As a newcomer queer foreign student in Hungarian context, many things are triggered in my changeable identity and in my perception of this sociocultural reality. These intrinsic aspects opened an initial question about, where is the LGBTQ+ community in Hungary?

This first empirical question drove me to search for a community where dance and LGBTQ+ themes are intertwined. Hence, I started to inquiry, and I found the Partiscum Egyesület a Szegedi LMBT Közösségért (Partiscum Association for the Szeged LGBT Community). Consequently, I contacted them by Facebook to personal interview in a coffee shop. In this interview, I understood many things that feature to the LGBT community in Szeged. My meeting with one of their members, that works thanks to European funds, explained to me the inexistence of a physical space for this association, indeed they are hosted by other one with official permissions. In addition, him continued saying that they have few physical meetings due to of low participation of the local LGBT community.

That is to turn on my red alarms about the necessity to pay attention to this part of the Hungarian society, where these symptoms reflect a lack of social and cultural representation in this context. That situation made me start with a first reflection around I am to face an association ‘placeless’ (Stepputat & Djebbari, 2020) which is sub developing his activities due to a lack of a tangible venue. Typically, it is a very common social phenomenon that LGBTQ+ people end up opting for ‘mobility’ (Dahinden, 2010). My intention is to recognize this phenomenon, paraphrasing as Dahinden claims, ‘it is important to understand mobility as the physical movement of people in transnational space; yet in addition to a prevailing necessity to create a rooted or anchored locality’ (Dahinden: 2010, 51).

Consequently, my next research will take place in Budapest for the possibility of preserving the LGBTQ+ community’s anonymity that in some cases reflects security. So far, to face this traditional perspective, I tried to position in the ‘cultural relativism’ (Faist, 2010). For attempts to comprehend the Hungarian context in an as not ethnocentric (Fenton, 1997) way as possible. Nevertheless, under the mainstream anthropological logical, the mobility is viewed as a migratory phenomenon produced just for geopolitical, economic and cultural reasons. Therefore,

Is it possible that these multiples reasons dislocate (Chao, 2020) me systematically for making my fieldwork out of my current context?

“Kiki House of Bandita” as LGBTQ+ dance community practice in Hungary

However, jumping a little behind, before starting this program I made contact with my currently network who contacted me, with a guy that lives in Budapest. The Informant 1 explained to me about the existence of a Hungarian Ballroom Scene in the city. The informant 1 shared me some information from their Instagram profile and started to decipher how, who and where is composed this community.

The ethnographic research methodologically plays between virtuality and traditional way. The informant 1 addressed me to find a specific community called Kiki House of Bandita. According to the interview, this community ‘emerged around two years ago, due to the Orban’s government presenting to parliament the last constitutional amendment against the Hungarian LGBTQ+ community in 2020’. (Informant 2, 2020)

The Kiki House of Bandita has a leader or Father, that I want to preserve his data, then I will call him D.M for the rest of the essay. Before my fieldwork, I emailed him directly. Unfortunately, this experience helps to illustrate to argues Sultana, about of ‘the collaborations, connections, and solidarities that did not materialize, or that could not come to fruition, in a research process’ (Sultana, 2007). At the beginning D.M was enthusiastic about this collaboration, but his silence for try to agree an appointment stopped my research, or at least my practice of fieldwork. Thus, during this stage throughout virtual investigation, I noticed the LGBTQ+’s situation is this context that’s not only happening in Szeged, whether not is happening it is a national level. In fact, that corroborates when Buckland mentions, ‘the field is not a clean space, unsullied by past discourses: the residues of intellectual and political inheritances continue to flow across it’. (Buckland, 1999).

Therefore, my questions are addressed to: Is it possible to consider the LGBTQ+ community as a community? If the LGBTQ+ community are mobilized and being displaced from their places of origin or rooted, can we consider them as a diasporic group? Does the diaspora concept is only applicable for groups where that represents a nation-state or even imaginary homelands? It follows that, how can understand the culture of voguing as an artistic manifestation in the Hungarian context?

