Wednesday, M^ch 31, 2010
{The Blue Banner}
Page 9
Alliance-sponsored Drag Ball
promotes LGBQT awareness
Kimala Burklow- Contributing Photographer
Students Michael Jozefowicz, left, and Caroline Wilson performed at
the Drag Ball Friday, sponsored by the UNCA organization Alliance.
By Alex Hammond
Staff Writer
RAHAMMON@UNCA.EDU
The party favors at some balls are noise
makers and candy. At the Alliance-spon
sored Drag Ball, the favors included con
doms, lubricant and dental dams. Less
than halfway through friday night’s drag
performances, the large crowd made sure
the favors were gone.
“The meetings have so many more
people coming as the year has gone on.
We’ve done very little publicity for the
group itself other than at these events,
but that has been enough to really help
the group,” said Michael Jozefowicz,
who went by Celine Friday night.
Jozefowicz won the first Drag Idol
contest at UNC Asheville with a per
formance of tina Turner’s “River Deep,
Mountain High.” The performance
earned a standing ovation, just like at
Drag Idol in February, but this time it
was more comfortable, Jozefowicz said.
“For this, I was dancing with everyone
and having fun with everyone. Then I
performed for them, and it was so much
easier,” Jozefowicz said.
Alliance, a UNCA organization dedi
cated to lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and
transgender issues, hosted both Drag Idol
in February and the Drag Ball last Friday.
Auburn Petty, one of the Alliance
members in charge of group publicity,
said these two events will result in more
knowledge and participation next school
year.
“I feel like next year, the people that
didn’t come this year will hear about it
and want to come because it’s part of
Homecoming weekend now,” Petty said.
According to Kelly Doyle, the chair
of Alliance, Petty and Jozefowicz devel
oped a new logo. They are also working
on other ways to spread the word about
gender and sexuality issues on campus.
“Once the show was over a lot of peo
ple cleared out, but the most important
thing with Drag Ball was getting people
to see a drag performance,” Petty said.
That openness is resulting in a swelling
of group numbers, Jozefowicz said.
“We started off with about 15 to 20,
and now I think it’s up to 30 or 35,” Joze
fowicz said.
For now, the leadership in Alliance
is young and ambitious. The Drag Idol
idea, Doyle said, is unique as far as the
group can tell, but will not be alone for
long.
“A friend of a friend of mine saw the
pictures online and now she wants to
organize a drag ball in Columbia,” said
See drag ball Page 14|
N.C. folklore society celebrates WNC heritage on campus
By Brian Ponder
Staff Writer
BFPONDER@UNCA.EDU
The North Carolina Folklore So
ciety, one of the oldest in the nation,
hosted their annual meeting and award
ceremony to celebrate a specific N.C.
region at UNC Asheville last Saturday.
“One of the reasons that we wanted
to come here is because Asheville
values its folk heritage so highly,”
said Philip Coyle, editor of the North
Carolina Folklore Journal and a board
member of the NCFS. “We wanted to
take this statewide organization and
eome to what’s really a leader in the
promotion of folklore.”
Sustaining Traditions: A Celebration
of Western North Carolina Folklife in
the 21st Century was the theme of this
year’s meeting.
The NCFS was founded in 1913 to
promote the appreeiation and the study
of folk life in North Carolina. The soci
ety collects songs, stories, customs and
superstitions to help preserve N.C.’s
diverse culture all the way from the
coast, throughout the Piedmont and to
the mountains.
“The NCFS is one of the oldest folk
lore societies that exists in America.
Our mission is to celebrate and help
preserve the traditions of North Caro
lina. It’s everything from music to food
to other parts of the arts that we cele
brate through our annual meetings and
give out awards.,” said Lora Smith, the
membership and program coordinator
for the NCFS.
The society’s annual meeting moves
each year to a different part of the state,
and each year the meeting is designed
to celebrate the traditions of that par
ticular area.
“We try to do it too, so the annual
meeting reflects that region. This year
we are very much focused on Western
North Carolina folk life,” Smith said.
The award ceremony awarded sever
al artists and folklorists from the West
ern North Carolina area. Individuals
and organizations received awards for
their involvement in promoting art and
cultural traditions.
“We give out two awards each year.
We give out Brown-Hudson awards,
which are to individuals, and we give
out a community traditions award,
which is for a commimity or a group
or an organization,” Smith said. “This
year we are honoring Eric Ellis, who
is a bluegrass musician and teacher,
Anna Fariello, who has done a lot with
preserving Cherokee basket weav
ing traditions, Jerry Wolfe, who is a
Cherokee storyteller, and also Alice
Gerrard, who is a folk musician. Our
community traditions awards are going
to the Folk Heritage Committee, which
produce the Shindig on the Green, the
Mountain Dance and Folk Festival,
Helen C. Vance & North Shore Histori
cal Association and the Etowah Chris
tian Harmony Singers.”
The folklore society gives out the
Brown-Hudson Folklore Awards to
people who have contributed to the
appreciation, continuation or study of
N.C. folk traditions.
This year, a bluegrass musician and
instructor, a Cherokee basket weaver,
a Cherokee heritage storyteller and a
Shawn Hiatt- Staff Photographer
Cloggers performed at the N.C.
Folklore Society’s annual meet
ing hosted at UNCA Saturday.
folk musician won awards for the pres
ervation of various aspects of moun
tain culture.
Wolfe was one of those honored
with the Brown-Hudson Award for his
preservation of the Cherokee culture
through storytelling. His stories tell of
his life growing up and playing stick
ball.
“Jerry Wolf is a Cherokee storyteller
See folklore Page 111