LEARN SOMETHING....THIS IS FOR THE KIDS....

Inspired by Vogue magazine, voguing is characterized by model-like poses integrated with angular, linear, and rigid arm, leg, and body movements. This style of dance arose from Harlem ballrooms by African Americans and Latino Americans in the early 1960s. It was originally called "presentation" and later "performance." Over the years, the dance evolved into the more intricate and illusory form that is now called "vogue." Voguing is continually developed further as an established dance form that is practiced in the gay ballroom scene and clubs in major cities throughout the United States—mainly New York City, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Miami, Detroit, and Chicago.

Formal competitions occur in the form of balls held by "houses"—family like collectives of LGBT dancers and performers.

Some legendary houses include the House of Garcon, the House of Icon, the House of Khan, the House of Evisu, the House of Karan, the House of Mizrahi, the House of Xtravaganza, the House of Ebony, the House of Revlon, the House of Prodigy, the House of Escada, the House of Omni, the House of Aviance, the House of Legacy, the House of Milan, the House of Princess, the House of Pend'avis, the House of LaBeija, the House of McQueen, and the House of Ninja among others.

("Legendary" in ballroom terms refers to a house that has been "serving," that is, walking or competing on the runway, for twenty years or more.) The House of Ninja was founded by Willi Ninja, who is considered the godfather of voguing. Members of a house are called "children." Sometimes children legally change their last name to show their affiliation with the house to which they belong

Many performers, particularly females, have used vogue-style dance as a part of their routines. The transgender member of Vogue Evolution, Leiomy Maldonado, is responsible for making her signature voguing move, the "Leiomy Lolly," popular. It is featured in Britney Spears' video for "If U Seek Amy" and Beyoncé and Lady Gaga's video for "Video Phone." "The dip" originated from voguing. Lil Mama and Chris Brown incorporated the "dip" in their music video for "Shawty Get Loose" as well as Ciara in many of her videos.

There are currently four distinct styles of vogue: Old Way (pre-1990); New Way (post-1990); Vogue Femme (circa 1995); and Dramatics, which includes stunts and tricks. Although vogue "femme" has been used in the ballroom scene as a catch-all phrase for overtly effeminate voguing as far back as the 1970s, as a recognizable style of voguing, it only came into its own around the mid-1990s.

It should be noted that the terms "Old Way" and "New Way" are generational. Earlier generations called the style of voguing the generation before them practiced "Old Way." Voguers, therefore, reuse these terms to refer to the evolutionary changes of the dance that are observable almost every ten years. Ten years from now, today's "New Way" will likely be deemed the "Old Way."

Old Way is characterized by the formation of lines, symmetry, and precision in the execution of formations with graceful, fluid-like action. In its purest, historical form, it is a duel between two rivals. Traditionally, Old Way rules dictated that one rival must "pin" another to "chop" (win the contest). Pinning involved the trapping of an opponent so that they could not execute any movements while the adversary was still in motion (usually voguing with the arms and hands called "hand performance" while the opponent was "pinned" against the floor doing "floor exercises" or against a wall).

New Way is characterized by more rigid, geometric movement coupled with "clicks" (limb contortions at the joints) and "arms control"—hand and wrist illusions, which usually include tutting and locking. New Way can also be described as a modified form of mime in which imaginary geometric shapes, such as a box, are introduced during motion and moved progressively around the dancer's body to display the dancer's dexterity and memory.

Vogue Femme is fluidity at its most extreme with exaggerated feminine movements influenced by ballet and modern dance. There are six elements of Vogue Femme: hands, duckwalk, catwalk, spins, dips and floor performance. The dip has been popularized by mainstream dance forms and is occasionally called the "5000," the "shablam," or the "shawam." When competing in a vogue battle, contestants must use each element in their routine.