Iconic By Name. Iconic By Nature. Learn How To Spin, Dip and Vogue With The Iconic House of Miyake-Mugler
Conditioning

Iconic By Name. Iconic By Nature. Learn How To Spin, Dip and Vogue With The Iconic House of Miyake-Mugler

clock-circular-outlinePosted 15 Jun 2022

🇩🇪 | 🇫🇷 | 🇳🇱

Iconic by name. Iconic by nature.

Ever wondered what it takes to spin, dip and vogue like the pros? Having won HBO's 'Legendary,' we caught up with the iconic House of Miyake-Mugler (she/he/they) to learn more about the history of voguing and of course, get a few dance lessons...

But first... it's time to meet the House of Miyake-Mugler.

Fitness with finesse. Now that's what we call conditioning.

With a long-standing history in the LGBTQ+ community, the art of voguing draws inspiration from many different forms of conditioning: the grace of ballet, the power of martial arts, and the strength and mobility of gymnastics.

But what is voguing, and where did it actually originate from?

Well, we think Diego Mugler (he/him) says it best, “voguing is a feeling, you can be anything you want to be”. It’s movement, it’s expression, it’s family. And ultimately, it’s a lot of unseen hours – working on strength and cardio to ensure complex performances look as seamless and fabulous as the people performing them.

As for where voguing originates from… “all of our moves originate from the early 80s Black queer liberation. The elements of vogue represent our refusal to integrate into mainstream society, the rebellion of toxic masculine societal structures, and the overall liberation to exist freely as we are.

“Through feminine catwalks, fierce spin dips and powerful duck walks, we reclaim our power and free ourselves of our strife.”

With that being said, join us as we learn some of the most iconic ballroom moves of the season from the icons themselves: the House of Miyake-Mugler. This is voguing.

History Lesson Done. Conditioning Class In Session...

House of Miyake-Mugler’s Favorite Vogue Poses:

Master Element: Duck Walk

Used for Femme Vogue

How To:

  1. Start in a low crouching position on the balls of your feet and bounce up and down to the beat of your favorite tune - this is the rhythm that you'll use to perform a duck walk.

  2. Relax your upper body: keep your shoulders back, and ensure your back is straight.

  3. Once you're comfortable with the motion, on your next upward bounce, release one foot and "flick" it out in front.

  4. As you bounce down, bring your foot back in and return to your starting position.

  5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 on the other foot and repeat until the sequence becomes comfortable.

  6. It's time to start incorporating hand movements! Whichever foot is kicking out, follow with your hands. Bring your hands up to shoulder height and move them from side-to-side, keeping your palms flat and facing upward.

Notes: Duckwalks are a brilliant opportunity to bring attitude and personality to your performance!

Master Element: Spins & Dips

Used for Femme Vogue

How To:

First up, the spin. To do a full spin, you need to complete a 360 turn...

  1. Find Your Spot: Before moving, pick a spot by fixating on one thing in the room at eye level. Slowly start to turn and twirl, spinning around while looking at your spot - this will help ensure you don't get dizzy.

The dip ALWAYS follows the spin. But how do you get into it?

  1. Once you've turned 360 degrees, start to bend and lower yourself down gently to the floor - bending the back knee and ensuring that it's in a comfortable position - this will be the leg you'll be landing on as you dip.

  2. Lower your bum to the ground and begin to sink back onto your bent leg. 

  3. As you lower to the ground, straighten out your front leg keeping it raised and pointing the toes forward.

  4. Fold down onto your back leg, arch your back down to the floor and stretch your arms out wide to the side.

Master Element: Catwalk

Used for Femme Vogue

How To:

  1. Start standing up, and then add a deep, soft bend to both knees - this will allow you to bounce through the sequence easier.

  2. Keep your upper body relaxed, facing the front. On your tip-toes, step forward with your left foot, popping your front hip out and turning both feet inward towards the right.

  3. Repeat on the other side, stepping forward with your right foot, pushing your right hip forward, and turning on the ball of your foot so that your feet turn inward toward the left.

  4. Hand movements: it's that time again. Reach your arms out in front of you to chest level and flex your wrists, fingers facing upwards. Bring one arm in towards your shoulder and keep the other stretched out in front. 

  5. Alternate arms until the sequence becomes comfortable and then begin to add in the walk.

  6. Speed up the sequence to match the beat of the song.

Notes: use your hands to compel the audience and tell a story.

House of Miyake-Mugler
Follow House of Miyake-Mugler

Meet more of the Mugler Family...

Vogue-Cabulary…

HOUSE NAMES EXPLAINED:

House names - which members take on as a surname when joining the family - are often taken from the founder, or father/mother of the House. In some instances, Houses can also be named ‘creatively’ - take the House of Gymshark for instance…

TITLES EXPLAINED:

Titles are a level of recognition that are awarded to members of the House by the Father or Mother of the group, and in most instances, take many years to earn.

  • Icon: is to become the blueprint for your specific category, earning multiple legendary moments in your career.

  • Legendary: is to become a master in your specific category, conquering your talent, and multiple classes for anywhere between 3-10 years.

. . .
UNITED BY JOURNEY.

It's not our goals that unite us, but the things we do to achieve them. So, although our training grounds, our end goals and the way we love may differ, sweat is our sport, and hard work is our game plan. Gymshark, it's about belonging.

OUR COMMITMENT TO PROGRESS

This month, we wanted to support our LGBTQ+ community and show them that we see them and celebrate their wins. But we know that it is not enough. We know that the fight is not over because too many of them do not feel seen or safe yet. Making progress by making conditioning safer & more inclusive for everyone is where we can make a difference.

So, we commit to playing our part in making this happen, one step at a time, however long it will take. We don't have all the answers, but we know that there still are too many issues. So we commit to pushing ourselves to find ways to achieve progress by showing up for our LGBTQ+ community throughout the year and years ahead.

. . .
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