Pose Reaches Peak Madonna: a Visual History of the 1990 Blond Ambition Tour
Pose has finally done it: the series has reached peak Madonna, and there is no turning back. After heavily referencing the superstar on each episode of season two, the obsession finally reached an apex with episode five. In “What Would Candy Do?” Ricky and Damon (played by Ryan Jamaal Swain) are on the rocks relation-ship wise, and are both auditioning to be backup dancers for the Blond Ambition tour. Going head to head in a dance-off is certainly not helping them in the love department, but we, as viewers, do get some insight into the importance of the backup dancers on the iconic tour. Over the past decade, critics have accused other pop stars—like Lady Gaga—of copying Madonna, but the show makes clear that the Material Girl also did her fair share of “borrowing.” It’s no secret now—especially not in the ballroom world of Pose— that Madonna brought voguing to the mainstream when she co-opted the moves. But the question of appreciation versus appropriation comes up here, with Blanca on one side of the argument (she sees the popularization of voguing as useful and empowering) and Pray Tell on the other (he’s fearful of the subculture being siphoned). Looking back at the real Blond Ambition tour, which was immortalized in the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare (and later in the 2016 doc Strike a Pose), we can see that as much as that tour is known for Madonna’s famous Jean-Paul Gaultier cone bra, it was her dancers who made the whole spectacle culturally relevant. Pose aims to unpack that in this episode. If it weren’t for the queer men of color who danced on the tour, Blond Ambition would not have been as effective or as subversive. And neither would her music video for “Vogue”—a black-and-white David Fincher project that was as inspired by the ballroom scene as it was by Isaac Julien’s film Looking for Langston and the work of Bob Fosse. Here, a glimpse of what the tour looked like nearly 30 years ago—including scenes of backup dancers Luis Camacho, Oliver Crumes, Salim “Slam” Gauwloos, Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza, Kevin Stea, Gabriel Trupin and Carlton Wilborn.
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Madonna poses with her backup dancers for Madonna: Truth or Dare. Photo courtesy Everett Collection.
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Madonna performs with backup dancers in a Bob Fosse inspired bowler hat routine. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna with backup dancers during the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Backup dancers rehearse in a scene from Strike a Pose, Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan’s 2016 documentary about the backup dancers of the Blond Ambition World Tour. Photo courtesy of Everett Collection.
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Luis Camacho prepares for the stage in a still from Strike a Pose. Photo courtesy of Everett Collection.
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Madonna performs with her dancers in the Blonde Ambition Japan Tour at Chiba Marine Stadium, April 13th, 1990, Chiba, Japan. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna and her dancers performing in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna performs another routine that pays homage to Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon in the Blond Ambition World Tour. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna’s Blond Ambition World Tour 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna’s Blond Ambition World Tour 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna’s Blond Ambition World Tour 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna’s Blond Ambition World Tour 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna and her backup dancers, wearing mermaid tails, during the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna plays the harp while her mermaid backup dancers surround her during the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Not all of Madonna’s backup dancers were men. Two women support the singer on stage during the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna wears the iconic Jean-Paul Gaultier cone bra during the Los Angeles leg of the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna and Salim Gauwloos have a Dick Tracy moment during the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Madonna shares the cone bra spotlight with a backup dancer during the Blond Ambition World Tour on June 30, 1990. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
