HOUSE OF SUAREZ Ball pics & Video

WOW!! What can I say? That went OFF! Not only the production and the performances, which were as big and epic as eexpected, but also the Orphans open catwalk category, which anyone with enough nerve can walk. Last year, that lasted about 5 minutes in total (I know cos I played 2 tracks and then it ended) but this year it must have gone on for more than 20! I actually got to throw down and chop up a whole bunch of music, from RuPaul to Tronco Traxxx to Divoli S'Vere. I lost count of how many were walking, it must have been dozens! People are GETTING INTO IT. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get great pics or video from the booth, which was a distance back from the stage, but I got some:

My regulation Suarez Ball selfie: 

And a short clip of the end of House Of Suarez's presentation:


And don't forget, The HOUSE OF SUAREZ Ball MANCHESTER will be at Gorilla next February - get your tickets!

CVNT TRAXXX @ HOUSE OF SUAREZ BALL this Saturday!

As ever, I will be djing at Liverpool's House Of Suarez Ball, the UK's biggest function, this Saturday. The theme this year is Space Odditty, and it's in a bigger venue. From what I have heard, this produciton is going to be epic!

House Of Suarez "Elements Of Vogue"

Congrats to our fam House Of Suarez who have been booked to choreograph this year's Liverpool Pride. Check out their next event, Elements Of Vogue at the Bluecoat in Liverpool April 5th. Highly recommended:

'The Untold History of UK Vogue' for FACT Mag part two

Et voila, part two of this epic piece, this time covering my own involvement in the scene, Tranarchy's Vogue Brawl, House Of Trax, Ldn voguer David Magnifique and the daddies of them all House Of Suarez and Darren Pritchard. Read it all here. 

 Judges at Vogue Brawl 2012: Pride Is Burning

As we saw in part one, voguing in the UK comes from a different tradition to that in the States, and even mainland Europe. 

Not based so much on the streets or in the clubs, voguing came to prominence here in the early 90s through professional dance troupes and art and fashion shows. Yet, as with America, the natural home for voguing in this country is still the house ball, where all elements and categories get to work the runway and compete for legendary status. And, although we may be some way behind our European counterparts when it comes to regular balls, the UK is not completely devoid of house balls – though as usual with this scene, you have to look a bit further afield to find the real action.

The UK’s North West is the centre of the current UK vogue renaissance, with annual balls in Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow. Time for some disclosure: as The Niallist, I’m a founder member of the Manchester-based queer collective Tranarchy, and since January 2011 we have held an annual ball called Vogue Brawl. In my time, I’ve also helped organise and host the Fierce Ruling Divas Ball in Glasgow, and I’ve DJed at Liverpool’s House Of Suarez Ball under my vogue production alias CVNT TR4XXX. I’m heavily involved in this scene, and right now it’s focussed in spots that are well respected for their dance music cultures and histories, but that don’t necessarily get a huge amount of time in the media spotlight.

We’ve already encountered a young Darren Suarez in part one of this article, voguing as a teenager in the clubs, after hours parties and cemeteries of late 80s and early 90s Liverpool. Flash forward 20 years, and Darren is a professional dance teacher with an idea for throwing a ‘House Of Suarez Ball’. The first of these balls was thrown in 2010, and since then the House Of Suarez Ball has grown to become the UK’s biggest annual vogue function.

NC: How would you describe the HOS ball to someone who has never been?

Darren Suarez: “If you’ve never been to one of our balls, I can guarantee that you will be overwhelmed with colour, dance, energy and fierceness. At least one of the five categories will inspire people. The categories at our ball are Fantasy, which gives creatives in costume and fabric the chance to create big costumes and installations in the theme of the ball, to live out their fantasy, in a way. There is Solo, which is inspired by a solo performer’s confidence to vogue, or perform solo any of the other styles that might fall under that umbrella, such as waacking, hands, femme, new way, old way, etc.

READING IS FUNDAMENTAL! 

HOUSE OF SUAREZ Vogue Deco (Nov 16th, Liverpool)

House of Suarez proudly presents Vogue Deco and other stories, performing highlights of the company's choreographies this year and also some special performances from the House of Milan , House of Cards and also the House of ShoQlat! With a surprise appearance from the winners of our very own Realness category 2 years winning! Saturday 16th November as part of the Homotopia festival, show starts 6pm till 7pm at the Bluecoat tickets £10 & £8.00 0151 702 5324

CVNT at House Of Suarez Ball, Liverpool

House of Suarez Ball WENT OFF! Big up to Darren S, Darren Pritchard, Paul Ferns, Rikki Beadle-Blair and of course special guest Aviance Milan (who will be featured on this site soon). Shouts to all the houses who competed, especially my two faves - Liverpool's own House Of Cards, and House of ShoQlat from Holland.

Next February this ball is coming to Manchester in a stripped back format, but I can guarantee that will go off too. Here's a clip of my and host Rikki getting the crowd hyped up at the start of the night: