Deep in Vogue By Michael Hemy

New York Ballroom Legend Dashaun Wesley sets it off in a short film by photographer and filmmaker Michael Hemy.

New York Ballroom Legend Dashaun Wesley Proves Paris is Burning Brighter Than Ever

Voguing master Dashaun Wesley maintains his composure through fierce dips and spins in today’s black-and-white short by photographer and filmmaker Michael Hemy. In the 1980s, when the grandfather of voguing Willi Ninja still ruled the New York scene, the dance style was an underground movement among the city’s black and Latino gay communities. Today, thanks to YouTube’s global reach, awesome battles and jaw-dropping performances are just a few keystrokes away, inspiring a whole new generation of voguers from Finland to Taiwan. Leading the pack is 28-year-old Wesley, a member of the House of Evisu community who frequently travels to far-flung places preaching the voguing gospel and insists there’s more to the style than meets the eye. “People only see the floor slams, the layouts and the dips,” he says. “It’s not about that—it’s about your personal experiences, which you display through your body movements.” In today’s film, co-conceived by New York journalist and entrepreneur Robert Cordero, Wesley weaves a compelling narrative based on his ballroom antics. “You can almost feel the camera shaking and hear the crowd go wild when you see him perform a drop,” says director Hemy of his subject’s delirious Vogue Femme technique, evolved from previous generations’ methods. NOWNESS caught up with the dance hero for some more insight into how and why voguing has become a worldwide phenomenon Willi Ninja would have been proud of.

What’s the biggest difference between voguing in the 1980s and now?
Dashaun Wesley: YouTube has had the biggest impact on voguing. Social media such as Facebook, Myspace, Tumblr, Twitter, etc. have all played a part in making it more popular. Although Madonna kicked off the whole trend, today people can just type in a few letters and you can get a voguing video. The energy is so high.

Why is voguing so incredible to watch?
DW: When a person vogues, their character comes out. It’s like telling a story, and the way I align my body or throw my hand may be different from someone else.

Can it be taught?
DW: You have people teaching voguing who have never walked in a ball. When you get someone from the scene, you get the real stuff, so I think it’s important that I travel and teach. I found that people only think that voguing is what they see on YouTube—and it’s really not.

How do your students outside New York react differently to the hands-on experience?
DW: In the US, my students can’t do a lot of things I teach. But when I go to Russia, they do everything. I also teach them there’s a difference between knowing how to do things, and knowing why you’re doing it.