House of Xtravaganza
House of Xtravaganza members and the collective group is recognized for their cultural influence in the areas of dance, music, visual arts, nightlife, fashion, and community activism.
[citation needed] Composed primarily of African American and Latino LGBTQ people, members of the ballroom community traditionally form "houses" which serve the dual purpose of providing a surrogate family structure and competing for trophies and prestige in community-organized balls.
The House of Extravaganza (original spelling) was founded in 1982 by Hector Valle (1960–1985), a gay man of Puerto Rican descent, recognized for his elegant and athletic style of voguing.
In the summer of 1982 he made a bold decision for the time to create an all-Latino ballroom house,[3][4] in response to what was a nearly exclusive African American gay subculture.
Hector undertook the task of building up the House membership among friends he socialized with in the West Village of NYC and at popular nightclubs of the era, such as the Paradise Garage.
One of the earlier people to join Hector in the new venture was a transgender teen of Puerto Rican descent who came to be known as Angie Xtravaganza and who assumed the role of "house mother".
To celebrate the House's fifth anniversary, Father David and Mother Angie organized the 1987 Xtravaganza ball, held at the popular New York City nightclub Latin Quarter.
David Ian and Johnny Dynell, accompanied by other House members including Jose Gutierez and Luis Camacho, toured Japan in support of the record release – introducing voguing to an international audience.
For the video and subsequent Blonde Ambition world tour, Madonna recruited two voguers from the House of Xtravaganza; Jose Gutierez and Luis Camacho.
Jose Gutierez Xtavaganza also appeared in Madonna's video for "Justify My Love[20] ", a model for Jean Paul Gaultier, as well as choreograph and dance with other pop music artists.
Mother Angie Xtravaganza died of complications of AIDS in March 1993, after ten years of leading the House to ballroom and public recognition.
Her death was the subject of the April 18, 1993 New York Times feature "Paris Has Burned", which included an oversized photograph of Angie on the front page of the Sunday Style section.
[26] With the death of Mother Angie and several other long-time House members, the Xtravaganzas turned away from the public eye and returned to their roots in the underground ballroom scene.
The loss of Mother Angie to AIDS at the young age of 28, along with the death of many other House members, prompted the Xtravaganzas to take a more visible role in the area of HIV/AIDS activism.
HIV / AIDS organization Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) named its House of Latex Xcellence Award in honor of Hector Xtravaganza.
[33] Twenty-five-year-old Lorena was one of the rising stars of the House of Xtravaganza known for her elaborate nightclub shows, having performed extensively throughout New York, Puerto Rico and Spain.
The ball was successful in attracting a wide range of competitors and spectators beyond the immediate ballroom community drawing from the arts, fashion, and cultural elite of New York.
But then last month, e-mail began to circulating with the news that the Xtravas were bringing the party to XL, a slicker-than-vinyl gay club near Times Square, in an attempt to widen the audience again.
[39] As Jason Last explained, "(Jose) came on board with one very specific request – that we create something special together and present Vogue(ing) in a new way, steering clear of the obvious first-degree references that otherwise would be deemed as simply syndicating what already was."
In September 2013 Swedish electro-pop duo ICONA POP released the music video "All Night" featuring Father Jose X., Derrick X., Gisele X., Jeremy X., Grandfather Hector X., and G Bizarre X., along with other ballroom personalities.
[45] In celebration of its fifth anniversary, Candy magazine assembled 14 influential trans women to represent the ongoing social revolution in the attitudes toward transgender people.
An accomplished percussionist and bandleader, trans activist, and long-time member of the House of Xtravaganza, Jones drew upon her life experiences in the creation of the album.
The lead track on the album is "Xtravaganzas", her tribute to the history of the House, with lyrics such as "Mother Angie in the pages of Vogue, they taught Madonna how to strike a pose".
[47] Former Madonna dancers and choreographers Jose Gutierez & Luis Camacho Xtravaganza are featured in the 2015 documentary Strike a Pose directed by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan.
[48][49] For the 2016 original Netflix series The Get Down, the House of Xtravaganza partnered with the visionary director Baz Luhrmann in the creation of a scene set a late 1970s New York City LGBTQ nightclub.
[53] Feature film Saturday Church told the story of a 14-year-old boy struggling with gender identity and religion, who begins to use fantasy to escape his life in the inner city.
Grandfather Hector X., Father Jose Gutierez X, Mother Gisele Alicea X, Dominique Silver X., Nomi X., G Bizarre X., and other House of Xtravaganza members also appeared in first-season episodes.
In June 2018, original Madonna "Vogue" dancers and choreographers Father Jose Gutierez X. and Luis Camacho X. were honored as Celebrity Grand Marshalls of 2018 San Francisco Pride parade.
More than 35 years after its founding, House of Xtravaganza members continue to be featured in popular media and travel the world as ambassadors of voguing and the ballroom scene.
Alicea has works with by numerous photographers, including Terry Richardson, Bruce Webber, Mariano Vivanco, Patrick Demarchelier, and Danielle Levitt.
