ARTS

Drag Ball 1998

Biggest Drag Ball makes good on its promises

Lauren Viera

Drag Ball Images 01-05
Drag Ball Images 06-10
Drag Ball Images 11-15

Howard Stern didn't end up making an appearance, but the 1998 Drag Ball managed to live up to all its hype despite unavoidable last-minute planning stress. Its organizers call it a success.

"Overall, I thought it went quite well," said Assistant Director of the Student Union Chris Baymiller.

Multicultural Resource Center Intern Cara Wick agreed, the Ball ran smoothly. "Both as an organizer and a participant, I had a great time," she said. "And as a queer person organizing the party, I've heard there's been problems in the past that it's become too much of a straight party, but this year with Trans Awareness Week, it was obvious that doing drag isn't necessarily a queer thing, but it's gender bending - something everyone can do."

Baymiller and Wick were the primary organizers of the multi-thousand dollar event, which first underwent planning last July. In the weeks leading up to Saturday, every effort was made to completely change the face of Oberlin's student union.

"We spent a lot more time decorating hallways and completely transforming the space from how it appears normally," Baymiller said. Hundreds of hours went into decorating. Two weeks before the event took place, crews were already stripping Wilder Main of literally everything in the room to make way for building up the runway platforms. The night of the Ball, an elaborately elevated runway ran throughout the room, and at the stroke of midnight, over an hour's worth of pumped contestants strut their stuff for judges. After the competition, dancers took over the runway while rave, hip-hop and '80s music mixed at blaring sound levels.

The rest of Wilder was almost unrecognizable. Twice the wattage of last year's lighting flashed throughout Wilder Main and the lobby below in addition to dark, club-like lighting downstairs in the hallway leading into the 'Sco and the Rat. Couches were moved out, and hot bodies - naked and clothed - were moved in. This year, the Student Union sold 1,700 tickets to the ball - more tickets than last year, more tickets than ever.

Drag Ball is the biggest event on campus all year, and this ninth year of the Drag Ball tradition was the biggest yet. "How many other events do we have on campus that draw that many students from every sub-community?" asked Baymiller. "Where else do you see the Conservatory and College mingle so completely? I think it's a really great event for bringing the community together."

Not only the College and Conservatory collaborated for the party, but also, the cliques within them. Wick said, "Both the queer community and straight community were satisfied. Drag Ball really is for everyone to play with gender."

The goal of every Drag Ball is to out-do its previous efforts, but what if Drag Ball gets too big? In order to make room for the biggest possible population, every room and hallway's capacity was taken into account. "People can't be in the building without a ticket," Baymiller explained. "We've looked for alternative sites; normally just one large room like Hales. But there's so many nooks and crannies of activity, we didn't think [Hales] would give us the same effect."

Last year, warm weather on the night of the Ball prompted dragsters to utilize Wilder porch, but the freezing temperatures last Saturday had most of the crowds crammed into the lobby, and spilled over into the various theme rooms and cafes set up throughout the building.

The 'Sco, for example, was jam-packed for most of the night, especially during the two drag shows that took place early in the evening. Two different troupes of cross-dressers - one, the Kings, and the other Queens - performed role-playing acts and erotic dancing on-stage, the first time such groups have been hired to perform at Drag Ball.

"I think bringing in the drag kings and queens were really good ideas," Baymiller said. A few of the performers even moved upstairs after their acts to watch the students do their own runway show. Conservatory senior Ken Robertson, otherwise known as Queen Elizabitch, was crowned Drag Queen, and 18th century garb-clad conservatory seniors Sarah Shellman and Karin Brown won as handcuffed Kings for the night.

The Drag Ball lighting set up - engineered by specialized dance and rave designer Chip Bullock and his company, Eyegasm - was also a huge success. Laser lights shot across the dark, smoky proximity of Wilder Main in time with music. "Overall, the lighting design was what we really put the most thought into," Baymiller said. The set took two days to build, and cost the Student Union about $3,500.

A lot of thought also went into this year's Drag Ball Bible. Several students invested in a Winter Term project, organized by Wick, researching drag and compiling pages and pages of fashion tips and anecdotes, spending literally hundreds of hours perfecting the document.

The organizers are already thinking toward the future. Wick hopes the runway competition will be more organized next year, and Baymiller hopes the tenth annual Drag Ball will be more celebrity-oriented. "Trying to add celebrity [runway competition] judges would be fun," Baymiller said. "I think that's one direction I know we'll be moving in for next year."

Back // Arts Contents \\ Next

T H E   O B E R L I N   R E V I E W

Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 20, April 10, 1998

Contact us with your comments and suggestions.