'Love is in the Legend': An Indie Documentary Unveils the Fashion World's Encounter with Voguing

The independently produced documentary 'Love is in the Legend' delves into the emergence of Voguing in the fashion arena. This modern house dance style, which mirrors traditional model runway poses, gained popularity in the 1980s Harlem ballroom scene. The Emmy-winning drama series 'Pose,' created by Steve Canals, Brad Falchuk, and Ryan Murphy, further brought Voguing into mainstream as it drew inspiration from the 1990 documentary 'Paris is Burning' by Jenny Livingston.

The recent release 'Love is in the Legend' by Myra Lewis, who had previously served as a buyer and salesperson for Patricia Field, examines the 1988 seminal downtown event 'A Ball to Remember,' an event that marked Seventh Avenue's encounter with the competitive dance culture. FashionNetwork.com held a conversation with Lewis about her self-funded independent project, which includes interviews with industry figures such as Marc Jacobs, Patricia Field, model Connie Fleming, and others. The film offers English, French, and Spanish options, with a fourth language addition underway.

According to Lewis, this documentary is a key to understanding how ballroom dancing gradually seeped into popular culture. She recalls how her research showed a lack of acknowledgement for the remarkable role of Patricia Field's boutique in the dance genre's development. The film, that runs for about 109 minutes, features eminent judges from the fashion world such as Andre Leon Talley, Betsey Johnson, Mary McFadden, Giorgio di Sant' Angelo, and Steven Meisel, and gives the viewer a taste of the electrifying atmosphere during the event. The documentary also touches on how music, dance, and fashion played a crucial part in breaking barriers and fostering an inclusive environment.

'Love is in the Legend' is a full-circle journey for Lewis, who is now a board-certified emergency medicine physician and a mother of two. She analogizes the experience of making the film to creating a space for herself that was free from societal norms and expectations. Not just a walk down memory lane, the creation of the film made her rediscover the sense of belonging to her community and empower herself. Lewis will be serving as a judge at The Coldest Winter Ball coming up over President's Day weekend, a noticeable shift from the previous low-profile Harlem house balls.

Acceptance and inclusivity, which were integral to the birth of ball culture, are continued to be embraced today. Lewis believes that the genre's rise highlights how dance, music, and fashion can collectively create an accepting and supportive environment. The lyrics of the 1988 song 'Can You Feel It' by Larry Heard, aka Mr. Fingers of Fingers, Inc., resonate with this sentiment, demonstrating how house music and culture embraces all, irrespective of race, religion or background.