Voguing with Ballroom Queen Isla Cheadle

Let’s start with a little background. How did you get involved with Voguing and the Voguing Community?

Before Ballroom, my husband and I were an established music club act in New York and LA. Most often we performed in LGBTQ spaces and were exposed to voguing on the dancefloor. We saw the need for a ball nightclub space in LA and started our event Banjee Ball. It was through Banjee Ball and linking up with Enyce Ebony (the commentator of LA) and the Ballroom community that I got pulled in as a voguer.

Is that how you got into battling?

When I linked up with Enyce (legendary Vogue choreographer Enyce "Ebony" Smith) for Banjee Ball, he became my Vogue dad. I started training with him and with Jamari ("Ninja" Amour), another Legend in LA. Once you get bitten by the battle bug, it’s hard to shake.

Are the Ball and the Voguing communities one in the same?

Ballroom is the umbrella and Vogue is one of many categories that is housed at a Ball. Ballroom was formed in Harlem in the mid-1900s out of a need for a Black and Latino LGBTQ space. The downtown NY Drag pageant world was mired with racism, so Crystal Labeija (the New York drag queen credited with creating Ball Culture) started her own scene. Watch the documentaries “Queen” and “Paris is Burning”.

What are the different types of Voguing, and does each have a different connotation?

There are three main types of Vogue: Old Way, New Way, and Vogue Femme. Old Way is the style you see on Pose, New Way is the style you see in Madonna’s “Vogue” video, and "Vogue Femme" is what you see on youtube today. It’s an art form that has evolved over decades.

Purple Crush with Isla Cheadle

I read an article where you said the "Ball Community" is "giving you life." What do you experience being a part of this community?

The phrase “giving me life” is like The Force. The tingling sensation of life force. When you walk a Ball and express your truth, you are getting your life. When you watch someone expressing their truth, it gives you life as the spectator.

You waited to have your first child until after you won your Voguing title. Why was that important to you?

When I moved to NY at 19 my goal was to be a professional dancer and choreographer. My husband and I started making music under the name Purple Crush, and I gravitated more towards club dance as my dance expression when we would perform. After I got involved in Ballroom, it was getting close to baby time but I wasn’t quite ready. I realized that I had not accomplished my original dream of being a dancer, and thought, well I am here in this community with a system set up for goal-building. Let’s do this. So I set myself a goal of winning a trophy in the mecca of NY. I got to the final battle I think four times? Finally, I won a trophy at the Ebony Ball, and a week later I was pregnant.

Isla, Voguing while pregnant

Can you share your personal goals going forward within the dance Voguing community?

I believe that Ballroom culture will be one of the great American art forms, like Jazz and Hip Hop. I want to help get it there the right way. As far as Banjee Ball, I plan on eventually becoming a non-profit organization so I can really start doing the work that I want to do.

Do you feel with the recognition you received that you are perceived as authentic to the cause/community?

Good question. I know that some people feel a certain way, and I continue to deal with that; it’s position I put myself in, it comes with the territory of stepping into a space that wasn’t created for you. But I also know that many powerful leaders see the work I do, the dedication and the commitment, and allow me my place within the community. It’s like anything in life, some people will love you and some will hate you, but you can’t let it affect the work.

How did you get to that point where the community trusted you to represent them?

All relationships require consistency for trust to be built. The Ballroom community definitely requires more consistency and trust because the outside world has not been kind. I have stayed consistent with my event, and I have been able to create career opportunities through the various gigs that come my way through the success of Banjee Ball. On top that, when I started winning trophies in the Vogue category, that’s when I showed how deep I wanted to go. At this point, it’s clear I’ve fallen down the vogue hole and won't be coming out. But I continue to educate myself on the history of Ballroom and try to stay within my lane.

How do you approach your responsibility to the community?

Being an American white woman in this community carries a lot of baggage. There are a lot of white women in Ballroom, but most of them are international. Being an American means carrying the weight and effects of Slavery in everything you do. You have to constantly check yourself; is this me, is this you, is this a result of institutionalized racism, is this programmed thinking, or is this just what it is? It’s a constant balancing act. I think my responsibility is to be an example of a white woman who does right by the community rather than exploits it.

Is there anything you'd like to expand on this quote you gave to the Huffington Post:

The only thing that I would add is that since I made that quote those words have come into existence. Ryan Murphy just wrapped Season 1 (with a Season Two in the works) for a show called “Pose” on Fx that dramatizes the era of the “Paris is Burning” documentary. The writing room was filled with consultants FROM the Ballroom community, the cast was chock FULL of members from the community (bit parts to lead roles), and Murphy plans to give proceeds back to the community. It was pretty incredible to witness the ultimate mainstream push go down and get done right.

What do you think about the re-discovery (at least in popular culture/mainstream) of Voguing (the series "Pose," for example) for a new generation?

These days there are two kinds of voguers: commercial voguers and ball walkers. Sometimes they overlap and sometimes they don’t. Commercial voguers learn in a classroom setting and do vogue choreography, and ball walkers learn in a House and from within the community and are able to improvise their moves. With the current rise of Ballroom we are going to see even more watered down versions, so it will be very important to make sure people learn correctly.

One last question: can you share some thoughts on what makes for great Voguing?

These days because so many people learn in classrooms, I would say originality is what separates good voguers from great voguers.

See Isla perform and participate in your own mini-ball on October 25, at the PMA Conference in Las, Vegas Nevada.