Emerge: Impact + Music Kicks off Day One with Owning Your Voice and a Sashaying Vogue-Off
Emerge: Impact + Music kicked off night one of its three-day inaugural event to cheers and standing ovations. Highlights included expressive music showcases, revealing talks and unexpected dance-offs (Pictured: The Fairytale Ball at Emerge Impact + Music -Photo Credit Patrick Gray / www.KabikPhotoGroup.com)
Rotana at Emerge Impact + Music
Photo credit: Paul Citone / www.KabikPhotoGroup.com
Opening showcases and parties “Owning Your Voice” and “The Fairytale Ball” produced many highlights:
- Rotana, a Saudi Arabian-born pop star, captivated the audience with her raw, emotive recollections and songs of growing up in a country where a woman’s right to be expressive is severely restricted, and her liberation from that mindset.
- Dylan Marron showed us how talking to people who hate him helped him discover their struggles and humanity.
- During a high-energy re-telling of the history of vogue dancing, and its relevance to the black LGBTQ culture, The Fairytale Ball presented by The Tenth Magazine had the crowd erupting in cheers as it invited guests to sashay their way down the runway. Even festival creator Rehan Choudhry got into the action, catwalking to the crowd’s enthusiastic cheers.
- As they did in the ’80s and ’90s at underground parties, a vogue-off commenced where eight contestants competed for money that was collected from the crowd. With endless cheers, claps and snaps, one lucky sparkled diva took the crown and over $400 in prize money.
- Lauren Ruth Ward wowed the crowd at Bunkhouse Saloon with her energetic and soulful performance.
For more about Emerge Impact + Music, visit EmergeLV.com.