July 29, 2022 @ 6:00 pm - July 30, 2022 @ 12:00 am
Van Vogue Jam in partnership with Vancouver Pride Society presents
POSH BALL 2022—Port Over, Starboard Home!
Friday, July 29, 2022, 6pm-Midnight (PST), Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
Vancouver Kiki Ballroom Scene is here for the 2nd annual POSH BALL – Docking to a port near you. We are getting wet and wild this year, bringing you the booty you’ve all been looking for. ALL ABOARD!
In partnership with Van Vogue Jam, 50% of all ticket profits will be donated to Vancouver Black Therapy & Advocacy Foundation: a non-profit organization committed to connecting black community members to mental health resources such as free therapy and advocacy services.
Posh Gvasalia Basquiat has been in the Ballroom Scene since 2014, opening his own Kiki House of Gvasalia and is also in the Mainstream House of Basquiat. The founder and Artistic/Executive Director of the non-profit organization VanVogueJam, Ralph shares his passion for Vogue/Ballroom culture at his weekly pay-what-you-can classes and vogue balls, acting as a beacon for the queer dance form in Western Canada.
Khelsilem (they/he) is a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh-Kwakwa̱ka’wa̱kw community leader from the Squamish Nation. They write & speak on urban issues, Indigenous language reclamation, and community organizing. Previously a lecturer at SFU in Indigenous Languages, they work as a political leader with their Squamish Nation. They are a non-binary queer raised in the territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh. They are an influential voice as a young West Coast Indigenous leader with a passion for progressive policy change. They are also a continual supporter of queer arts events & organizations in Vancouver.
”This funky dread” got his start working in Toronto & has been a DJ/Promoter, entertaining the LGBTQ masses for more than 25 years. He has been on TV, radio,Magazines like CBC, City TV, Fab & X-tra, Honey & in such papers as NOW, The Globe & Mail & The Toronto Star. You want it, he can play it. This Toronto Canada native is of Jamaican descent & knows his way around all kinds of Music such as Dancehall, hip hop, R&B, dance, Soca & his 1st love House (ballroom) music. Along with curating and spinning for The HUMP Wednesdays at Crews and Tangos, The Rude Collective, CHOPPED & Yes Yes Y`all, he also has his own regular monthly party in Toronto called “GO HARD” a Hip Hop, Dancehall, Soca, R&B underground type party. He has also joined the team behind the popular 15yrs running/ Djing the hip hop party BIG PRIMPIN. He has opened for City Girls, Canadian R&B Superstar & friend Jully Black & hard hitting superstar DJ`s like the late ICON DJ Vjuan Allure, DJ`s Mikeq & Bambii. In the Covid years Black Cat took a forced break from the club scene and joined the team @ Pride Toronto as program curator for the last 3yrs, helping young 2SLGBTQ + artists find their voice & shine in and outside of the community. He has taken his collective GO HARD online where they throw parties to help raise awareness & monies for Black people & business focusing on the LGBTQ + community. Now that our city has opened up, GO HARD is excited and ready to release their set of events for 2022. @gohardevents (instagram & Facebook). Voted Church Street’s favorite DJ this year & recipient of the Inspire Awards “Lifetime Achievement Award” for his contributions to his community & bringing the urban sound to Toronto`s LGBTQ scene, this Black Cat never sleeps and neither will you if you’re at one of his functions & dare to cross his path.
Yūko Westwood, mother of the Kiki House of Vivienne Westwood. Formerly the mother of the Kiki House of Flora, Yūko has recently relocated to Tongva land (Los Angeles, CA) and has helped to start a kiki house of sex-working fem queens. Yūko is known for her walking fem queen performance, face, and sex siren.
BIJOUX BLYNDEX is an anti-disciplinary artist loving and creating on the stolen land of the Council of Three Fires comprising the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. They are a member of the Kiki House of Blyndex and the mainstream Iconic House of Ninja. They have been active in the kiki and mainstream ballroom scenes for more than 3 years, and currently walk the categories Face and Sex Siren. Outside of the ballroom scene, Bijoux performs in various nightlife spaces and is an avid advocate for the rights of TQ2SBIPOC sex workers!
Cuarta started her ballroom journey in 2016, when she attended her first vogue class. She has been walking (and winning) consistently since 2017, a year in which she was GP Face in Montreal undefeated for four kiki balls in a row. After dominating the local scene, she started travelling to Toronto and New York to compete internationally. She was adopted by Legendary Chloe Mulan and consecutively, her kiki children were inducted to the house of Mulan (2021). She also helped debut the Peruvian chapter of her house at the Heladería Kiki Ball (Lima, 2022), making it the first NYC kiki house to have a chapter in Peru. She was selected in her category to compete on CBC’s “Canadian Ballroom Xtravaganza” as part of Team Brava. It is known that if cuarta is not throwing the ball, she’s commentating it, and if not, she’s judging it! She also makes music she classifies as “voguetón”, which melodically, is a mix of reggaeton and vogue beats, and vocally, it is influenced by ballroom’s voices and the lyricism and delivery of reggaetonerxs.
Van Vogue Jam in partnership with Vancouver Pride Society presents
POSH BALL 2022—Port Over, Starboard Home!
