The vogue for vogueing returns at the BAD ball. Photograph: Peter Podworski
Before I watched Paris Is Burning, I'd heard a lot about it. According to friends, I was going to love it. After all, the film stars Willi Ninja, the dancer in Madonna's Vogue video, and it's full of vogueing itself - the catwalk-inspired dance craze of 80s New York. When I finally sat down to watch the film - at around four in the morning, if I recall - the anticipation was only tempered by my drooping eyelids.
Despite the scratchy quality of a from-TV recording, Paris Is Burning didn't disappoint. A 71-minute window into vogue balls, it was all-singing, all-dancing with "houses", or teams, of young gay men dragging up and performing in categories including girl-next-door "femme day realness", trashy "banjee girl" and high-society "town and country." Along with the razzle-dazzle, there was an empathetic look at the daytime life of these young men - rent boys and outcasts who "mop" (steal) designer dresses for the weekend.
So far, so good night in. After being consigned to the VHS pile following many a re-watch, it all came flooding back this January when the film was re-released in cinemas. At a sold-out ICA screening, with a few hundred other fans mouthing along, it became clear that this was a small movie with a big effect.
Looking around at club culture has only confirmed this. London has taken the vogueing baton from New York, with a new generation of gay performers bringing Burning-style balls everywhere from a converted warehouse in Hackney to a field at Glastonbury. Spearheaded by performance artist Johnny Woo, with designers Kim Jones and Gareth Pugh judging categories, I was cynical at first. How could a bunch of trendies replicate the spins of Willi Ninja and the verbal archness of much-loved "house mother", Pepper LaBeija?
It turns out they didn't even try. Arriving at the first Bistrotheque BAD ball with friends, thrilled at the prospect of our very own chance at a Burning moment, I was quickly put right. This isn't New York in the 80s, and this group of gay men isn't a ghettoised underclass creating a world where they can be accepted. Instead, the joy of dressing up remains - but with some nice music-hall-style laughs added.
And the best thing? Girls can compete too - a couple of categories were even won by women. With the next BAD ball coming up at the end of August, I might even get my drag on.
