 43–44) [1]
Origin Rochester, New York, United States
Genres House, Dance, Electronic and Soul
Occupation(s) dancer, percussionist, jazz singer, DJ, music producer and actor
Years active1990s–present
LabelsBatty Bass

DJ Nita (born 1980 [1] ) known as Nita Aviance is a dancer, percussionist, jazz singer, DJ, music producer, actor, and a member of The Carry Nation along with fellow DJ/producer Will Automagic. Nita is also half of two other production teams, BOOKWRMZ and Brooklyn Is Burning, as well as a member of the production team Pyramide.

Contents

In the late 1990s, Nita left Rochester for New York City where she joined the legendary House of Aviance, "one of the major houses in the city's ballroom and vogue scene." [2] [3] [4] Nita is one of the prominent DJ/producers of New York City's LGBT nightlife and has worked in various cities around the world as a DJ including London, UK where her record label is based. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Nita has logged remixes for various artists including Beyoncé, the Scissor Sisters, Le1f, Will Automagic, and Adam Joseph. [3] According to Mix Magazine, Nita and Will Automagic are regarded as "veterans of the ever ebbing and flowing New York nightlife scene, having begun working together after being introduced to one another by fellow DJ Michael Formika Jones in the early 2000s." [9]

Early life and education

Nita was born and grew up in Rochester, New York, which she left for New York City to pursue her education. She attended New York University, and whilst in New York City, joined the legendary House of Aviance as a dancer/drag artist in the 1990s. Having made a name for herself with one of the most prominent ballroom and voguing houses of New York, she turned to full-time DJing. [5] [10] [2] [3] [11] [12] She took her name Aviance from the House of Aviance—as is common with all house members within the ballroom community. [13]

Nita is a trained percussionist, jazz singer, and dancer. [4]

Career

Nita started her professional DJ career in the early 2000s. [10] In 2003, she met Will Automagic (née William Lynn [1] ) at the Opaline Area 10009, a nightclub on Avenue A in the East Village of New York City which is now defunct, through fellow DJ and drag artist Mistress Formika (DJ Michael Formika Jones [9] ). [5] [9] The duo started asking each other to guest-DJ gigs, and in 2012, Nita suggested to Automagic that they make a record together. Their collaboration led to the creation of The Carry Nation and the release of the "percolating dance track" This Bitch Is Alive, which led to a record deal with Batty Bass, a label based in London, United Kingdom. [5] [6] [8]

Since joining the House of Aviance, Nita has both worked solo and as one half of The Carry Nation and is a well established artist in her own right. [11] [14] Some of her other classic tracks include The Queens, [6] remix of XiViX's Urgent, [11] as well logging remixes for various other artists including Beyoncé, the Scissor Sisters, Le1f, Will Automagic, and Adam Joseph. [3]

Nita’s sound helped transform the East Village's Opaline Area 10009 into the ultimate dance party of the early 2000s. [5] [9] [4] It was during the Opaline days when Aviance along with DJ Sammy Jo (the Scissor Sisters official tour DJ [15] ) formed the Downtown DJ Coalition as a musical alternative to the mega-clubs. In late 2006, Aviance and Gant Johnson founded their weekly party Tubway at New York City's underground dance den, mr.Black. From a small soulful, living-room-style party, Tubway evolved "into the most raucous Saturday night cross-section of New York nightlife." Her residency at Tubway brought praise from nightlife personalities and brought in guest appearances from renowned international DJs like Tom Stephan, AC Slater, Junior Vasquez and the UK's Horse Meat Disco. Aviance is a four-time Glammy Awards winner for Best DJ (the award for nightlife personalities in New York City [16] ), and Tubway was voted by Paper Magazine as the best party in 2008. [4] As of 2020, Nita holds a residency at the award winning WESTGAY. [17] [4] [10]

Nita was part of La'Mady, a transgender rap group that included Linda James and fellow House of Aviance members, Erickatoure Aviance and Koko Aviance. The group collaborated with Jonny McGovern in his 2006 album Jonny McGovern Presents: This is NYC, Bitch! The East Village Mixtape .

Nita Aviance also appeared in the 2015 American independent drama film Ekaj (as club DJ), written and directed by Cati Gonzalez. She also appeared in the 2020 documentary Filterswept (as self), written and directed by Rosa Costanza.

Related Research Articles

House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120-130 beats per minute as a re-emergence of 1970s disco. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture and evolved slowly in the early/mid 1980s as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat. By early 1988, House became mainstream and supplanted the typical 80s music beat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Aviance</span> American fashion designer

Kevin Aviance is an American drag queen, club/dance musician, fashion designer, and nightclub personality. He is a personality in New York City's gay scene and has performed throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He is a member of the House of Aviance, one of the most notable vogue-ball houses in the U.S. He is known for his trademark phrase, "Work. Fierce. Over. Aviance!" He won the 1998 and 1999 Glammy Awards, the award for nightlife personalities in New York City. He has worked with several artists, including Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston. In December 2016, Billboard Magazine ranked him as the 93rd most successful dance artist of all-time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Tee</span> Musical artist

Larry Tee is a Berlin-based DJ, club promoter, and music producer who curated the electroclash scene in New York in the early 2000s, and helped launch the careers of such artists as RuPaul, Scissor Sisters, Fischerspooner, Peaches, W.I.T., and Avenue D. He has written songs for and collaborated with Afrojack, Shontelle, Princess Superstar, Santigold, RuPaul, Sean Garrett, Steve Aoki, and Amanda Lepore.

Sarah Lewitinn, also known by her nickname Ultragrrrl, is an American record producer, music critic, DJ, blogger, and music director for the Canadian fashion brand, Aritzia. She began her career as an assistant editor at Spin Magazine, and soon helped champion rock bands like My Chemical Romance and The Killers, which led to her starting her own record label, Stolen Transmission. In 2006, New York magazine named Lewitinn as one of the most "influential people in music", citing that "Like it or not, she has more power than any print music critic.".

Baltimore Club, also called B'more Club, B'more House or simply B'more, is a music genre that fuses breakbeat and house. It was created in Baltimore, Maryland in the early to late 1990s by 2 Live Crew's Luther Campbell, Frank Ski, and DJ K-Swift, among others.

The Sound Factory was a nightclub first located 532 West 27th Street and then 618 West 46th Street in New York City's Manhattan. The Sound Factory was an integral venue during a peak period of house music in New York. Prominent DJs, artists, and parties appeared at the club. It was in operation from 1989 to 1995. There were other reincarnations of the club until 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ball culture</span> Black and Latino LGBT subculture in the United States

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.

Buzz – once called "Washington's best electronic dance night" by The Washington Post - was one of Washington, D.C.'s longest running dance parties. It was co-founded by DJ/promoter Scott Henry and DJ/promoter and DC music store owner Lieven DeGeyndt at the East Side Club and then relaunched in October 1995 at the now demolished Nation, formerly the Capital Ballroom. At its peak it was one of the largest dance parties on the East Coast and voted "Best Party" four years in a row by then electronic dance music culture magazine URB (magazine). Buzz attracted the world's top electronic dance music artists to Washington, DC.

amberRose Marie is an American dance and pop singer. She is known for her high energy stage shows, big vocals and always changing hair-color. She came on the club music scene with her 2008 debut single "Destiny" and her 2009 follow-up single "Wanna Be a DJ". In 2009, it was announced that she would be appearing in her own stage show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Le1f</span> American rapper

Khalif Libasse Diouf, known by the stage name Kalifa, formerly known by the stage name Le1f, is an American rapper and producer. Diouf also founded the record label Camp & Street, with Boody, DonChristian, and Chaz Requina. Diouf garnered attention for unique musical and performance styles, as well as his role as an openly gay rapper. Following a series of well-received mixtapes and EPs, Diouf's debut studio album, Riot Boi, was released in November 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliana Huxtable</span> American artist

Juliana Huxtable is an American artist, writer, performer, DJ, and co-founder of the New York–based nightlife project Shock Value. Huxtable has exhibited and performed at a number of venues including Reena Spaulings Fine Art, Project Native Informant, Artists Space, the New Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, and Institute of Contemporary Arts. Huxtable's multidisciplinary art practice explores a number of projects, such as the internet, the body, history, and text, often through a process she calls "conditioning." Huxtable is a published author of two books and a member of the New York City–based collective House of Ladosha. She is on the roster of the talent agency Discwoman, a New York based collective and talent agency that books DJs for parties and events around the world. She previously lived and worked in New York City, and has been based in Berlin since 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DJ Cuppy</span> Nigerian disc jockey and record producer

Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola, professionally known as DJ Cuppy or simply Cuppy, is a Nigerian disc jockey and producer. She is the daughter of Nigerian businessman Femi Otedola. She grew up in Lagos and moved to London at the age of 13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honey Dijon</span> American DJ, producer and trans activist

Honey Redmond is an American DJ, producer, and electronic musician. She was born in Chicago and is based in New York City and Berlin.

