The Xtravaganza That Was Carmen
On Friday, August 4th, the House Of Xtravaganza—one of New York City’s most legendary ballroom houses—announced the death of Carmen Xtravaganza, a trans activist as well as a pioneer and icon within the ballroom community and an ambassador of ballroom culture to the larger world. Between 1998 and 2015, Carmen served as mother of the Legendary House of Xtravaganza for various periods and is one of seven members of the House of Xtravaganza to have been inducted into the Ballroom Hall of Fame, for the categories Femme Queen Realness and Face. Carmen had been battling Stage 4 lung cancer and succumbed to her illness at the age of 62.
Born in Rota, a municipality in Andalusia, Spain, on April 9, 1961, Carmen, whose full name was Carmen Imaculada Ruiz, moved to the U.S. when she was 16, initially landing in Washington, D.C. It is believed that Carmen soon began taking hormones there while staying at a runaway house after she had fled from her home. During this time period, Carmen said she was “robbed, mugged, raped and incarcerated.” According to an interview she did in 2006’s ballroom documentary, How Do I Look, Carmen then underwent gender-affirming surgery at the age of 18. In a 2013 interview with the TransGriot Blog, Carmen said she knew that she was trans around the age of 5: “As far back as I can remember my dad always knew from when I was a small child I was always effeminate. [My dad] explained it to me much later after I had already transitioned.”
Carmen then made the move to New York City in Autumn 1979, arriving at Port Authority Bus Terminal. She soon discovered GG’s Barnum Room, a transsexual club that was quite popular at the time, where she encountered some of the most beautiful trans girls she'd ever seen. By 1981, Carmen was living in Manhattan’s famed Meatpacking District and was working as a prostitute. During this time, Carmen also became involved in the ballroom scene, making her debut in the summer of 1982 as Carmen St. Laurent, which was the first house she joined (House Of St. Laurent is another iconic ballroom house).
Carmen quickly became known for walking the balls in the Perfect Face and Models Effect categories, and consequently caught the eyes of Angie and Danni Xtravaganza, the father and mother and co-founders of the House Of Xtravaganza. After Carmen won a ball in 1985 thrown by the House Of Omni, Angie and Danny saw in Carmen an immense talent and managed to poach her, and from then she was known as Carmen Xtravaganza. From that point, Carmen would begin a supreme reign on the runways for decades, and became one of the House of Xtravaganza's core members.
In May 1988, Carmen Xtravaganza helped bring ballroom into the mainstream when she graced the cover of the Village Voice for an article written by Donald Suggs entitled "Venus Envy: The Drag Balls of Harlem". The article was one of the first pieces written about the ball scene that catered to the wider public, and Carmen, with her beautiful face swathed in a cowl neck hood, was its cover girl.
Then in 1990, Carmen was prominently featured alongside her sister Brooke in the iconic documentary film Paris Is Burning by Jennie Livingston. In one of the film’s now most iconic scenes, Brooke and Carmen are being filmed on the beach, where Brooke, in a yellow swimsuit, is openly talking about transitioning and the various operations that she’s undergone. Carmen—with a biting sense of humor—interjects with a legendary moment of shade, saying: “Except that voice is still there”, referencing Brooke’s deep vocals, lower than that of a typical cisgender woman’s. But the now iconic catchphrase was all in good fun, and Brooke and Carmen are then seen singing Gloria Gaynor’s “I Am What I Am,” now an anthem of trans resistance and sisterhood.
Following the film's release, Carmen returned to her home country of Spain, where she became a prominent feature of the nightclub scene there and also established a Spanish chapter of the House of Xtravaganza. She additionally pursued a modeling career in Madrid before returning to the United States in 1997. By that time, Angie Xtravaganza had died and had identified Carmen as her preferred successor. Carmen would go on to serve as the Xtravaganza house mother on and off until 2015.
Over the years, accolades would continue to pour in for Carmen. In 1999, she was inducted into the Ballroom Hall Of Fame for the categories of Femme Queen Realness and Face. Candy Magazine, in celebration of its 5th anniversary, assembled 14 influential trans women to represent the ongoing social revolution in the attitudes toward transgender people. The cover feature and 62-page portfolio entitled “The Role Models: The Glamorous Women of the Trans Revolution” with photographs by Mariano Vivanco, included Carmen Xtravaganza alongside Gisele Alicea Xtravaganza, actress Laverne Cox, model Carmen Carrera, writer Janet Mock, and numerous others. In 2006, Carmen was featured in the documentary, How Do I Look, which took a fresh look into the state of American Ball Culture. Then in 2022, Carmen’s hometown of Rota named her as the godmother of its local celebrations, marking International LGBT Pride Day.
Throughout the last decade of her life, Carmen also remained committed to furthering trans visibility by sharing her life story and by advocating for more services for LGBTQ+ youth in New York. In her TransGriot interview, she also called for more partnerships between ballroom houses and trans-activist communities. In September 2022, Minx Xtravaganza started a GoFundMe for Carmen, after she had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Then in July 2023, Carmen published a post on Facebook stating that the chemotherapy had been unsuccessful. Carmen Xtravaganza ultimately passed away in August 2023, at the age of 62.
The House of Xtravaganza released a statement on Instagram, announcing Carmen’s passing. They concluded the statement with the following message: “As we hold her memory close to our hearts, her famous quote, ‘… that voice is still there,’ takes on new meaning, serving as a reminder that Carmen’s spirit will live on through the love and memories she left behind.”
During her lifetime, Carmen served as an influential and pioneering mother to many, particularly for trans women of color who came up after her. She should be forever cheirshed, and I will end off now with a video I adore of Carmen lip-syncing to Viola Wills’ “Gonna Get Along Without You Now” on some Spanish TV Show from back in the day, as well as a collage of some absolutely stunning photos of Carmen from over the years for you to stare at in awe. May she rest in power and in peace.
