Q. What is a HOUSE?

A. A House is a group of people who create a "family" structure with an appointed Mother and /or Father representing the HOUSE, and a collective of other members called "the children". The HOUSE attends Balls under their HOUSE name and competes in varies categories.

The HOUSE name is usually derived from the names of fashion designers or names of founding house members. Examples of HOUSE names are Xtravaganza, Milan, Allure, Armani, and Blahnik just to name a few.

Q. What is a Ball?

A. Balls are events in which people come as both spectators and participants, hosted by a particular house, to compete for cash prizes and trophies in a variety of competition categories.

Q. Who participates at a Ball?

A. Anyone can walk a Ball. Usually people walk representing the HOUSE they belong to. Sometimes non-HOUSE members walk as a way of promoting themselves to houses they would like to join. A person can also walk as a "free agent".

Q. Who judges?

A. Members of the community that are known to participate and who are familiar with the categories can be judges. Judges are individuals that are usually respected in the community. Very often Mothers/Fathers of Houses are asked to judge. Sometimes judges can also be statemen and stars.

Q. Who wins?

A. Participants must compete in a category in order to win that category. The person walks the category to see if the judges will qualify him/her to compete. Once qualified, they will then move on to a process of elimination in which they battle for first prize.

Q. Who becomes the Mother/Father of a HOUSE?

A. Mother and Father are usually people with status in the ballroom scene and who are known for walking a particular category(s). Anyone can take on a Mother or Father role. The Mother role is associated with a nurturing and caring persona. The Father role is usually associated with a defensive and protective persona.

Q. Where do balls take place?

A. Balls can take place in many various locations. Traditionally, balls take place in community centers, hotel ballrooms and or event spaces, and clubs.

Q. What are the categories of competition?

A. There are categories for everyone. The categories vary in many ways from face and body to runway and performance. There are categories for all genders, gender identities and sexualities.

Q. Does the Ballroom scene have a specific language/lingo?

A. YES, the Ballroom scene has its own language. For an example of this unique language please click here. (Here is a where a link to our ballroom vocabulary would be)

Q. How do I know what to walk?

A. The Category is divided into five sub-categories. These categories allow anyone, regardless of gender identity or appearance, sexuality, body type, age, or race, to choose what sub-category they want to walk. For a list of categories please click here.

Q. How do I get information about the ballroom scene?

A. Most of the community does advertise by distributing a massive amount of flyers usually at ball events. Attending a ball will expose you to those flyers that are usually distributed months before the actual event. Another option is continuing to check this web-site for up-coming balls and listings.