Cosmic Nights Kiki Ball by Parisa Juicy & Amowia Wang

The international Houses of Juicy Couture and Vera Wang issue an open invitation to help establish ballroom culture in Hannover and experience an evening with the ballroom community.

Members of the scene travel from all over Europe to compete in a range of categories including Old Way, Vogue Fem and Runway.

Balls are a part of the ballroom community that was established in the late 1960s in New York, particularly by and for Black and Latinx transwomen. Ballroom is a culture based on artistic dialogue, competition within a collective, and self-empowerment.

The ‘houses’, which also organise balls, are family-like groups, generally with an international membership. The house culture emerged in the late 1980s, when growing numbers of trans and queer young people were being rejected by their biological parents after coming out and found an alternative family in the various houses with their ‘mothers’ and ‘fathers’.
A distinction is made in the scene between ‘major’ and ‘kiki’. Kiki means the community that developed in the early 2000s out of the older major scene, and has a particular focus on HIV-AIDS education work for the younger ballroom generation.

In addition to the Kiki Ball there will be the panel talk It's OVAH Hannover: The Essence, Evolution, and Legacy of Ballroom and workshops to create a suitably safer space for QTIBIPOC* in Hannover.


Parisa Madani from the Hall of Fame Kiki House of Juicy Couture is a German-Iranian woman with trans* experiences working in the performing arts and with communities. As a choreographer, she has been focusing on the care of QTIBIPOC* in the immersive performances Pariyestan since 2020.

https://www.pariyestan.com/

Maurice Werner aka Amowia from the International House of Wang is an Afropean artist with roots from Ghana and Germany. Maurice Werner discovered their talent for hip-hop and contemporary dance at a young age and has received national and international awards. As a choreographer, movement coach, model and DJ, Maurice Werner showcases their versatility and places great importance on supporting QTIBIPOC* in their life.

OVAH Hannover was founded by Parisa Juicy (@houseofjuicycouture) and Amowia Wang (@thehausofverawang) who both grew up in Hannover. They have a desire to create safer spaces for empowerment, education and most importantly to build and develop a community with locally based queer BIPoCs who want to enter the world of ballrooms. OVAH is a growing group of people from diverse backgrounds, ages and experiences in the ballroom scene.