Even so, I continued looking findings in their social media and I observed that it was quite difficult to find a physical space where it is possible to learn and practice Vogue in Budapest, at least as a new practician. While the constant appears around sociocultural representation of LGBTQ+ community was reflected in ‘placeless’ ballroom events, approximately one event for month and each one in different places.

In parallel, I was continued asking for another informant and I contacted with K.R who gather Father D.M. ‘are the two principal personalities of this community that organize Kiki Ballrooms in Budapest’ (Informant 2, 2022). A previous week of the fieldwork, I got contact with K.R. and I exposed her my intentions about this research, she was optimistic about this topic, so I went forward with this fieldwork. Once arrive to the fieldwork, the host venue (Vibes and Stuff) was a basement where receive different population from kids to adults. After their regular schedule, started the Voguing’s masterclass. The event was composed of two parts, leading by one guest dancer, Boris Vrdoljak from Serbia. Who offered specifically the basis and choreography sequences of The Old Way category in Voguing. To finalize the masterclass, K.R. opened a charity meeting for practice addressed to members of this community.

On time, participants entered to dress room, and I met other ones between them were talking as acquaintances. I feel researching in ‘home’ (Sultana, 2007) at this moment, the fieldwork brings to me to recognized dynamics of environment pre-class. Which in terms of concerns of ‘insider-outsider’ (Sultana, 2007) this awareness lets me take an active participation moment. Everybody noted me, finally K.R. arrived stressed about Vrdoljak’s delay and I did not have opportunity to contacted her before the start.  I acknowledge that was failed, because it created a lack of a ‘pact of trust’ (Gore, 2015), that reflect consequences in the end of this fieldwork.

The Old Way category

As a first category of Vogue culture is characterized by the formation of lines, symmetry, and precision in the execution of formations with graceful, fluid-like action. This style contains diverse elements coming from Army, Martial Arts, Egyptian hieroglyphs and fashion poses that it serves as choreographic source and artistic inspiration. For instance, in this first part of Voguing masterclass, during embodiment practice, I identify three specific movements as are: cutting, pushing and framing. The Old Way category is characterized by striking a series of poses as if one is modelling for a photo shoot. Arm and leg movements are angular, rigid, and move swiftly from one static position to another. The specific form of hands simulates a sword that simultaneously works to frame and highlighting the identity of who are performing this category.

In spite of, part of methodology employed in the field log, refers to a thick writing and into drawing some figures or poses from The Old Way category. Accordingly, to my decision to take a divergent way about this ethnographic experience, I find an illustrative way to understand some metaphors that in dance are very usual. Being helpful for analyse a footage of choreography as one type, cartography’s dance. To clarify this, one example about these metaphors embodied in one step named ‘don’t fall down the champagne’. According to Györgi Martin’s Method, I recognized early the importance of basic units or elements (Fügedi, 2020) in The Old Way category. Correspondingly, ‘that Györgi declared around to understanding the structure of dance requires the identification of motifs’ (Fügedi, 2020).

Further, it’s ‘realization’ (Bakka, 2021) requires a precise work of hands that emulates the characteristic horizontality of a waiter tray that bring cups full of champagne, while the practitioner is making crossing steps forward and backward with a small flexion of knees. In addition, bending and extending elbows and twisting hips simultaneously. The complexity of this step implies precise movements and elaborated coordination of hole body. However, despite this glamorous analogy, this step requires from the practitioner body aspects in accuracy embodiment of elegance and status that invoke a special context. That’s mean, through realization, get to positioning to PoC LGBTQ+ practitioners or their allies in a mood high fashion or refinement way of performance.

