The French “House of Ninja” at the Vogue Nights Jozi

The French Institute of South Africa is proud to announce this year’s Vogue Nights Jozi, which will take place on Friday 14 June at The Third Place in Newtown, Johannesburg. The event is organised by Vogue Nights Jozi in collaboration with the women and queer DJ incubator project Pussy Party, alongside Broaden A New Sound.

The French Institute invited famous French dancer Lasseindra Ninja and French DJ Monique, both from the House of Ninja in Paris, to participate in this inclusive and intersectional nightlife project.

Originating from the LGBTQ community in the late 1980s, Voguing is a form of modern dance characterised by photographic style poses integrated with angular, linear and rigid movements inspired by the model poses of Vogue magazine.

The lead up to the Vogue Nights Jozi will include a Wednesday night Pussy Party at the famous underground music hub Kitchener’s in Braamfontein on 12 June 2019. As well as a DJ set, DJ Monique will be hosting a free ‘DJ for Vogue’ workshop. Local queer legend Queezy and the Pussy Party DJs complete the line up.

On Tuesday 18 June, the French Institute of South Africa will also be partnering with GALA, the LGBTQI+ archives, for a walkabout with Lasseindra Ninja of the exhibition “Kewpie, Daughter of District Six” in the Market Photo Workshop (Newtown). It will be followed by the screening of Fabulous, a documentary about Lasseindra Ninja and her return in French Guiana, as well as a Q&A with Ninja.

About Vogue Nights Jozi

Vogue Nights Jozi celebrates its one-year anniversary in redefining South African queer culture into inclusive and intersectional spaces. VNJ is an event for the queer community who are seeking visibility, survival, and acceptance in a city that hardly acknowledges their existence. It’s a movement that is redefining culture, shifting norms and reimagining Johannesburg’s nightlife scene to allow diverse freedom of expression through dance, music, art and community.

The build-up to the debut Vogue Nights Jozi in June 2018 was an ode to the critically acclaimed 1991 LGBTQ+ documentary Paris Is Burning, and it tells a story of South Africa’s queer youth searching for more places to call ‘home’. It is then fitting that VNJozi’s one year anniversary celebration will host the legendary House of Ninja (Paris), bringing us full circle to our point of departure and cementing VNJozi in the global milieu of Vogue Nights hosted in leading cultural cities such as Paris, Berlin, Chicago and most famously New York City.

On the bill for Vogue Nights Jozi is queer polymath and founder, Lelowhatsgood, as well as residents A Very Cool Time & Dormant Youth, with Nodiggity, Lotion, and MC Tutu Zondo holding it down at The Third Place in Newtown.

Programme

• “DJ for Vogue” workshop with DJ Monique
• The Pussy Party with DJ Monique
• Vogue Nights Jozi with Lasseindra Ninja and DJ Monique
• “Fabulousity: Lasseindra Ninja meets Kewpie”: Walkabout at Market Photo Workshop
• Screening of Fabulous, a documentary on Lasseindra Ninja

Guests

DJ Monique

Raphaël Gribe Marquis aka DJ Monique Ninja is a Paris-based Radio and Cinema Producer, and a member of the Iconic House of Ninja in Paris. Producer of the infamous and legendary La Bambaataa parties, he has been programmed several times at major French events (Festival de Cannes, Paris Fashion Week, We Love Green Festival,…) and regularly DJs at major Balls for the Paris Ballroom Scene.

Lasseindra Ninja

Lasseindra Ninja is a professional French queer dancer. She is an emblematic figure of voguing in France (also called vogue), an urban dance invented by queers of colour in New York in the 80s. She started voguing at age 20, being recruited by one of the most famous collectives in New York before importing the concept in France, mainly Paris where she organises her own balls (or ballrooms) where drag queens and transgender people can freely express their identity.

MORE INFORMATION

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