Friday, July 29, 2022, 6pm-Midnight (PST), Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
Vancouver Kiki Ballroom Scene is here for the 2nd annual POSH BALL – Docking to a port near you. We are getting wet and wild this year, bringing you the booty you’ve all been looking for. ALL ABOARD!
In partnership with Van Vogue Jam, 50% of all ticket profits will be donated to Vancouver Black Therapy & Advocacy Foundation: a non-profit organization committed to connecting black community members to mental health resources such as free therapy and advocacy services.
Sponsored by Lululemon, DTBIA, Fairmont Hotel, and Air Canada.
Funded by Canada Council for the Arts.
For the most up-to-date accessibility information visit vancouverpride.ca/accessibility.
Hosts
Posh Gvasalia Basquiat has been in the Ballroom Scene since 2014, opening his own Kiki House of Gvasalia and is also in the Mainstream House of Basquiat. The founder and Artistic/Executive Director of the non-profit organization VanVogueJam, Ralph shares his passion for Vogue/Ballroom culture at his weekly pay-what-you-can classes and vogue balls, acting as a beacon for the queer dance form in Western Canada.
Khelsilem (they/he) is a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh-Kwakwa̱ka’wa̱kw community leader from the Squamish Nation. They write & speak on urban issues, Indigenous language reclamation, and community organizing. Previously a lecturer at SFU in Indigenous Languages, they work as a political leader with their Squamish Nation. They are a non-binary queer raised in the territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh. They are an influential voice as a young West Coast Indigenous leader with a passion for progressive policy change. They are also a continual supporter of queer arts events & organizations in Vancouver.
DJ & Commentator
”This funky dread” got his start working in Toronto & has been a DJ/Promoter, entertaining the LGBTQ masses for more than 25 years. He has been on TV, radio,Magazines like CBC, City TV, Fab & X-tra, Honey & in such papers as NOW, The Globe & Mail & The Toronto Star. You want it, he can play it. This Toronto Canada native is of Jamaican descent & knows his way around all kinds of Music such as Dancehall, hip hop, R&B, dance, Soca & his 1st love House (ballroom) music. Along with curating and spinning for The HUMP Wednesdays at Crews and Tangos, The Rude Collective, CHOPPED & Yes Yes Y`all, he also has his own regular monthly party in Toronto called “GO HARD” a Hip Hop, Dancehall, Soca, R&B underground type party. He has also joined the team behind the popular 15yrs running/ Djing the hip hop party BIG PRIMPIN. He has opened for City Girls, Canadian R&B Superstar & friend Jully Black & hard hitting superstar DJ`s like the late ICON DJ Vjuan Allure, DJ`s Mikeq & Bambii. In the Covid years Black Cat took a forced break from the club scene and joined the team @ Pride Toronto as program curator for the last 3yrs, helping young 2SLGBTQ + artists find their voice & shine in and outside of the community. He has taken his collective GO HARD online where they throw parties to help raise awareness & monies for Black people & business focusing on the LGBTQ + community. Now that our city has opened up, GO HARD is excited and ready to release their set of events for 2022. @gohardevents (instagram & Facebook). Voted Church Street’s favorite DJ this year & recipient of the Inspire Awards “Lifetime Achievement Award” for his contributions to his community & bringing the urban sound to Toronto`s LGBTQ scene, this Black Cat never sleeps and neither will you if you’re at one of his functions & dare to cross his path.
www.mixcloud.com/djblackcatt
Follow along on Instagram!
Judges
Follow along on Instagram!
Yūko Westwood, mother of the Kiki House of Vivienne Westwood. Formerly the mother of the Kiki House of Flora, Yūko has recently relocated to Tongva land (Los Angeles, CA) and has helped to start a kiki house of sex-working fem queens. Yūko is known for her walking fem queen performance, face, and sex siren.
Follow along on Instagram!
BIJOUX BLYNDEX is an anti-disciplinary artist loving and creating on the stolen land of the Council of Three Fires comprising the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. They are a member of the Kiki House of Blyndex and the mainstream Iconic House of Ninja. They have been active in the kiki and mainstream ballroom scenes for more than 3 years, and currently walk the categories Face and Sex Siren. Outside of the ballroom scene, Bijoux performs in various nightlife spaces and is an avid advocate for the rights of TQ2SBIPOC sex workers!
Cuarta started her ballroom journey in 2016, when she attended her first vogue class. She has been walking (and winning) consistently since 2017, a year in which she was GP Face in Montreal undefeated for four kiki balls in a row. After dominating the local scene, she started travelling to Toronto and New York to compete internationally. She was adopted by Legendary Chloe Mulan and consecutively, her kiki children were inducted to the house of Mulan (2021). She also helped debut the Peruvian chapter of her house at the Heladería Kiki Ball (Lima, 2022), making it the first NYC kiki house to have a chapter in Peru. She was selected in her category to compete on CBC’s “Canadian Ballroom Xtravaganza” as part of Team Brava. It is known that if cuarta is not throwing the ball, she’s commentating it, and if not, she’s judging it! She also makes music she classifies as “voguetón”, which melodically, is a mix of reggaeton and vogue beats, and vocally, it is influenced by ballroom’s voices and the lyricism and delivery of reggaetonerxs.