Andre Milan

Clark Kent & Superman

There was a book I read when I was freshman that talked put forth the assumption that any one person can be different people in various crowds. In other words, around your family you are one way, when you are at your job its another way, and with your friends someone completely different emerges. Well the same can be differently applied to the ballroom scene, many people who get life in the scene, or who are legends and icons when they go back to their regular life, the celebrity status fades away and they revert back to how they were previously. This can also be applied to the Andre Milan, the easy going, well spoken, southern sounding gentleman is nothing like the Andre Milan who hits the floor. Selling sex to all those in view, commanding the audience with a look at me bravado that few can compete with. Similar to how Beyonce has Sasha was her on stage counterpart that takes over, Andre goes from being mild manner Clark Kent, to Superman sex siren. Recently I got the chance to talk to Clark Kent about his experience in the ballroom scene.

It all started in 1998, at that time Andre got introduced to the ballroom scene and started to walk face as his first category. But at the insistence of his friends, he decided to give sex siren a chance. His gamble into the category has paid off, culminating into his career high so far being 2004 when Andre Milan rarely lost. When asked what or how does he sell sex Andre laughingly states that he “performs a little soft core porn.” This soft corn porn can range from the part in parcel sex siren tactic of pouring water or oiling up the body and grinding, to stripping down further and further for each round, like going from boxers, to briefs, to thongs, to a smile. But as of December 2006, Andre has decided to take time away from the ballroom scene. By doing so Andre is making sure that he does not become overexposed and thusly taken for granted, so that every time he hits the runway it will be an occasion.

From there the discussion goes into what he thinks of his competitors, who does he step his game up for when he sees them on the runway, and are sex sirens capitalizing on their appeal off the runway. “Sex siren is for thinner people, maybe you don’t have to be super attractive to walk body, sex siren you don’t have to a well toned body, but an attractive face,” is how Andre delineates between sex siren and body. Its easy to think that an great physique means that you are sexy. But this is not the case, being sexy is a not a trait that can be pin pointed to any one particular trait but a feeling one receives when saying someone.

I asked Andre who does he step his game up for when he sees that they are competition. Some would answer that they view all competitors the same, but realistically for most of us that is not the case. Most people put forth more effort for those who we think are going to provide a challenge and hold back on those who are perceived to be an easy win. For Andre, Joseph Aga is one of those that make Andre bring it harder than he ordinarily would. Like with face, sex siren is not one of those categories were you practice for a week before and be ready for the ball.

Sex siren at least physically means you have to keep your body in some semblance of shape which for Andre Milan means working out four days a week. With this preoccupation with the body and explicitly selling sex rationally it would make sense if those who would flaunt it, would not be opposed to being sexual. So I posed the question, are sex sirens more promiscuous than other ball walkers. “I do know a lot of sex sirens that are promiscuous, but likely they were before they began participating in the ball scene. Promiscuous activity for others may derive from new found attention which probably got them to that point.”

Often times in the ballroom scene you hear of these tragic cases were someone who is known for turning their category does so at the cost of being a more productive person when asked what keeps Andre from falling into that trap, he responds its due to having priorities and positive people in his life. “It revolves around your priorities, and what your influences, who set the examples for you. They don’t really train you how you should be; I had people tell me to take my ass to school.” Ironically what Andre is describing is one of the secrets to success; surround yourself with good people and good things will happen to you. Its simple laws of attraction, and part of Andre’s allure is this. His ability to be brazen and modest at the right times, containing polar opposites into one makes Andre Milan the very embodiment of the Clark Kent and Superman.

Word Association Game

College........................................Education

Fights...........................................Ignorance

Milan...................................................Greatness

Love......................................................Nice

Legendary....................................................Eminent

Favorite Category............................................Vogue Fem

Discipline.......................................Lessons

Light and Lovely: Randy Balenciaga

Light and Lovely

Perception is not always reality, after asking people for interviews, interviewing some, this came to light, those who people laud and applause are not always the ones who deserve it, while many of the ones who do deserve accolades whether they receive it or not are always gracious and humble. Many times when you see people in the ballroom scene you rarely hear them speak because they are busy on the runway. Often times I have found myself imagining the voices of those who I am interviewing prior to hearing them speak. Imagine my surprise when I called up Randy Aga and got his voicemail, his message relayed a voice both deep and full of urban inflections and patterns that I would never except from someone who walks for face. It may be due to my own inherent stereotypes of what a face kid should sound like. But upon really talking with Randy, I have come to find out that runway Randy is very different from the Randy that I interviewed. The Randy I interviewed opened up about controversies in face, his choice of house, and dating in the ballroom scene.

Two words to describe runway Randy is light and lovely. But when one looks at BQ face, there seems to be a lot of light and lovelies pumping down the runway looking to get their 10’s. Which leads to the question, in order to be successful for BQ face do you have to be light skin? “Not at all, skin tone doesn’t really have anything to do with why bq face is predominantly light or brown. There just aren’t that many dark and lovelies hitting the floor. If you have a line of face kids at a major ball waiting to receive there 10's, i can almost guarantee you that it will consist mainly of light and brown skin faces.,” is Randy’s explanation for why it seems that light skin seems to rule the category. Aside from complexion face breeds controversy to hear Randy tell it its because “beauty is in the eye of the beholder…one person may be looking for one element while someone else is looking for another version of it.”

Just as face has different attributes that people gravitate to, so do houses. Some houses are known for realness, performance, labels, and of course face. With there being a few houses that are known for face I wondered why Randy chose the House of Balenciaga, “I wanted to join a house that I could cultivate with. the Balenciaga's have an aura they have family aura, a sophisticated aura. I wanted to go someplace where I could grow and not be apart of a face clan with 20 or 30 other face kids.”

Being overshadowed is not a problem that Randy has to face anytime soon. Having garnered such accolades as Liberty Award Butch Queen Face of the Year NY 2007 NJ’s finest, BQ Model’s Magazine face, and being nominated BQ Face of the Year its hard to see how Randy could ever be overshadowed or being told that face was not his category. But in the beginning “I had a couple of people who would tell me when i first started walking some years back, maybe you should change your category. There was this one guy in Chicago who said I should change my category b/c he didn’t think I could go far in the scene. i wonder what he thinks now.”

With this notoriety within the ballroom scene, it must be hard to try to date someone who is a participant or knowledgeable about the scene, because there is no telling if they are with you for you, or for what you represent. “Being in this industry of ballroom you become a piece of meat in the window. Everyone wants to get a sample of it. You have to think with humility and common sense. not with what’s between your legs. I handle it by being humble, sane and mature.” Humility, personality, and a laid-back persona are the true elements of Randy Balenciaga; his face can be seen as a physical manifestation of his inner carta.

Word Association Game

Whitney Mugler...................... Icon

Harold Aga.........................Father Figure

Of the Year BALLROOM............................. Accomplishment

Grand Prizes..........................................Money

Latex Ball......................................................Biggest Ball of the year

Dating.....................................................Not sure how to answer this