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If you’ve ever wondered about Ballroom, then this episode is for you! Today on Dem Bois Podcast, I sit down with my friend, Sydney Baloue, TV writer/producer, dancer, archivist and journalist. Sydney is an expert on Ballroom culture and he breaks down its history and the role it has played in his life. We discuss how we met, his transition journey, his career in TV, and much more!

We talk:
How the name Sydney chose him - 4:37
Going deeper into the Ballroom scene - 16:13
Ballroom culture for those who don’t know it - 27:55
Sydney’s travel and studies abroad - 35:17
His work on HBO’s Legendary - 45:08

Click here for transcript!

References:
Sciences Po
London School of Economics
Edens Garden
CliniQ
Callen-Lorde
Apicha
Los Angeles LGBTQ Center
Tiq Milan
Paris is Burning
Legendary
Sara Ahmed
Making Gay History
Harper Collins

Read more about Sydnes in his bio below:
Sydney Baloue is a TV writer/producer, dancer, archivist and journalist. He is in the House of Xtravaganza and he was Co-Executive Producer on HBOMax’s LEGENDARY Seasons 1 and 2. In 2022, he was the first Black trans man in the Writers Guild of America after working as a staff writer in scripted TV on The Vanishing Half at HBO and Tom Swift at the CW. Sydney is the author of Undeniable: A History of Voguing, Ballroom and How it Changed My Life (And the World). He was the first trans man to solely win Grand Prize for “Old Way” at the Latex Ball in 2019.

• www.sydneybaloue.com
• https://www.instagram.com/sydneybaloue
• https://www.twitter.com/sydneybaloue

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