Dance Miss Thang - the ball is back!

For its seventh year, the Drag Ball comes on stronger than ever

by Jenne Bergstrom

This year's Drag Ball was a far cry from its humble origin in Talcott seven years ago. There were only a few hundred people at that first event, but this year over 1600 people attended Wilder's premiere gender-bending party.

According to Chris Baymiller, Assistant Director of Wilder and a main force behind the planning of the Ball, the Ball was nearly canceled it's third year when Resedential Life didn't want it held in South again. Baymiller then called up David Getsy, one of the original organizers, and asked him if he'd like to hold it in the 'Sco. "We had nine days to get it up and running," said Baymiller, "but we had 800 people! We thought, `This has potential!'"

The seventh Drag Ball, was, by many accounts, the best ever. Student and staff workers spent over a week decorating Wilder and setting up the many new attractions, including a third dance floor, the Feve satellite Cafe Fantasie, and the direct TV feed that allowed attendees to watch the runway competition from a room on the second floor.

Baymiller attributed much of this year's success to the warm weather. In past years it had been as cold as 20 degrees, but the spring temperatures "really opened up a different space. People were out on the porch. It was `the comet and drag.'" Of course, not everything went perfectly; some of the lights that were rented didn't work properly, and coordinating the Disco Orchestra, DJs, lights and the direct TV feed was "a nightmare in terms of tech and sound," Baymiller said.

The Student Union is already planning for next year's Ball; looking for new twists, something different so that it doesn't become stale. Next year, they hope to notify MTV or HBO in time for them to send a crew to cover the event; perhaps RuPaul will even provide live coverage for MTV news.

Most people involved with the Drag Ball see it as one of Oberlin's most unique aspects. English Department faculty member Augusta Rohrbach was surprised to learn that it was established so recently. "It is part and parcel of what I think of as Oberlin," she said. "It's an interesting commentary on Oberlin, and a fantastic tradition well rooted in the culture." This was Rohrbach's first year as a judge, and her second as a guest. She says her aim in dressing up for the Drag Ball is to "take on a new identity for a night and see what I'm missing."

Baymiller said he also thinks of it as a very important part of the Oberlin experience. He enjoys telling his colleagues at other colleges about the Ball, and is certain that no other school has anything like it. "It's almost equivalent to Homecoming for us, " he joked. "It's not just a bunch of silly frat boys having a keg party; it distinguishes Oberlin as a unique place to attend college."

One aspect of the Drag Ball that really shows the extent of community support for the event is the wide range of people who are chosen to be judges for the runway competition. The selection process is mainly left to the LGBU committee, who nominate people they think would be interesting and get into the spirit of the Ball. "We like to see professors let their hair down and get involved with something the students are really into, " said Deidra Wells, an intern in the Office of Multicultural Affairs and a member of the committee. This year's panel included faculty members, a 1996 alumna, and a writer from the town, Aubrey Wertheim, who has been a judge several times before.

Meredith Kriebel, who works in the Art Department office and graduated from Oberlin last spring, was instrumental in publishing this year's Drag Ball bible as well as being a runway competition judge. She brought quite a bit of personal experience to the job; having participated in the competition twice herself, she knows what it's like to be in the contestants' shoes. Her criteria for a successful entrant include effort, creativity, style, aesthetics ("I like to see something pretty") and above all, presence. On the judging experience, she said, "It's the height of voyeurism. I like having people strutting in front of me - it's an ego thing. I hope they keep asking different people; I think there are a lot of closeted judges out there!"

Rohrbach said that anyone who would actually enter the runway competition already gets high marks from her, as it's all in the spirit of fun anyway, but creativity and a sense of humor are important to consider. She adds that the Drag Ball is popular because, "We can leave serious things behind - it's an opportunity to make fun of some of the things that we take too seriously in our culture."


Skip the pictures - get me to the articles!

Below are the links right to the stories related to the Ball. However, for your browsing pleasure, you can use the "next" and "back" bottons below to browse through the pictures and read the articles. What could be better?

Pretensions hold back the ball - Let go people!
Royalty reveal their secrets of success

Photography by Adam Reitano & Laren Rusin
Online Design by Zach Williamson

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