Revry has become a force to be reckoned with as one of today’s top original LGBTQ-themed original content creators. With impressive and diverse programming covering music to movies, one of their most remarkable areas of production is the docuseries.
Their newest original anthology docuseries, The Category Is explores how the voguing scene and ballroom culture has evolved beyond New York City and is shaping queer communities throughout the world.
The first season, The Category is … Mexico City highlights the House of Mamis and examines themes of cultural and gender identity, LGBTQ discrimination in Latin America, and self-expression and advocacy through dance.
As I watched the first three episodes of series 1, I was fascinated by the entire narrative. It’s one that culminates in Mexico City but having begun in the late 80s in the gritty New York nightlife underground. The dance moves are different, and there is a less polished flow to how these kids move, but it’s not about just the dancing. They share the same spirit as their NYC counterparts though, past and present. They are cut among the same cloth of beautiful misfits and outcasts finding a home and a family in one another through the art of Vogue.
An entirely new generation has emerged in the Vogue Culture all around the world, but Mexico City is unique. As one of the featured characters shares in the docuseries, despite Madonna’s hit song introducing the world to voguing decades ago, the phenomenon skipped over Mexico, somehow. It was never a big dance craze. Today by his admission, they know they are about twenty years behind, but around three years ago, the scene emerged and caught on. Pose on FX; no doubt is a part of that evolution.
Pose, of course, is scripted, but as a person who was part of the original ballroom culture of the 90s, I can attest to the show’s authenticity and evident commitment to getting it right. The Category Is is genuinely authentic, also providing an unfiltered look at the flourishing Mexico City ballroom scene. The episodes showcase a chosen family of dynamic queer performers including house mother, Mendoza; trans-activist, Negraconda; dance enthusiast and dreamer, Ponyboy; and more.
Created by Ocean Vashti Jude and Lauren E. Zubia Calsada, the mission of the series is to show people an unflinching look at how a group of very different people can come together and save each other, nurture each others’ talents. In doing so, they all gain something they never had, all while being their authentic selves, and that thing is family.
The Category Is continues the story of the 2018 GLAAD Award Winning 6 part doc series House of Mamis.
Catch it on February 7th, making its debut on all Revry Channels & Platforms
