[Club LaRay Talent Show (December 9, 1986)]
A drag competition at Chicago music and performance venue Club LaRay, followed by a DJ set featuring early House music with footage of club patrons dancing.
A drag competition at Chicago music and performance venue Club LaRay, followed by a DJ set featuring early House music with footage of club patrons dancing.
A talent show and drag competition at Chicago music and performance venue Club LaRay, followed by a DJ set featuring early House music with footage of club patrons dancing. Significant distortion throughout the tape.
A talent show and drag competition at Chicago music and performance venue Club LaRay, followed by a DJ set featuring early House music with footage of club patrons dancing.
A talent show and drag competition at Chicago music and performance venue Club LaRay.
A talent show and drag competition at Chicago gay club Club LaRay, as well as footage of the dance floor.
Club LaRay presents a “Battle of the Stars” with host Anita Baker (impersonator) and co-host Tasha Thomas. This video documents the performances throughout the night by queen impersonators of popular soul and r&b singers and groups such as Gladys Knight, Grace Jones, and The [male] Emotions.
Club LaRay was a Black, gay club in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, IL. The club was owned by Ray “LaRay” Hill. The club was housed in a former theatre consisting of two bars, a dancefloor, and a staircase that went from the floor to the ceiling, dubbed the “Stairs to Nowhere”.
The Sons of Sappho (later known as the Sappho Socialites), founded by Yvonne Hudson and Ernestine Medley in 1965, was a group of black lesbians in the South Side of Chicago, dedicated to celebrating their identities and forming community. This video features footage from a 1995 reunion of the Sons of Sappho, including video of the event and interviews with its members.
This video contains footage from the runway of a voguing ball in the tradition of the Ballroom Scene, hosted by the House of Avant Garde, a Chicago-based space highlighting Black and queer performers.