Xtravaganza Powah!

It was two years before Paris Is Burning hit the theaters in 1990, but this photo of members of the House of Xtravaganza hit Vogue magazine in its December 1988 issue.

I not only saw Paris Is Burning at the River Oaks theater during its run, that movie is in my DVD collection 

That Jennie Livingston documentary led to the iconic ballroom community house became internationally famous, but as you can see, they were already starting to blow up and make a name for themselves in the New York area before that movie debuted.

Seeing the photo reminded me of this New York Times article discussing the recent 30th anniversary House of Xtravaganza Ball (yes, people they are still having balls).   It also remnded me there's a lot of history in the ballroom community, and sadly we've lost more than a few of the people that were chronicled in that 1990 film.

HT Koko and Karl Xtravaganza