Portraits by Joe Kramm
Posture is pleased to announce that Ballerina Bizet and Lariscious have teamed up to co-edit the drag section. They will conduct interviews, cover events, and provide you with plenty of information on fabulous drag life in New York City. Get ready.
Meet Ballerina Bizet (left):
“I got my start going to drag shows when my new roommate at the time, Azraea, told me she was a queen new to the city, looking to break into the NYC drag scene. Little did I know three years later I would not only be working as a nightlife performer but covering the gay nightlife scene as well. I began performing as a faux queen in 2011 at a drag pageant titled Little Miss Mierce at Sugarland Nightclub hosted by Backspace. Just a little background: a faux queen is the name given to a female performer (usually straight) who performs in the style of a drag queen. It has also been known as a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman, or a biologically challenged drag queen. Some of the craziest and sickest but also most creative and inspiring work I’ve seen in New York has been in drag/gay nightlife. These queens and performers truly treat it as an art form, either embracing its classic “fishy” roots or abstracting the concepts and flipping them upside down. I bring my own form of abstraction, playing with both feminine and androgynous styles to portray my ideas and concepts.
I am also a dancer, have been since I was three running around in a tutu and dancing on my coffee table. I currently work with Rakia! Dance and Sawtooth Dancers, and have been a guest performer for Backspace Performance Ensemble. I have performed at venues including the Wild Project, Dixon Place, The Tank, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and Joyce SoHo. I have also choreographed for several theater companies including The Bent Quill Players and Kipuka Theater. I am honored to be working with Posture and my co-contributor Lariscious to bring you the drag, music, and glitter of NYC gay nightlife.”
Meet Lariscious (right):
Witch, Zeitgeist, Pop Culture Expert. Social Anthroplogist.
At the age of 12, Lariscious snuck into her first alternative nightclub in suburban Philadelphia. The course of her life was forever changed.
Drawn by the art, fashion, and music, at 15 Lariscious became a regular in the Downtown Philadelphia gay club scene. There she remained for several years, hand crafting weekly looks.
In 2006 Lariscious moved to Brooklyn in pursuit of a traditional career path, but still kept one well-manicured finger on the pulse of nightlife. During her semi-hiatus, she co-hosted, dj-ed, and curiated a pop culture night in the east village as well as karaoke in Brooklyn.
In 2009, she came to her senses and returned to her roots to be one of the things that go bump in the night.
In the tradition of the drag houses, in 2011 Lariscious became a founding member and honorary “mother” of the House of Banyon. A collective of dreamers with a shared interest in drag, art, and alternative queer culture, The Banyons took their name from Suzy Banyon, the lead character of Dario Argento’s technicolor masterpiece “Suspiria.” In the film, Suzy Banyon is a ballerina who single-handedly takes down a coven of witches.
Lariscious can now be found on any given night woven subtly into the fabric of the Brooklyn drag and gay scene, along with excursions into Manhattan
By day, Lariscious continues to pursue a 20 year long career in the fashion industry.
Follow this amazing woman on Twitter: @Lariscious
