The Berlin Pride weekend was such an eventful weekend, and The Nostalgia Ball by David GG was an absolute highlight of it. This major scene ball was a follow-up to last year’s Superheroes 2 Ball that happened on the same day and same place at Holzmarkt’s Säälchen – only with a new theme for this year. And the turn-out was insane. I think I haven’t seen such a long line of spectators and ballroom members from wide and far outside of any ballroom venue. Of course, when David invite’s the people show up!
The night had so many special moments: The host David was welcomed into the House of Gorgeous Gucci, the wonderful Jamila got a special honor for her community work with the Ballroom Pier, and then there was one more special honor that I didn’t quite see coming.
I was positioned in between the rows of the judges’ seats in this moment struggeling to not trip over a pile of cables and fall backwards into a table of snacks. Suddenly, I was kindly nudged by someone to pay attention to the host David. He just spoke to the audience of someone who has been supporting the ballroom community for many years now and deserved a special shout-out for their work supplying the community with photos of their performances and walks. And then he turned around to point at me. I was totally blushing when the audience all of a sudden turned around to look at me. For a moment I was showered with words of love and then him and the committee came over with hugs and a huge beautiful flower bouquet. I was so touched that I was honestly a bit frozen.
We’ve been covering the ballroom scene here on iHeartBerlin since 2014 – can you believe it? I started taking photos of balls myself back in 2018 which feels like a lifetime ago. But I remember very vividly it was David himself who got me hooked to the scene back then. It was The Opulence Ball at HAU and he was moving around the function with a very special infectious vibe and natural confidence that somewhat encapsulated what I would later understand to be the essence of the ballroom scene. It’s impossible to really put it into words, but he was just the moment. I didn’t know back then that he would later become an important figure creating his own balls, becoming a father and receiving legendary status in the Kiki scene. But I just felt that he had something big ahead of him. In those 8 years he’s been one of my trusted tethers into the scene – someone who was always welcoming me and make me gain trust with other ballroom members. I was able to capture some of my best ballroom action photos of him, photographed every ball he ever hosted here in Berlin, and will of course continue to do so. I’ms o grateful to him.
Documenting the local ballroom scene, being allowed to enter these spaces, seeing my photos being shared by the community has been very fulfilling and gratifying. I’m proud of what I was able to contribute to this community and with this acknowledgement by David I feel seen and appreciated more than ever. Thank you all 🙂
Obviously, with this I was under a little bit of pressure to slay this ball, and so I did. I think this photo set has a very unique glow to it that really captures the Nostalgia spirit. I’ve gotten some cool feedbacks about the lights and colors. I’m so glad I was able to capture it. Here’s my full set. As always, community members and makers are invited to download and share the photos. A tag to @iheartberlin would be appreciated. There’s also a drive folder that contains both photos and (unedited) video clips here.
