‘Strike A Pose’ Gives Different Look At History’s Most Controversial Tour
I didn’t know much about voguing as a child. From my highly monitored home, I thought it was a form of dance created by Madonna that complemented her hyper-sexual, high-fashion persona. In the two decades since her controversial 1990 Blond Ambition Tour and corresponding film Truth or Dare, I and the world have learned so much more.
One of the vehicles by which I learned about the origin of voguing was Paris is Burning, the 1991 documentary that jumped into the consciousness of America via Netflix. The film delves into the underground world New York’s queer ballroom scene in the Eighties. But the form of drag queens imitating models actually goes back to the 1960’s Harlem, where men would perform in small clubs.
Which leads to my second education on voguing, from the incredibly documentary Strike a Pose.
Directed by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, the film showed this spring at Tribeca Film Festival in a screening hosted by Lincoln Motor Company. Strike a Pose documents the dance of voguing going from underground to the main stage through seven charismatic dancers on Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour.
As noted by The Village Voice, by the Eighties, voguing was folded into the balls that brought Houses, largely composed of black and Latino performers, together to compete. After Madonna saw Luis Camacho and Jose Gutierez, both members of the House of Xtravaganza, dance, she invited them to audition for her upcoming tour. As the two dancers remember it, their spots were pretty much guaranteed: She needed them to teach her how to vogue. They also choreographed and performed in the “Vogue” video.
The documentary examines the lives of Camacho, Gutierez, Oliver Crumes III, Salim Gauwloos, Kevin Stea, Gabriel Trupin, and Carlton Wilborn who were backup dancers in the tour.
Overflowing with gay pride in the early ’90s at a time when homophobia and the HIV epidemic were at its peak, made an incredibly bold statement— and impacted the lives of many. These men, in a sense, were the welcoming liaisons to a world that many gay men wanted to live out loud.
But as the film tells, the platform they stood on was marred with shame and secrets that they hadn’t talked about until now. Three of the men on the tour were HIV-positive, with one passing away in 1995. There were also lawsuits against Madonna after the debut of Truth or Dare from dance members who claimed fraud and deceit, intentional misrepresentation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress for displaying their private lives in the documentary.
“It’s not just about these guys who went on tour with Madonna,” Gould told Hotdocs. “We wanted the themes to be recognizable for everyone. Because we haven’t all been on tour with Madonna, but we have all struggled with shame and pride.”
Adding, “When you’re in your 20s, most of us feel on top of the world. Even if you’re not on the Blond Ambition tour. So growing up, for everybody, is about embracing reality. What we like about this film is that Truth or Dare was provocative and about daring to be yourself in an outgoing, extravert way. Our film is about self-acceptance in a more introverted way, off stage.”
Gay pride, dance, competition, parties, laughter, HIV, tears, loss— the film touches upon so much of what these men went through and how they’re living today. And while Madonna herself isn’t in the film, her presence isn’t missed, with the men’s raw honesty being sufficient.
With the film showing in select theaters worldwide, we highly suggest you check it out for a moving and informative story.
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Source: styleBlazer