For a brief moment, on a New York City dance floor, it was 1990 all over again. Page Six reports that Madonna reunited with ballroom legend and Vogue choreographer Jose Xtravaganza at a New York City premiere of Madonna’s latest concert film, Madame X. The Paradise Club at the Edition Times Square saw Madonna and Xtravaganza hit the dance floor to the strains of CeCe Peniston’s Finally, and Xtravaganza taking to the stage for some classic ballroom voguing.
The reunion of Madonna & one of the men that helped give her a master class on the dance known as “voguing” (& the ballroom community that came with it) was a long time in the making. While it had been decades since any sort of collaboration between the two, the Strike A Pose documentary of 2015 shined a spotlight on all of the dancers from Madonna’s 1990 Blond Ambition tour, and their memories of that time. (Madonna refused to participate in the documentary, but her company did allow footage of the tour to be used). During press for the documentary in 2016, Xtravaganza told Vibe about what it was like not having a relationship with the Material Girl at that time. He said “Sometimes it feels weird, because you like to think that these moments you share with a person aren’t just business. There are feelings involved. I know she thinks the same. Whatever the reason is, she has moved on. Life happens and she is a celebrity as well. I don’t expect her to come knocking on my door, but I definitely miss her on a personal level. It doesn’t have to be gig. It was more than that.”
Post-Vogue, Xtravaganza found a great deal of success where it started; in the ballroom. He recorded The Queen’s English’in 1993 (as part of the duo Jose & Luis with Luis Camacho Xtravaganza) with the legendary Junior Vasquez, and helped create the 2012 short film VOGUE(ing. He continued advocating for the ballroom community and the House of Xtravaganza, being named House Father in 2002. In a nod to his own history, Xtravaganza appeared on Pose throughout the landmark series run, in a supporting role.
