POSE

("A Love Bizarre" by Sheila E. And Prince playing)

Dip, spin, work, turn!

Yes, children, feast your eyes on these fierce

and flexible queens, baby.

Yeah!

This display of talent is the reason why

the world is trying to be us.

Ah, work it out!

Da-da-da-da-da, ah! Sha-wham, sha-wham, sha-wham!

Ah! Y'all drinking for free tonight.

Bartender, put they tab on Daddy.

All right, look. Clear the floor.

Clear the floor. All right, all right.

Now, we all know this Madonna song

has been bumpin' hard.

Madonna has accomplished quite the feat,

topping the charts for two consecutive weeks, right?

Right.

We done changed the culture, y'all!

Now that everybody in the world

is trying to learn how to Vogue...

Mm-hmm.

It's time for us to switch it up.

Keep 'em guessing.

Put a little twist on Vogue!

All right!

The category is... Lofting.

Yes, divas, I want to see all my banjee boys

and all my tops serving trade to hit the floor

and Vogue!

Come on, Shadow, giving us that signature line

that the world knows as Vogue,

but then he drops right into the banjee boy.

Yeah, you don't know nothin' about that.

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Who's next? Who's next?

Ah... come on, Lemar Evangelis...

no, is it... yeah, uh, Wintour!

Lemar Wintour. You know, she a house hopper.

She a house hopper, baby.

It's all good, though. You looking real banjee today.

I got one thing to say, though.

That little shimmering earring will get you clocked.

Darling, you've been warned.

You know I love you, girl.

Oh... Yes!

Gravity Ebony certainly has his own laws

of motion.

And it's larger than the ocean.

Ah, what?!

Oh, that's for the young, hung, and full of what?

Ow!

Oh, oh, the head, bitch.

- He don't even have the cardboard! - I need him in my house.

No, are you done?

He don't even need the cardboard, bitches!

Tens across the board.

Whew! Lord Jesus, y'all done wore me out on this evening.

Y'all done wore me out. If there's anybody else

who thinks they can top what we just seen...

I don't think there is, but if you're bold enough to try,

come on, the floor is all yours.

Going once, going twice.

Uh-huh, just as I suspected.

There ain't nobody, so the category is... ugh.

Oh, here we go. This bitch again.

What's happening?

I can't with her.

Okay.

Okay, cut the music.

Please cut the music.

I have to say, bitch,

you do have nerve.

You really do have nerve, but what are you doing?

I'm paying tribute to Madonna.

The woman that put Vogue on the map.

Now put that music back on, bitch.

The category is called Lofting.

It is a dance category for actual dancers.

We've been down this road before.

You are not a dancer,

you are not a Voguer, and quite frankly,

I'm concerned about your health.

Break dancing might burst that silicone.

And you don't want to go back to that flat ass

you used to have, now, do you?

Pray, that's fucked up.

Why you always reading me the riot act, Pray Tell?

You go out of your way to put me down.

I don't have to put you down

when you're always in the bottom.

You stood up there on your perch talking about "It's our time.

"Our time to be seen.

To show the world what we got."

- That's right. - Yes.

That's right.

But in this room, you the only one

that refuse to see that I got something to contribute.

I got heart. I got talent.

I'm a star, just like Madonna.

Okay.

Judges, your scores.

Five. Five.

Zero.

- Nobody gets a zero. - Six.

Five. I don't know what to tell you, girl.

The cards don't lie.

You gonna regret your words.

I'm a star. I know who I am.

Yes, you are.

I am somebody.

Yes, you are.

Okay, you go on ahead and be somebody, Miss Jesse Jackson.

Just not on my floor.

Music, please.

Take a hike and don't ever come back.

The category is...

Live...

Work...

Pose!

- You two are looking fierce. - All right, Nurse Debbie,

work it out.

Now, you may want to visit a mirror,

perfect some of them moves, girl.

Sometimes I feel like God is playing a joke on us.

We've been trying to break out into the mainstream for years,

and now she lets it happen in the middle of a plague.

Yeah, and white folks just want a smile and a show.

Not all but most.

Well, that's why we got to do this AIDS Cabaret again.

Give 'em a show but also spread awareness.

Girl, that bitch was Voguing at us.

Been watching too much MTV.

I can't blame her, though.

- I love that damn song. - Yes.

Which is why you have to come up and see what we're doing

at the balls.

The crowds have been crazy, crazy packed.

Which means everybody is on their "A" game.

You and Wanda would love it.

I want to, but, you know, we're asleep

before you kids start putting on your makeup.

Listen, I only have a 20-minute lunch break.

- We got to get down to business. - Oh.

So we're meeting in this hellhole

because of your schedule, huh?

That's right, honey.

All right.

Well, I've been putting a lot of thought into it,

and, after Lorna Luft's surprise appearance

at last year's cabaret,

we can expect much larger crowds, right?

So I'm thinking maybe we start with a big group number.

Get the energy going, and the crowd...

Pray, we're not here to talk about the AIDS Cabaret.

What?

This isn't another intervention, is it?

I've been doing real good with my drinking.

Blanca, may I?

Yeah.

This is Blanca's blood work.

She's been on AZT, as you know, for a few weeks now,

and already we're starting to see her T cells climb.

I told you a million times I'm not taking that toxic shit.

I don't trust it, I don't like it.

I ain't doing it.

Well, that was then, this is now.

Blanca told me about that voodoo shit

you were doing over the weekend.

Oh, did she, now?

You skinny queens are gonna experience

some fat bitch food tonight.

This is disgusting.

The guy at the yoga center said eating a pound of butter

every day with some mineral oil

can help lower an HIV viral load

by flushing the virus from the gut.

This guy said a pound.

Bitch, don't act like you didn't use a pound last night.

Don't act new.

All right.

Bon... apé... tit.

My pilot light was broken,

I needed Blanca's stove,

and it wasn't none of her business

to be telling you nothing.

If you're willing to eat a pound of butter a day,

it's obvious that you're investing

in improving your numbers.

Why won't you go on AZT?

Because I prefer a more holistic approach.

That shit ain't gonna work. Your numbers are dropping.

Mine ain't that low.

I really, really don't appreciate y'all

talking down to me like this.

Can I not just enjoy my life for one minute?

Just one!

Pray, we want more moments with you, that's all.

We're doing it because we love you.

Find another way to love me!