In summarize, in a proud embodiment. In the other hand, I highlight the motif of ‘Frame your face’. Based on Fügedi’s analysis, the motif is identified only as ‘the smallest and relatively constant organic units of the dance’ (Fügedi, 2020). This characteristically motif, in that case, is not related with a specific step, whether no it is related with a constant action majority contained in voguing’s nomenclature. ‘Frame your face’ as motif, put focus in use of hands in linear way to create a kind of frame where enclose the face. Hence, performer’s identity is put it in the centrality of The Old Way category. Lines and frames revalue the practitioner’s identity that nurture a dramaturg of acknowledge with an aim: enhancing the value of subjectivity by member of voguing community.

Last, but not least, as structural element is the improvisation. The improvisation itself is considered it related only to the field of dance contemporary; yet here plays an important pedagogical role, decentralized from the choreographic scores which usually standardized many kinds of dance. On the contrary, improvisation by pairs or in small groups helps to ‘potential of skills, understanding, and knowledge’ (Bakka, 2021) of ‘dance motives’ (Fügedi, 2020). The dance motives in The Old Way category encourage self-expression of voguing’s practitioners, ‘no there’s two vogue’ practitioners similar’ (Informant 2, 2020). Subjectivity is considered as an equal value as part of dance training as well as Vogue lifestyle, as strategy for creates icons personalities.

Once a long practice, the last part of this fieldwork takes other direction. In this part new people arrive and many leave the classroom, newcomers are experimented performers that self-gestion the practice. K.R. said ‘let’s start Charity session’ and leaved the salon. Everybody changes their clothes, shoes and take some individual space in front of the mirror. While the music was playing, everyone practices autonomously diverse steps to themselves. Later around 30 minutes, K.R. come back to organize by pairs a practice where the same community learn from each other. Here, no there’s any professor, the practitioners are working under the gaze of colleagues that works as external eye. K.R now suggest to practice ‘Dipology’, is a practice where each practitioner takes a turn to dance in the centre of the space. Dipology is the practice of ‘Dip’ (Informant 2, 2022), this motif works as ‘ceasure’ (Fügedi, 2020) that structure choreographic sequences, while its effect produced ‘endings and accents either first beat or in last one in a musical compass of 4/4’ (Informant 2, 2022)

To close this fieldwork, the group ends in a big circle, whereby pairs dance and practice and play with the ‘doubling’. A concept that ‘is used for people that are competing and do not have any surname or kinship with a Kiki house’ (Informant 2, 2022). After this K.R. delegates the lead of this session, from here is leading by the group. Now, Charity’s session is organized by categories, each one has a specific moment to happen. The order comes to ‘compartmentalized’ (Grau, 2007) the dance practice, throughout diverse identities of Kiki House of Bandita’s members. Each identity has a space of security to practice, where the most important is the respect.

Now I’m so tired to practice, observe, understand and is missing my interview with K.R. She is tired as well and decides to decline her collaboration for this mini project. That makes me frustrated and vulnerable without any possibility to fix this fieldwork. Her refusal to participate in the research also demonstrated me ‘the exercise of power and agency of (potential) research participants in the field’ (Sultana, 2015).

Hence, I contact to some participants of masterclass members of this community by their Instagram profile that night. I was lucky because I got an informant. After the experience, I understood as asserts Sultana:

The important thing for me was to be as faithful to the relations in that space and time, and to the stories that were shared and the knowledge that was produced through the research, however partial.

Sultana, 2015.

Conclusions

The way the Kiki House of Bandita knows and practices categories in Voguing, shows a form of performative communication. The category, as a structural element, ‘facilitates the expression of individual emotions and knowledge’ (Szőnyi, 2018) of the members of the Kiki House of Bandita in a hard times ‘placeless’ (Stepputat & Djebbari, 2020) context for their practices and sociocultural representation. As described, through the action of ‘empowering the skills, understanding, and knowledge'(Bakka, 2021) of the Voguing ‘dance motifs’ (Fügedi, 2020). Given the above, the Kiki House of Bandita manages to root its LGBTQ+ identity in the local context with transnational consequences. To conclude, as Chao mentions, ‘a diasporic community is a signifier of political struggle as a global social phenomenon, and not only in a historical sense’. (Chao, 2020).

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