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SPEAKER_05: This Pride Month, Womanica is brought to you exclusively by Mercedes-Benz. Together, we're honoring people who've expanded the norms of gender and sexuality in the performing arts. Mercedes-Benz embraces the freedom of individual expression and continues to support and stand with the LGBTQIA plus community. Listen all month long as we share stories of proud individuals whose authentic expression in their lives and bodies of work have challenged norms, driving society forward.
SPEAKER_07: From Wonder Media Network, I'm Miranda Pierman Mayday, host of The Things We Carry, and this is Womanica. I'm so excited to be one of your guest hosts for the final week of Womanica this Pride Month. This month, Womanica is highlighting queer stars of the stage and screen. Today we're talking about a legend in the New York ballroom scene who never had a child of her own, but was a mother figure to dozens of people in the ballroom world. Please welcome Angie Extravaganza.
SPEAKER_01: My name is Angie Extravaganza and I am the mother of the house of Extravaganza. I hope it's offered advice, you know, I mean, as far as what I know and what I've been through in gay life, you know, I've all sorts of things, good and bad and how to survive in gay world, you know, it's kind of hard. Extravaganza power!
SPEAKER_07: Angie was born in 1964 in the South Bronx. She grew up in a large family where abuse was regular. By the time she was 14, she decided to leave. She quickly found community with other kids across New York without families. They would gather in Times Square and on the Christopher Street piers. Even though Angie was only a teenager, she cared for the kids like she was their mother. At 14, Angie started doing drag performances in Harlem. She learned from Dorian Corey, a legendary drag performer who was also Angie's house mother. In the New York ballroom scene, many drag performers belong to houses, close-knit communities led by a house mother and a house father. Houses were more than teams that competed in ballroom competitions together. They were safe havens. Many of the children that belonged to them had been cut off by their families and were ostracized by larger society for their gender identity or sexual orientation. Belonging to a house meant being part of a family. In 1992, Hector Valle, who was known in the ballroom scene for his voguing, founded his own house. It was exclusively for Latinx ballroom performers. He named it the House of Extravaganza. Angie joined as a founding member and became the house mother. Angie took her role as house mother seriously. She cared for her children, made sure they always had food, celebrated their lives, and taught them how to dominate ballroom competitions.
SPEAKER_01: When there's a ball, I'm always doing something for everybody in my house. I do that one's hair, the other one's makeup, their shoes, their accessories.
SPEAKER_07: Angie was also quickly becoming one of the most legendary performers in the New York ballroom scene. She was known for her unequaled fashion sense, her gliding models walk, her drop earrings, and her seven-inch stiletto heels. Anytime she walked in a competition, she slayed. In one show, she wore a handmade skirt and a blazer set with a white shawl. She walked down the runway in her outfit, and when she got to the middle, she started spinning. Her shawl got bigger and bigger. It was nearly 50 feet long. As she spun, in stilettos, the other competitors got covered by the shawl's fabric. Angie walked away with the trophy. In 1990, Angie rose to national prominence after the release of the documentary, Paris is Burning. The documentary shows scenes from the actual Paris is Burning ball where Angie was awarded Mother of the Year. The documentary also features the close relationship Angie had with Venus Extravaganza, one of Angie's daughters and fellow performer.
SPEAKER_01: We used to get dressed together, call each other, and say what we were gonna wear, and she was like my right hand, as far as I'm concerned. I miss her. Every time I go anywhere, I miss her.
SPEAKER_07: In 1988, while Angie was filming the documentary, Venus was found strangled to death in a hotel room. Angie was the first person the police told about Venus' death. She held the house together through their grief.
SPEAKER_01: That was my main, the main daughter of my house, in other words, but that's part of life as far as being a transsexual in New York City and surviving.
SPEAKER_07: In 1991, at 25 years old, Angie was diagnosed with AIDS. Over time, her condition deteriorated, but she still made an effort to don outfits in her signature style and go out with her family. In the last weeks of her life, she would regularly say, "'No drag queen has carried herself the way I have. "'I'm not a beauty, but I've got class.'" Angie passed away in 1993, two years after her AIDS diagnosis. She was 28 years old. Shortly after Angie's death, the New York Times published a story about the New York ballroom scene with a picture of Angie at the top. The headline was, Paris is burned. But Angie's legacy lives on. Today, the House of Extravaganza still exists, and some children have been part of the family for over 30 years. All month, Wamanica has highlighted Pride on stage.
SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much to Ginny and Liz Kaplan for inviting us to guest host. It was so great to learn about and celebrate these women for the final week of Pride Month this year.
SPEAKER_07: Tune in tomorrow for the beginning of our new theme, dynamos.
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