SYDNEY GAY AND LESBIAN MARDI GRAS

&

RED BULL MUSIC

Announce the return of

SISSY BALL

Style and precision will collide on the runway for Australia’s biggest Vogue throwdown.

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Following last year’s sold-out debut, Australia’s biggest vogue competition, Sissy Ball is back for the 2019 Sydney Mardi Gras with more attitude than ever. Returning to Sydney’s Carriageworks on February 23, the much-hyped collaboration between Sydney Gay And Lesbian Mardi Gras and Red Bull Music will set the stage for an exhilarating night of movement and flair as houses battle it out on the runway, supported by live music, DJs and performing artists.

Sydney-based interdisciplinary artist and House of Slé mother, Bhenji Ra again curates Sissy Ball, inviting back US vogue icons Leiomy Maldonado and Dashaun Wesley. On the local front, celebrating Asia Pacific’s burgeoning vogue scene, competing houses House of Slé, House of Luna, and House of IMANwill take to the stage alongside the fiercest talent.

Acclaimed “wonder woman of vogue” and NYC choreographer, known for her work with FKA Twigs and Willow Smith, Leiomy Maldonado will wear the crown of head judge on the night. As a pinnacle figure of NYC’s ballroom scene and longtime advocate for LGBTQIA+ issues and queer spaces, Sissy Ball is thrilled to welcome Leiomy back to Australia. Fellow New Yorker, MC and vogue sensation, Dashaun Wesley returns with Leiomy to provide play-by-play commentating as entrants take to the Sissy Ball runway. Part of Brooklyn’s ballroom scene since high school, Dashaun’s raw talent and dedication has led him to dance floors globally, from performing on MTV’s Best Dance Crew and as dancer on Rihanna’s ANTI world tour.

Houses and individual entrants (also known as 007s) will seek to win Sissy Ball’s Grand Prize this February, following House of Amazon’s Yovana Banks phenomenal win in 2018. Stepping onto the catwalk is House of Slé, led by Sissy Ball curator and house mother Bhenji Ra. Slé’s members include Western Sydney-based artists with cultural and urban skill sets, all belonging to the greater Asia Pacificdiaspora. They walk alongside the newly formed House of IMAN, headed by house mother Jaycee Baybee, as well Sydney’s newest house, House of Luna led by overall mother Karlee Misipeka. Co-founder of Fafswag, TAMATOA will take to the ball solo in 2019 as a fiercely loyal advocate for Auckland’s LGBQTIA+ arts community, helping them explore ideas of urban Pacific queer identity.

After claiming history as Australia’s biggest Vogue Ball, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Red Bull Music collaboration returns in 2019 to celebrate Asia-Pacific’s LGBTQIA+ community. Soundtracked by iconic members of the international ballroom community and soon-to-be-announced artists and DJs, Sissy Ball invites people together for a night of dance, music, and expressive freedom that celebrates identity and honours ballroom’s enduring presence in queer culture today.