The Heatwave Kiki Ball

with Vogue Rites

Book ticket

Sat 06 Aug

18.00-22.30

£5.00-£22.50

More details

Tickets

Free	NHS workers
	Unwaged
Concessions	£5.00
	Disabled
	Senior 60+
	Community
Standard	£16.50
Backer	£22.50

Edmond J. Safra

Fountain Court

Part of This Bright Land

Vogue Rites invites you to The Heatwave Kiki Ball, a sizzling celebration of summertime.

Summer is the season that represents a magical time of our lives when we are strong and embarking on adventures. It also symbolises youth, optimism, hope, innocence, and freedom.
Join us as members of the Voguing community walk the runway, in a catwalk spectacular, competing in categories across fashion, beauty, realness and performance for prizes.

Celebrating global Vogue culture, we ask that if you are not part of the ballroom community, you learn about the scene’s history and cultural significance.

About Ball Culture

Originating from Drag Balls that date back over 150 years ago in Harlem, New York and founded by Black and Latinx members of the LGBTQI+ community, Ballroom is an intentional space that celebrates and prioritises LGBTQI+ People of Colour.

Pioneered by Crystal Labeija, ball culture has spread across the globe - thanks to one of its many competitive categories - Voguing, an improvisational art form/dance with rhythmic movement inspired by models' poses in fashion magazines. Voguing has since become a powerful representation of the socio-political struggles of LGBTQI+ people of colour.

"Balls" are competitions/events where individuals and houses come together to compete in categories across fashion, beauty, realness and performance for prizes.

"Houses" are family units that are formed as support networks, with parents of each House guiding & caring for their children and as teams to compete together at Balls.

About the Kiki Scene

The Kiki scene is an offshoot of the mainstream ballroom scene. It was created in the early 2000s by a small group of activists —including leaders of the Gay Men's Health Crisis, Hetrick-Martin Institute and influential teens and young adults in the USA.

The Kiki scene was created out of a need for a youth-focused space that was more economically accessible and less competitive for LGBTQ+ millennials of colour, many of whom were homeless and desperately in need of HIV prevention services and support.

The Kiki scene today provides a place for younger members of the ballroom scene to gain exposure, competition and leadership experience, all against a continued backdrop of safe-sex messaging.

"Kiki" (alternately kiing or a ki) is a ballroom term, loosely defined as a low-key gathering of friends - always fun, never serious. It can also mean something to be taken lightly or done as a joke.

Ballroom Terms

While you're at the event, there might be some terms you're unfamiliar with. Below, we've unpacked some of these terms.

OTA: open to all
FQ (fem queen): trans woman
BQ (butch queen): gay man
FF (female figure): trans woman, drags, cis woman
MF (male figure): transman, butch queen, butch, cis man
NB: nonbinary
GP: grand prize
TBA: to be announced
Effect: outfit/look
10's: if you get your 10's, you will continue to the battles.
Chop: being cut from the category.
Shade: to throw attitude and indirect insults

DJ, Commentator & Judges

Commentator: Snookie Juicy

DJ: TBA

Judges:
Mother Kendall Louboutin
Father Mackenzie Versace
Godparent Sattva Angels
Mother Zion Bodega
Wicked Wang

Booking your ticket

This Bright Land is all about platforming communities and artists and creating an open, inclusive, and welcoming space for everyone to celebrate together. We've created a range of ticket prices to keep these events as open as possible, to as many people as possible. 

We’ve made tickets affordable with prices starting at £5 to ensure This Bright Land is open to all. We have:

Free tickets available for NHS workers and Job Seekers
£5 tickets available to those who are disabled and those receiving a pension and audiences who might otherwise be unable to attend. 
Standard tickets at £16.50
Backer tickets at £22.50

If you are not part of the ballroom community, we please ask that you learn about the history of ballroom and buy a standard or backer ticket and if you can afford to pay for a backer ticket at £22.50, we would really encourage you to do so. These tickets are directly contributing to keeping prices low for those who otherwise wouldn't be able to come.

Part of This Bright Land

A summer celebration of community and culture