Event: The Lover’s Ball Presented by Haus of Schiaparelli

Haus of Schiaparelli presents The Lover’s Ball, a celebration of queer love and self-expression marking ten years of marriage equality, at Dublin’s Smock Alley Theatre on Thursday 24 July.

This is a world where love reigns, the aisle is the runway and the ballroom is the altar, and where the Black and Brown LGBTQ+ community and their allies can play out their wedding fantasies, whether blushing bride in couture chaos or dapper groom in sequinned suiting.

Attendees of the Ball can expect to have fun and to feel safe, to spectate and to participate. They will be welcome to perform along the runway in a number of categories to win the favour of the judges, who have been chosen for their impact on Black LGBTQ+ life in Dublin, with prizes on offer for the winners.

Ballroom culture can be traced back to the Hamilton Lodge Ball in 1869, recognized as the first drag ball in United States history. This Ball reached the peak of its popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, drawing hundreds of drag performers and thousands of spectators, and attended by members of the Black and Brown LGBTQ+ community in a time and place that criminalised expression of overt queerness. Ballroom participants compete in Houses, which offered alternative family dynamics (with house mothers and fathers) for disenfranchised LGBTQ+ youth.

The Haus of Schiaparelli was founded in 2023 by Tino Schiaparelli and has produced two sell-out balls – Royalty (2023) and Olympic Village (2024) – and curated Voguing classes for the Summer At IMMA Programme (2024). Named after the legendary fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, known for her avant-garde designs and fearless approach to fashion, Haus of Schiaparelli is a “Kiki” house, more focused on mentorship than the more competitive ballroom scene, offering a space for people to find social support, and to grow both within and beyond Ballroom. The Haus’s events centre Black and Brown queer people — the descendants of the founders of Ballroom. The Lover’s Ball is being produced by members of the Black Irish LGBTQ+ community in Dublin, a collective of artists and individuals hoping to spread Ballroom culture in Ireland. Since the campaign for marriage equality in 2015, trans rights and the Black Lives Matter movements have had increased visibility, and an aim for the Haus is to highlight and support those more diverse elements within Irish queer history.

Tino Schiaparelli, Founder and Creative Director of Haus of Schiaparelli, says, “Our Lover’s Ball isn’t just a ball, it’s a wedding doing what a wedding does best, bringing us together as a community. We want you to bring your fiercest looks, your chosen family, and your heart on your sleeve. Strut the floor like it’s your big day, every day, and come celebrate with us!”

The Lover’s Ball runs from 6.30pm to 11pm at Smock Alley Theatre, for more information and to book tickets please visit Eventbrite.

Warning: Please note this event contains sexual references, nudity, and flashing lights.

The Lover’s Ball is supported by The Arts Council of Ireland, The Arts Council’s Arts and Disability Connect scheme managed by Arts & Disability Ireland, and is produced in collaboration with Project Arts Centre.

Graphics by Yovela Fubara.