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One night last week, Karma Munez, a dancer in Chicago’s vogueing ballroom scene, proposed an idea to two of her best friends: to dress up, find a protest and vogue in the streets. The next day, the three put on their thigh-high black boots, grabbed their speakers and joined a march in the city’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
The results have circulated in numerous videos online, in which the dancers fearlessly strut, spin, kick and dip, letting their bodies crash to the pavement, as other protesters cheer them on. In one moment, Ms. Munez (who also goes by Gorgeous Mother Karma Gucci, her ballroom name), dances in front of a row of police cars, flipping her hair in front of their flashing lights.
“I thought it was the best way to make a stand with the talent that we have,” said Dhee Lacy (a.k.a. Adonte Prodigy), when the trio got together for a FaceTime interview a few days later. “I didn’t want to have to riot, and I think that ultimately people have different ways of speaking out.”
With its origins in black and Latino, gay and transgender communities, vogueing has always been a mode of resisting oppression. The dancers said that through their street performance, they were advocating for black L.G.B.T.Q. people, who are sometimes pushed to the margins of the Black Lives Matter movement. “We wanted to stand up for ourselves, as well,” said Amya Jackson (a.k.a. Amya Mugler), pointing to the brutal attack of a transgender woman, Iyonna Dior, by a group of black men during a recent Minneapolis protest. “What about us?”
Ms. Munez noted that some online viewers mistook the performance to be celebratory. “I feel like people misunderstand dancing, and they automatically assume that if I’m dancing, I’m happy,” she said. “Dance is not a celebration; it’s an expression.”
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