Beyonce "channels" Leyomi Mizrahi?
photo by S. RoseElements of the queer blogosphere are in an uproar over whether or not superstar Beyonce Knowles “stole” some of her performative gestures in her recent American Music Awards performance from 18-year old, underground ballroom sensation Leyomi Mizrahi.
For those of you who have followed this blog for a while, you surely recognize Leyomi. She is one of the youngest members of the house that I belonged to during most of the three years that I was doing ethnographic fieldwork on the New York City underground house-ball community, the "House of Mizrahi." Leyomi's signature, matrix-like performance styles have garnered somewhat of an international cult-following. Well apparently, according to the “kids,” Beyonce caught on.
Here’s a clip of Beyonce’s performance on Saturday night at the AMAS:
And here are two extraordinary clips of Leyomi Mizrahi in her “element.” What ya’ll think?
For those of you who have followed this blog for a while, you surely recognize Leyomi. She is one of the youngest members of the house that I belonged to during most of the three years that I was doing ethnographic fieldwork on the New York City underground house-ball community, the "House of Mizrahi." Leyomi's signature, matrix-like performance styles have garnered somewhat of an international cult-following. Well apparently, according to the “kids,” Beyonce caught on.
Here’s a clip of Beyonce’s performance on Saturday night at the AMAS:
And here are two extraordinary clips of Leyomi Mizrahi in her “element.” What ya’ll think?
CLIP 2:
2nd Clip of Leyomi in action.
*Note: This post is intended as pure tongue-in-cheek commentary. Clearly I am aware that the "traffic" of cultural exchange often flows two ways, which means that Beyonce Knowles probably "owes" about as much to Leyomi, as Leyomi "owes" Beyonce. Still, sadly, the critical difference is that one of them is getting paid millions of dollars to appropriate various subaltern cultural practices, while the other one is not.
You can definately see the influence of Leyomi with the trademark walk, entrance and ponytail whipping. I've always loved Leyomi. Her dips are legendary.
But to be quite honest, Beyonce didn't steal anything. Her choreographer did!!!
Posted by
Keisha Kornbread |
11/26/2008
Interesting comparison! That ponytail pull is the most striking echo, to my amateur eyes anyway. I wonder what the choreographer would say.
Somewhat tangential, but this reminds me of other recent transmissions of dance moves from the queer world into unlikely (?) places -- namely, dancehall reggae. see, e.g.,
http://wayneandwax.com/?p=471
http://wayneandwax.com/?p=529
Enjoying the blog, btw!
Posted by
Anonymous |
11/26/2008
of course....i'm not surprised..the straights love gay culture, and the ballscene has alot of influence, i mean all the way back to the days of Xtravaganza...up to now with the "5000"....and Leiomy is the closest femqueen achieving that level of stardom in today's day and age, with the exception of Isis...
(This isn't the first time people ripped off of Leiomy, Fysh N' Chicks anyone?)
I thought she was 20 now....
Posted by
Eff Dee Aytche |
11/26/2008
The ponytail pull was the most obvious. The ballroom scene has created an opportunity for heterosexuals to emulate the culture.
Leyomi is a classic with her dips.
Beyonce is a wonderful singer R&B singer. Two classics.
Posted by
Unknown |
11/26/2008
LOL @ beyonce stealing a common dance gesture.Are you serious?!? The "ponytail grabbing" has been around for min.It isn't exclusive to Leyomi or the ball scene.Didn't know that Leyomi owned exclusive rights to those body movements.Simply reaching...
Posted by
Anonymous |
11/27/2008
I respect Beyonce because she's a real hard-working performer. But.......She's very much a commercial artist.
Say what you want about Erykah Badu, but it's a lot harder to dig up who or what she's biting from. But Beyonce obviously takes bits and pieces of this and that, mixes it all up, puts it in a nice package, adds her voice and image, and then serves it to you for consumption.
Bey is totally biting from Leiomy.
Fosse's Mexican Breakfast Choreography +Leiomy's persona = "Sasha Fierce" and the "Single Ladies" video.
Artist?...Whatev. Bey is about making that money.
Posted by
Anonymous |
11/28/2008
beyonce is so pathetic
Posted by
Anonymous |
11/28/2008
When I saw what she did I was like "Damn would've been nice for her have Leyomi as a dancer since she's doing her move" It's alos been done a while ago in the FF Cat. Tanay (not sure of house name) Use to do it when she walked face in the late 80's early 90's.
Posted by
Anonymous |
11/30/2008
I don't think Bey is pathetic. I don't think she tours any of the celebrated ballroom websites or sojourns around youtube looking for inspiration. You can't be angry at Bey. I agree with Keisha Kornbread.. her choreographer is the biter and in that fact,(not from the typing of Kornbread) the one that is simply reaching. Yes the female dance group, Fysh N Chicks from ABDC ripped one of Leyomi's signature maneuvers but they did pay homage to her. In the background music, one could hear Leyomi's name loud and clear. I think its cute for the media to love the gay culture and so on and so on but the only flaw would be her choreographer. Which brings me to my first thought, can't be mad at Bey. Now if that is Bey is who doing the biting.. damn. But its Beyonce! Whos not going to accept her, "Flaw N All?" LOL Yeah.
Posted by
Anonymous |
12/03/2008
Ahh, Beyonce. This is, of course, not the first time the subject of her "borrowing" from other acts. I recently wrote a piece on her which explored this in detail on my blog, complete with clips which compare her perfomances with those of her peers?
Might she indeed be a swagger-jacker, as charged?
http://beezospureandsimple.blogspot.com/2008/11/are-you-beyonc-stan.html
Posted by
Anonymous |
1/08/2009
oops, meant to say "has been brought up"
Posted by
Anonymous |
1/08/2009
Charleston turned a pair of double plays to do the trick. The spyder jackets had at least one runner on in every inning but the first and outhit the RiverDogs by a 12-6 margin cheap columbia jackets.Lawal should be a focal point of the Yellow cheap polo shirts along with highly touted newcomer, 6-9 Derrick Favors, rated as the No. 1 power forward on the ESPNU 100. The Yellow Jackets
PayPal Payment. Enjoy your shopping experience on mensclothingstore.Usnike max shoes, one of the world's three major brands of Puma shoes, will build its factory in Lanshan county next year, Hunan province. Taiwan Diamond Group of Footwear production chooses its base in Lanshan county, which is one of top 500 companies in the world.
Posted by
Anonymous |
6/17/2009
Lacoste Polo Shirts, ralph Lauren polo shirts , Burberry Polo Shirts.wholesale Lacoste polo shirts and polo ralph laurenwith great price. clothingol.com offers lot of 10 lacoste polo shirts and lot of 20 cheap polo shirts. clothingol.com offers classic fit polo shirts. polo clothing
nike air max ltd is divided into sports life and NIKE NIKENIKE air shoes sports mark for a big hook (swoosh)NIKE life (NSW) mark is a hook NIKE swoosh (English) +Sometimes life will sell NIKE sports channel,cheap puma mens shoes , enjoy shopping!
Posted by
Anonymous |
6/17/2009