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.