A leading figure of ballroom culture in France, Lasseindra Ninja has contributed in making Paris the European capital of voguing these past  few years. Voguing was born out of the oppression of the black LGBTQI+ community in the USA in the 1970’s; this ball opened the “Exposed” exhibit with the dynamic competitive vibrations of voguers who will compete in extravagant and dazzling performances. It is also a great moment of freedom, since according to Lasseindra Ninja, voguing fosters individual development and emancipation. It is the freedom for each spectator to forge their own path, create their own understanding of current and past questions around dance and identity, power, vulnerability, social and political issues, discriminations and taboos, gender and transgender identity, as well as activism. Voguing is political!

Source: programme of the CND

 Lasseindra Ninja is a professional queer dancer of Guyanese origin, born  in 1986. She is an iconic figure in the voguing community in France  (also called vogue), an urban dance style invented by queer people of  color in New York in the 1980’s.
She began voguing at the age of 20  by being recruited into one of the most famous dancing collectives of  New York. She imported the concept into France, specifically Paris,  where she organizes her own balls (or ballrooms) where drag queens and  transsexuals can freely express their identity.
In everyday life,  Lasseindra Ninja is not concerned with how others view her, living her  life and representing her identity freely. According to her, voguing  makes it possible for her to forge her own identity, in terms of  sexuality, gender and self. 

Source: Ballet de Marseille  

Since 2001, the National Center for Dance (CND) has been making recordings of its shows and educational programming and has created resources from these filmed performances (interviews, danced conferences, meetings with artists, demonstrations, major lessons, symposia specialized, thematic arrangements, etc.).