Regina Blaque explores South African ballroom culture through a visit to the House of Mizrahi, discovering how the scene creates spaces for queer people to express themselves, build community and embrace their identities. She reflects on the courage it takes to step into these spaces, while highlighting the unique African influences shaping South African ballroom and inviting readers to experience it at the Ascension Ball.
You do not need to know how to vogue. You do not need to understand every ballroom category. You do not even need to feel confident. According to the House of Mizrahi, you only need the courage to go.
I recently visited the House of Mizrahi to learn about South African ballroom from AD Mizrahi, overseer of the house’s South African chapter, and Makitty Mizrahi. What begins as a lesson in vogue soon becomes a conversation about something deeper. Ballroom gives queer people space to be visible, find community and move closer to their truest selves.
More than voguing
Many people see ballroom and assume everyone in the room already knows how to vogue. AD explains how vogue femme is only one of many categories found at a ball.
Walking a category means stepping onto the floor and having the nerve to present yourself to the judges. You might receive your tens or get chopped. Either way, walking begins with the courage to be seen.
Ballroom includes categories centered on performance, beauty, fashion, identity and presence. During my visit, Makitty taught me how to sell face, while AD introduced me to the five elements of vogue: hands, catwalk, duckwalk, floor performance, and spins and dips.
None of these skills are required to attend a ball. You do not need to compete or arrive with a category in mind. You are welcome to watch, learn and experience the energy while deciding what ballroom means to you.
Courage comes before confidence
Throughout my conversation with AD and Makitty, I learnt how ballroom values courage over perfection. It asks you to show up as your truest self, supported by a community ready to celebrate you.
Stepping onto the floor matters most. This is ballroom in its truest sense: having the nerve to take the leap.
Freedom without judgement
For Makitty, ballroom offers something she struggled to find while growing up: acceptance. After being bullied and made to feel like she needed to hide, she found a community where she feels seen, understood and loved.
Ballroom turns acceptance into safety. It gives people space to dress, move, perform and express themselves without shrinking to make others comfortable.
A ballroom with a South African rhythm
South African ballroom draws from scenes in the United States, Europe, Asia and elsewhere, while bringing African culture and traditions to the floor.
AD points to the late Kirvan Le Cap, who introduced African Realness, a category later renamed African Performance by Rori 007, who heads Legacy Ball. Local music also shapes how South African balls feel and move. The four-count of gqom fits the rhythm of vogue, while amapiano brings another unmistakably local energy.
This local expression gives South African ballroom an identity of its own. It honours the culture’s global roots while reflecting the people, sounds and traditions found here.
Find your people
AD shared a message of perseverance: do not let the fear of being othered stop you from finding your community.
In ballroom, acceptance stops feeling like a distant hope and becomes something lived through the people standing beside you. It offers the freedom to step fully into the person you have always dreamt of being.
My takeaway
Queer people need safe spaces, but finding one often requires us to take the first step. We have to attend the event, enter the room or go to the ball, even when we feel nervous and know nobody there.
What waits inside often extends far beyond safety. It is community. Within it, you gain the freedom to explore who you are, express the parts of yourself you once hid and feel protected while doing it.
A common misunderstanding about ballroom is the belief you need to know how to walk a category or vogue before attending. You do not. You only need the courage to go. You will figure out the rest once you are there.
Ballroom does not ask you to arrive as a finished version of yourself. It gives you space to find your truest self among people who want to see you free.
Take the leap at the Ascension Ball
Hosted by the House of Mizrahi, the Ascension Ball takes place on 29 August 2026. It offers a space to immerse yourself in South African ballroom and experience its culture, energy and community firsthand.
Watch Regina Blaque’s full ten-minute interview with the House of Mizrahi below.
Regina Blaque is a South African drag queen, presenter and podcaster whose legal studies shaped her commitment to justice and LGBTQIA+ advocacy. Through her queer content creation across various digital platforms, she amplifies queer voices, raises awareness of issues affecting the community, strengthens visibility and creates space for queer joy.
