In a completely renewed collaboration with Unwanted Words we present you a ballroom poetry program during the festival. Where movement meets metaphor, and self-expression becomes revolution: Ballroom is a Poem. This program is an experimental showcase blending the fierce spirit of ballroom culture with the raw emotion of queer poetry. More than just a show, this program is a tribute to the legacy of Black and Brown queer and trans communities who created ballroom as a radical act of resistance, survival, and self-actualization.
Through categories like Old Way Vogue, Sex Siren, European Runway, Vogue Fem, and Realness, Unwanted Words aims to honor that legacy and invite audiences to witness this celebration.
🎤 OPEN CALL!
Category is: SHORT POEM REALNESS
Walk the runway with your words.
60 seconds. Maximum impact. 💅🏽
🔥 Bring 3 short poems:
1️⃣ To get your 10’s
2️⃣ & 3️⃣ For the battle rounds
Win the Grand Prize of Queer Poetry 🏆
✨ Ballroom meets Open Mic
📍 Rotterdam @ Poetry International
| 📅 Saturday June 14th
🕘 Deadline: Wednesday June 4th
THE LINE-UP:
Luis Bracamontes
Luis (He/They) –@ageoflui– is a queer Mexican spoken word artist based in Rotterdam. Their work explores themes of queer joy, intimacy & spirituality from a decolonial, intersectional lens on identity. Founder of Unwanted Words, an award-winning platform for LGBTQ+ poets in The Netherlands and creator of the “1st & 2nd Queer & Feminist Poetry Awards” (2020, 2023) with the theme “Decolonizing Gender” and the “Queer & Feminist Poetry Anthology” Vol 1 (2021).
Photo: Sara Tulej
Duraa
For Duraa, who is a word artist, singer-songwriter and theatre-maker, poetry means both protest and joy. Her work ranges from fierce social criticism to fiery self-love and from bold pieces about sex and sexuality to personal works about this unbearable life. The last few years, she has dipped her toes in the ballroom scene and discovered its powers of community and self-exploration. Her categories – Old Way and Sex Siren – allow her to play with an endless range of energies, such as masc, femme, hard, soft, playful and elegant.
Photo: Rosa Quist
Lashaaawn
Lashaaawn combines building epic fantasy worlds with on- and offline drag performance art. In their work, they depict inclusive societies where well-being and peace are central. Through the digital show Ehmeneehm with Lashaaawn, they mix drag, comedy and in-depth conversations with prominent Dutch creatives. Lashaaawn draws from Surinamese culture and uses Afrofuturism as a guide to be able to create in a non-violent and inclusive way. With their practice, they build a diverse digital infrastructure and inspire others to dream, create and claim space freely.
Maybelline Garçon
They call her MC Maybelline. She has been part of the legendary house of Comme des Garçons and the Kiki house of Angels for a few years now and has been traveling around Europe to show her Mc skills within and outside Ballroom. She got a hot tongue that spits a tight fire, calling up the right spirits to take us over on the floor. I hope you’re ready for your hostess with mostest, because she’s gonna give it to ya… Maybe it’s who? Maybe it’s maybelline!
Seven Angels Garçon
Though he’s known as one of the premiere DJs of the European Ballroom scene, Seven is quickly breaking through to a wider club-going audience. The Rotterdam-based artist is probably best known for his hyperactive ‘full-body’ style of DJing, which he uses to energize the performers and crowd, and can sometimes be a bit of a performance in itself. His style is heavily informed by his love of techno, mixing vogue beats with bass-heavy club tracks. He aims to reinforce the connection between electronic music and its Black and Queer roots.
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