What Is Voguing? The History Behind the Dance

Vogue, or voguing, is an improvisational dance form originally inspired by the poses that graced the covers and pages of the eponymous fashion magazine.

Created by marginalized Black and Latino LGBTQ+ communities in Harlem, the highly stylized dance grew out of New York’s drag ballroom culture in the 1960s and rose to prominence in the 1980s. It has since evolved into three distinct styles.

Voguing originated in New York's drag ballroom scene, a queer underground subculture inspired by the debutante and masquerade balls of the late 19th century. Modern ballroom culture emerged in Harlem in the late 1960s, when drag queen Crystal LaBeija, fed up with racial biases in the ballroom pageantry competitions, decided to host her own. Together with Lottie LaBeija, she co-founded the House of LaBeija, widely recognized as the first ballroom "house"—a chosen family that provided community for LGBTQ+ people while competing in ballroom events.

Voguing eventually became central to ballroom competitions. Dancers tried to out-pose or “throw shade” at (insult) their rivals through movement. However, the exact origin of voguing is debated. One account credits it to Paris Dupree, who struck poses from the pages of a Vogue magazine to the beat of music in a club. Another story traces it to an unnamed Black gay or trans person incarcerated at Rikers Island who posed to draw attention from fellow inmates.

There are three recognized styles of voguing: Old Way, New Way and Vogue Fem.

Originally known as “Pop, Dip and Spin,” Old Way is characterized by a series of poses emphasizing symmetry and hard angles. Voguers frame their faces with hand and arm movements. This style draws inspiration from Egyptian hieroglyphs, martial arts and breakdancing.

New Way, which emerged around 1990, added enhanced hand performance paired with flexibility and joint contortions called “clicks.” Inspired by contortion, gymnastics and yoga, the dance uses precise movements of the hands and arms to create complex angles and lines.

Taking cues from ballet, jazz and modern dance, Vogue Fem emerged around 1995 to emphasize femininity. It is similar to New Way but focuses on either speed and stunts or slow, sensual movements. Vogue Fem has five essential elements: hand performance, catwalk, duckwalk, spins and dips, and floor performance.

Voguing crossed into mainstream visibility in 1990, driven largely by Madonna's song and music video "Vogue." The dance's cultural roots were further explored in Jennie Livingston's documentary Paris Is Burning, which introduced audiences to New York City's ballroom scene and the communities that created it.

Madonna has been both celebrated for bringing voguing into the mainstream and criticized for commercializing the dance without fully crediting its origins.

Voguing has since appeared in media like “Pose,” “Legendary” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” It has also influenced musicians like Beyoncé, whose 2022 album RENAISSANCE paid homage to voguing and ballroom culture.