Zirka

The Animal Kingdom Kiki Ball

I wanna see you vogue, bitch! On the penultimate day of the International DANCE Festival Munich, Zirka at the Kreativquartier transforms into a ballroom. The festival’s first-ever Kiki Ball is a fusion of expressive (dance) performances and an extravagant queer party. The motto this time is everything related to animals, from feathers and animal prints to faux leather and fur. The Animal Kingdom Kiki Ball is a collaboration with Munich’s ballroom scene.

Ballroom culture emerged in the 1960s in Harlem, New York. Inspired by costume balls, Black and Latinx members of the queer community created so-called balls. Competing in various performance and realness categories, they imitated the privileged white elite, battling for trophies in opulent costumes and with a movement vocabulary inspired by the fashion world—Voguing. The houses, in which members of the scene came together, acted not only as spaces for preparing for the balls but also, above all, served as chosen families, offering protection against discrimination and the rampant violence faced by queer people of colour.

With Jennie Livingston’s iconic documentary Paris is Burning and Madonna’s somewhat controversial music video Vogue—criticized for cultural appropriation—Voguing gained global attention for the first time. Since the 2000s, it has spread widely, particularly in North America, East Asia, and Europe. In addition to established voguing hubs in France and the Netherlands, Germany also has a thriving ballroom scene, featuring numerous houses and regularly-held balls. For the 2025 edition of DANCE, the festival has secured the team led by dancer and activist Soumayya Gad Alla, which has already hosted several celebrated balls at Munich’s Kreativquartier.

The evening will be hosted by MC Mandhla Laveaux, Mother of the Kiki House of Laveaux. The DJ of the night is Dram Louboutin, Mother of the Kiki House of Louboutin.

The judging panel includes Zaniah Marciano (Mother of the Kiki House of Marciano, Hamburg), Shayne Angels (Kiki House of Angels, Berlin), Azaria Mermaid (Kiki House of Mermaid, Switzerland), Jaybee Unbothered Cartier (Kiki House of Unbothered Cartier, Paris), and Luluh Bodega (Dutch Mother of the House of Bodega).

The Kiki aims to create a safer space for the queer community—especially for queer people of colour. We therefore ask all guests to treat each other with respect.

Expected Categories:
Beginners Runway (All American, European)
Face (Female Figure, Male Figure, Gender Non-Conforming)
Beginners performance, Open to All/OTA
Runway (All American, European)
Sex Siren x Body OTA
Hands Performance vs Arms Control
Fashion Killah
Old Way
New Way
Vogue Fem (Female Figure, Male Figure)
Black Hair Affair
Lip Sync

Tickets can be bought here!