A look inside Bristol’s blossoming ballroom scene

Over the past few years, Bristol’s ballroom community has been working to establish an authentic scene in the city.

This has included hosting a ball as well as running weekly practice sessions at the dance studio space at The Island.

Ballroom is a culture that was started by New York’s Black and Latinx communities to provide spaces that prioritise and celebrate queer people of colour.

One of the most recognisable aspects of the culture is vogue dancing, which has featured in shows like Pose as well as RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Ballroom is a culture designed for queer and also Black and Latinx communities – photo: Darren Shepherd

Ballroom as a vital lifeline

Aysha Chamberlain, one of the founders of Bristol’s ballroom community, said: “Initially ballroom came from a need. It’s a Queer but also Black and Latinx space. It was born out of necessity, it almost had to exist.”

While Aysha doesn’t identify as Queer, ballroom is important to her as a person of colour.

Most participants in ballroom belong to groups known as “houses”, where individuals from the community come together.

Aysha explained: “The term ‘houses’ comes from physically housing kids made homeless due to their sexuality. We have queer people of colour in Bristol who are still lacking that family space.”

There isn’t a full ballroom structure with houses established in the city yet, but the Bristol ballroom community continues to provide an access point for those interested in knowing more.

The community gathers at functions called balls where performers compete against each other in a variety of categories – photo: Darren Shepherd

Maze has been part of the community for the past year, and says newcomers are being consistently educated about ballroom through workshops.

“We always talk through the history of the categories and make sure everyone has awareness of where they sit within the culture.”

You don’t have to be queer or a person of colour to participate, but an awareness of the history and culture of ballroom is important for involvement.

Categories refers to different aspects of holding a ball, when the community gathers to compete against one another across varying performances.

These include performers dressing in their best outfits and walking the runway in the “Fashion Killer” category, or showing off their best facial features in the face category.

Combatting inaccurate representations of ballroom culture

From duckwalks on RuPaul’s Drag Race to drag queens renaming a classic element of vogue called the dip to a death drop, vogue has become increasingly appropriated in mainstream culture.

Maze explained the issue this creates: “People see vogue on Drag Race and come to us without realising there’s a whole culture behind it.

“But that’s okay because when they do come to us, we’re able to teach them the history as well as explain that ballroom is a safer space for queer and trans people.”

Bristol’s ballroom community is working hard to build an authentic scene with functions and balls – photo: Darren Shepherd

Aysha is determined to build an authentic scene in Bristol: “It’s really important I think, with ballroom, you can’t just wake up one morning and think ‘I’m gonna start a vogue class’. You have to learn your categories, learn your history and then become a part of the culture.”

The community holds open studio sessions in order to share knowledge of ballroom, all of which is not-for-profit work.

Aysha added: “To build authenticity you need to have the functions and the workshops. You need to have people in Bristol who are actively engaging in other cities’ scenes.

“We’ve always had a lot of interest but the problem has been trying to explain to people this is a culture and community, not just something you’ve seen on TV.”

Bristol’s ballroom community aims to remain a friendly and welcoming scene – photo: Darren Shepherd

Looking at Bristol’s ballroom community 

Bristol’s ballroom scene is thriving and working through establishing itself further across the cities’ cultural landscape.

Aysha reflected on this: “We’re still finding our feet. We had one ball and have had many workshops and classes. We are at this point a very open and friendly scene.”

The aim is to keep this spirit within the community even as it expands and they go on to walk balls and win grand prizes.

Maze added: “The sessions are pay-what-you can, we won’t charge you for a session if you can’t afford it.

“Bristol is so diverse in that nobody is the same, everyone you meet in Bristol is always so different.

“We’re also a young city, a university city where students come and are exploring queerness or are trans or are just trying to find themselves. I feel like Bristol ballroom can help people with that journey.”

Andy Leake is reporting on the queer community as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media

Main photo: Darren Shepherd 

Read next: 

• The emerging collectives shaking up Bristol’s LGBTQ+ scene 
• Headliner announced for Bristol Pride 2023
• New skateboarding group launches for Bristol’s queer skaters

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