‘The catwalk is our riot’: How Paris’s booming ballroom scene found its home in the city of lights

Ballroom, first established by the New York Black and Latin drag community, has taken a firm hold in the French capital – and within it, a thriving, caring culture is flourishing




The most fabulous catwalks in the French capital during Paris fashion week were not on the runways of Vuitton, Dior, or Valentino, but inside the Élysée Montmartre, a venue better known for packed, sweaty rock shows than for high-glamour events. At Sunday’s ELB ball, hundreds walked the Élysée’s floors at Paris’ largest LGBTQ+ ballroom to date, travelling from across the world to compete for 55 trophies and cash prizes.

Inspired by the GMHC Latex Ball in New York, the oldest and largest international Ball founded to celebrate queer lives and honour those lost to Aids-related illnesses, the ELB was established to celebrate Paris’ vibrant LGBTQ+ ballroom community. “This is the first time we have a ball of this magnitude, in this venue, with this much cash prize,” says Parisian house DJ Kiddy Smile, who created and produced the event.

Ballroom is a haven for queer people of colour, first established by New York’s Black and Latin drag community in resistance to the discrimination felt at white-led drag balls. The subject of the tainted 1990 documentary Paris is Burning, and more recently in Ryan Murphy’s Pose, different houses compete in diverse categories that are loosely based on facial expression, wardrobe, strut and movement. Each house is headed by a mother, who leads a group referred to as her children.


GUARDIAN