Erickatoure Aviance is an American nightlife personality, club host, clothing designer, fashionista, drag performer, recording artist, dancer, actor, singer and songwriter. She is a member of the House of Aviance, one of the vogue and ballroom houses in the U.S. founded in 1989 by Mother Juan Aviance. It is from this House that she takes her last name from as customary for all ballroom house members.

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 today and "currently reigns the club scene 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 as a "legend / icon" within the ballroom scene and is "House Mother" to the nightlife personalities and recording artists Kevin Aviance, and Erickatoure Aviance.

Aviance Records is an independent record label company founded in March 2014 by New York City's nightlife personality and vogue dancer Mother Juan Aviance with business partner DJ/Producer David Ohana Aviance.

Jean-Philippe Aviance is a French American house and techno DJ and producer from Washington, D.C. His career took off in 1990 when he started DJing for Mother Juan Aviance's voguing house and weekly Kindergarten Parties at the Vault Nightclub in D.C. These weekly parties were frequented by U.S. nightlife personalities like Kevin Aviance, New York City's Club kids such as Amanda Lepore, James St. James and Kenny Kenny. Jean-Philippe was the House of Aviance's first ever DJ. The House of Aviance is one of the houses within the ball scene known for its vogueing, fashion, music and performances. Jean-Philippe is a member of that House, and it is from that House where he takes his last name.

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.

Hot Mass is an electronic music dance party held weekly since December 2012 below Club Pittsburgh, a private gay club and bathhouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The event indirectly grew out of Pittsburgh's LGBT, disco, and electronic music subcultures of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Critics have noted the experience and quality of music at Hot Mass is difficult to find elsewhere in the United States, comparing it favorably to European nightclubs and parties, including Berghain.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 The New York Times, Defiant on the Dance Floor: L.G.B.T.Q. Night Life in New York, 2017 by Jeremy Allen (20 June 2017) (retrieved 3 August 2020)
  2. 1 2 Vice (magazine), We Asked Two Quintessential NYC Queer DJs About the Art of the All-Night Set by Steve Weinstein (November 20, 2015) (retrieved 3 August 2020)
  3. 1 2 3 4 Resident Advisor, DJ Nita biography (retrieved 4 August 2020)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Beatport, Nita Aviance's biography (retrieved 4 August 2020)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 New York Times, The Carry Nation, a Downtown D.J. Duo, Drums Up a Hypnotic Beat by Michael Musto (28 June 2017) (retrieved 4 August 2020)
  6. 1 2 3 Out (magazine), Nightlife Queen Sussi Reigns in The Carry Nation's New Lo-Fi Video by Chris Thomas (14 June 2017) (retrieved 3 August 2020)
  7. ↑ Queerty, The dead stripper from “Rough Night” exposed; new music from The Carry Nation; look who’s twerking by Derek de Koff (18 June 2017) (retrieved 3 August 2020)
  8. 1 2 Salkind, Micah, Do You Remember House?: Chicago's Queer of Color Undergrounds, Oxford University Press (2018), p. 284, ISBN   9780190698447 (retrieved 3 August 2020)
  9. 1 2 3 4 Mixmag, 6 PARTY CREWS REDEFINING THE GAY UNDERGROUND by CHRIS CARUSO (15 JUNE 2017) (retrieved 3 August 2020)
  10. 1 2 3 Nita Aviance biography [in] House of Aviance (official site) (cached) (retrieved 4 August 2020)
  11. 1 2 3 New York Post, LGBTQ DJs share their favorite Pride anthems in mega playlist by Chuck Arnold (26 June 2020) (retrieved 3 August 2020)
  12. ↑ On Point With: DJ Nita Aviance [in] Thotyssey (24 July 2018)
  13. ↑ Trebay, Guy; Credle J. (January 12–18, 2000). "Legends of the Ball: Paris Is Still Burning". The Village Voice . Archived from the original on August 3, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  14. ↑ Occupy The Carry Nation [in] The Standard (NEW YORK-LE BAIN), 16 September 2015
  15. ↑ Vibe with Scissor Sisters Tour Dj Sammy Jo (30 August 2008) [in] Resident Advisor (retrieved 4 August 2020)
  16. ↑ Quohnos Mitchell, Next: On the Verge- Kevin Aviance , p. 106, Vibe, October 2000
  17. ↑ Time Out Magazine, Westgay at Westway (slide show) (retrieved 4 August 2020)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.