Oral History of Icon Marquis Revlon Clanton

Abstract

Icon Marquis Clanton Revlon talks about growing up in Baltimore and his experiences with dance and marching band as a child. He describes the members of the House of Revlon who first introduced him to Baltimore’s ballroom scene and explains why he fell in love with ballroom: its participatory and performative nature, the opportunities he found in the scene for self-expression and acceptance, its tight-knit familial structures, and the skills he learned in the scene to successfully navigate life outside of ballroom. This oral history was recorded as part of the Peabody Ballroom Experience, a public humanities collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and the performance-based culture known as ballroom.