Jay Jay Revlon & Max Day S2E4

On this episode of Superhumans, Rambert dancer Max Day speaks with the force of nature that is Jay Jay Revlon.

As the Father of the ‘UK House of Revlon’ Jay Jay is a leading authority and influence on Ballroom in the UK. Ballroom originated in late 20th century as an LGBTQ+ subculture, where Black and Latino drag queens began to organize their own pageants in opposition to racism experienced in established drag queen pageant circuit (you might have seen it explored in the ground-breaking American drama Pose).

Jay Jay and Max get into the origins of Houses, mainstream representation of voguing and the Ballroom Scene and the importance of having the right voices involved in those stories (which you might be surprised to learn is not always the case). It’s a conversation that educates on how to respect and support the community and brings us into the world of Ballroom.

In addition, Jay Jay talks about his ongoing activism and projects – creating safe spaces for QPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, including his club night, ‘Let’s Have a Kiki #theparty” and as a volunteer peer-to-peer mentor at Stonewall Housing.

We loved talking with Jay Jay on this podcast, and the openness and sense of humour he brings to all his insights.