Wesley: New York is the birthplace and Mecca of ballroom, but we’re trying to let people see that ballroom is bigger than that. We don’t have to speak the same language: it’s about the movement. You have a scene in New York or here in L.A., but also in Chicago, or Dallas, or Paris, or Russia, or Taiwan. Again, this is giving us the opportunity to let people know what direction we come from, and what we can do when we come together and create.
Leiomy and Dashaun, given your deep roots in ball culture, how do you think that fans and followers of the scene from around the world can support the performers that they love so much after a challenging year?
Maldonado: I think as far as ballroom goes, we always find different ways to support each other. And honestly, the balls never stopped happening. They stopped happening at event venues, but they took it to social media and online, having competitions there where people could still win money and express their artistry. Although the world was shut down, when the ballroom scene first started, it started because our community felt like we were shut out, you know—we created this world because society didn’t accept us. So even going through a pandemic, it didn’t hold us back from shining and doing the things that we love to do. We just found a different way to do it.
Jamil: And anyone who wants to support that community can learn more about [it], too. Go to the balls, follow these people online, and give them the platform they deserve. So much of what the world loves in culture when it comes to music, fashion, art, makeup, hair, dance, has been leached from the ballroom scene, and then they haven’t been given the credit and the platform they deserve. So I think that it’s really important to go back to the source and understand where the world was lucky enough to learn all of this stuff from in the first place.
Megan, you’ve had a crazy year, winning three Grammys and becoming one of the biggest music stars in the world. Why does it feel important to you to come back to Legendary and continue supporting the community here?
Megan Thee Stallion: I’m gonna be 100% honest, Legendary has taught me so much and made me realize so many things. It made me understand not to take anything for granted, and it made me realize you always need to work harder. When I first signed up for Legendary, I knew what ballroom was, but not a whole lot about it, so it definitely made me do my homework, because I wanted to know what I was looking for, and why all of these people are going so hard. I wanted to know why this shit looks so fun, you know what I’m saying? [Laughs.] So when I got the opportunity to be a part of the show again, I was like, hell yeah! I’m not passing this up. I know that I can use my platform to make the world aware of things they may not know about. When I met Leiomy, and the members from the houses on the show, they made me want to perform harder. Leiomy told me a story about how she was practicing on a soapy floor with some pumps on and I was like, bitch! What am I doing with my life? Since then, I’ve incorporated ballroom into my shows, into my music videos, because I really appreciate how hard everybody goes. You better make sure you’re putting your best foot forward all the time, because when preparedness meets opportunity, that’s when you get success. That’s definitely what ballroom has taught me, so I’m very appreciative to be in my seat.
Season two of Legendary premieres May 6 on HBO Max.
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