HOUSE OF PRODIGY
Bitch please
10-11 May 2019
Programme
"Bitch please, I beg you to come out!" Welcome to a full evening vogue performance with the Nordic family of the House of Prodigy.
Tickets10 May
20:00
11 May
20:00
Welcome to a place of difference, where we are encouraged to be a "bitch" without feeling any shame.
Bitch please is a vogue performance where we flourish in the feminine and appreciate and celebrate the female body. We emphasise the problem of the comic devaluation of the feminine. See me, but don't run me over.
A big dose of pussy power to balance a patriarchal society. These are stories about the desire to think you are something.
Bitch please, I'm asking you to come out! We need you.
About House of Prodigy
The legendary House of Prodigy was founded in 2002 by Father Mann Prodigy and Mother Meeka Prodigy in Philadelphia, USA. Currently, the house is led by Mother Jacen and Father Kenyon Prodigy in New York and Philadelphia. There are currently more than 150 prodigies around the world. In Europe about 20.
In 2013, the Ida "Inxi" Holmlund member of the 'house' and was the first Prodigy in Europe. Now she has been given the title of "Mother Prodigy" in the Nordic chapter. This means she is the leader and can accept new members in her district.
The other members of the Nordic Chapter are Silva Prodigy, Adrian Prodigy, Miila Prodigy and Katja Prodigy.
The Nordic family represents categories such as vogue femme, runway, new way, face and body. These elements all appear in the show Bitch please.
Voguing
Voguing comes from the African and Latin American LGBTQ ballroom scene that was founded in Harlem, New York in the 1960s. Blacks were not welcome at white drag balls and started organising their own. In the 1970s, the first 'house', the House of Labeija, was founded by Mother Crystal Labeija. Subsequently, other drag queens started to establish their own houses/families.
A 'House' is led by a 'mother' and/or 'father'. In a house, people look after each other and help each other prepare for a ball.
The name vogue comes from the fashion magazine Vogue and the culture is inspired by fashion, fashion shows and poses.
The ballroom is a place to be accepted for who you are, regardless of sexuality and origin. At a ball, there are many different categories and the dance (voguing) is just one part. The dance styles in voguing are categorised into Oldway, New way and vogue femme. You compete to win a trophy for your house. A win at a ball is not only a win for the person, but for the whole house. As an audience member, you also participate and cheer for your house with the different rhymes.
In the performance Bitch Please the House of Prodigy brings out all their individual stories of why voguing became so important to them.
About the choreographers
Ida "Inxi" Holmlund
Ida "Inxi" Holmlund is a freelance dancer, choreographer and dance teacher based in Stockholm. She started her dance career in 2009 with a dance role in the musical "Playme" at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki.
She trained at Åsa Folk High School's Five Styles and One Style programme in Sköldinge, and at the Juste Debout school in Paris.
Now in spring 2019 she is also dancing with Andersson Dance in the performance Prelude - skydiving from a dream.
She has choreographed several musicals in Finland and a duet performance, Conflict, together with Sashdilla, which premiered at Dansens Hus in spring 2018.
A member of the vogue house Prodigy, Inxi is known in the vogue and ballroom scene as Inxi Prodigy. This has taken her to both Vogue's events and the Balmain× H&M fashion show in New York.
Inxi judges and participates in dance battles both internationally and in Sweden. Mainly in the styles vogue and popping.
She has won battles such as: Womens Vogue at Latex Ball 2015 & 2017 in New York, Juste Debout Nordic Popping 2016, EXPG Open Styles Battle in Los Angeles 2019.
Venla Miila Kaarina Keskinen
Venla Miila Kaarina Keskinen is a 26-year-old dancer and architect student originally from Finland. She has been living in the Netherlands since 2017.
Her mom being a dancer, she grew up surrounded by dance but got, herself, in to dancing in her twenties. She has been practicing various dance forms but voguing became her main focus since she got into it 2014.
In 2018 she joined a vogue collective The Legendary House of Prodigy, which originates from Philadelphia, US and has around 20 members in Europe. From vogue categories, she is mainly practicing newway vogue and European runway. She has been actively part of the ballroom community in Finland and in Europe since 2016. She has been performing actively in Finland since 2016 and in The Netherlands since she moved there.
Recently Venla participated in the successful vouge show Q4 in The Netherlands.
Adrian Cruz
Adrian Cruz is a diverse dancer. He is a Street dancer from the roots and he started to get into Modern dance in gymnasium.
He started dancing when he was 13 years old in a group called M.A.D dance (So Mad) and his first dance styles was dancehall, hip hop and house. When he turned 15 he began to study at Fryshuset gymnasium 3 years Dance education and got to learn ballet, modern and street. He graduated from Fryshusets gymnasium and began studying in Åsa folkhögskola street course (five styles, one year education). Directly after Åsa folkhögskola he started to studying modern dance at Dance and Circus University for 2 years.
Adrian Cruz has travelled around to different schools with a Modern Dance Performance called "Soil". He has also performed with different artist such as "LizetteLizette" and "Vilija Vitkute".
He has travelled to France, Norway and Finland to compete in vogue balls (Competitions). He is one of the members in the "Legendary House of Prodigy" and his main focus is Vogue Femme.
Katja Rauhala
Katja Rauhala is 23 year-old-dancer from Helsinki, Finland. She has always been active in sports and arts but found dancing when she was 19 years old.
She started with hip hop and later also got into voguing. In voguing her main categories are face and vogue fem. She is still active in street dance scene in Finland and been part of the ballroom community in Finland and in Europe since 2016. In 2018, she joined to the Legendary House of Prodigy, which originates from Philadelphia, US and has around 20 members in Europe.
She has performed with finnish artists, such as Robin and Nelli Matula. She has been performing and touring with Nelli Matula since 2017 at various events, gala's and concerts.
To her, one of the most important things in dancing is the feeling, the healing aspect, and enjoying about the hard work & the process."
Silva Poutanen
Silva Poutanen is a versatile dancer, dance teacher and choreographer from Finland. She has studied street dance pedagogy at Dance and Circus College (2016-2017) and "Five styles" at Åsa Folk High School (2017-2018). Her main style is vogue femme and since 2016 she became a member of the international legendary vogue house "Prodigy".
She competes in voguing around the world and has won the "vogue femme" category at several balls in the Nordic countries. One of her biggest successes has been winning the womans performance at the Latex Ball in New York in 2017.
Silva has worked as a background dancer for different artists, performed in different festivals, events, fashion shows and music videos in Finland and now more and more in Sweden.