The Boston-based House of Escada has vogued its way to third place among eight teams on HBO Max’s reality TV competition “Legendary.”
For those unfamiliar with the house ballroom scene, “Ballroom is a community where people can create chosen families,” House of Escada’s Mother, London Fleur de Lis, told the Boston public radio station WBUR-FM.
“People were getting kicked out of their homes for being gay and ballroom became a place for people to go and create a family — a support system, to build confidence, to live your fantasies you’ve always wanted to live without having millions of dollars,” said Mother London.
Notes WBUR, “We’ve seen glimpses of representation of this culture in the 1990 film “Paris is Burning” and more recently in the FX show “Pose,” but “Legendary” is one of the first big reality competition shows dedicated to these kinds of performance groups.”
Reports WBUR:
On the show, the houses were judged by actress Jameela Jamil, rapper Megan Thee Stallion, fashion stylist Law Roach and Leiomy Maldonado, a dancer and actress and choreographer on “Pose.” (Maldonado is also known as the “Wonder Woman of Vogue.”). Other folks on the show include Dashaun Wesley and DJ MikeQ, who are also both big players in the ballroom community, especially on the East Coast.”
The teams, or houses, danced in nine balls over the course of the season. As the houses competed, they tried to display the five elements of vogue: hand performance, catwalk, duckwalk, spins and dips, and floor performance, according to Maldonado.
London moved to Boston seven years ago from Springfield, Massachusetts. As a student at Emerson College, they co-created the Haus of Emerson, the first college-based ballroom house, according to their website. Co-creator Christopher Henderson-West is the one who suggested London and the House of Escada to the “Legendary” producers.
The eight teams on the show were great picks for the first season. (The show was recently renewed for a second season.) London says it was a diverse mix of the ballroom community, emphasizing how the contestants were made up of vogue veterans and newcomers, different performance styles and all kinds of fun aesthetics.
London was impressed by the producers, who they say made sure they had people working on the show with knowledge of ballroom culture. They added that this made the competitors feel comfortable after being concerned with how the media would portray ballroom. …
House of Escada ended up placing third at the end of the show, and viewers could see the growth of the team over the course of the season. “I would say the first and last episode are basically a complete story of Escada,” London says. “We go from the black feathers [in the first episode’s performance] to the white feathers towards the end. It shows that our house has transcended.”
The houses were supposed to go on a world tour and a promotional tour after they wrapped filming, but because of the pandemic, those plans are on hold.
The entertainment industry has been using parts of ballroom culture for a long time, London said, and this show is now giving the people from the community a chance to show what ballroom is for themselves.
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