[ cheers and applause ] tonight, beyonce's big weekend, "renaissance" soaring to number one at the box office. featuring hits like "break my soul," "queer ballroom" in the spotlight and this is not your

grandmother's ballroom. our ashan singh goes stage. >> having the biggest artist in the world makes such a big statement. very special to not only me but it meant the world to us. >> juju: the underground roots of the genre. >> the age the oscar crack, dope, coke eating us up alive. but you couldn't see it how beautifully we presented herself. >> juju: the poignant struggles of those that came before plus ballroom soaring to unimaginable heights, but the community still under threat. >> was like a ball of joy. if i put the beat on, you start seeing this six-foot black man start voguing down and having fun. >> juju: the life cut short by what prosecutors call a hate crime. now in the face of tragedy -- >> we're always going to come back stronger.

>> juju: this special issue of "nightline" "beyond ballroom" will be right back. [sniff] still fresh. ♪ get 6x longer-lasting freshness, plus odor protection. try for under $5! ah mornings! cough? congestion? i'm feeling better. all in one and done with new mucinex kickstart. headache? better now. new mucinex kickstart gives all-in-one and done relief with a morning jolt of instant cooling sensation. it's comeback season.

feel the power of osteo bi-flex®. taken every day, it's clinically shown to improve joint comfort in 7 days, with significant improvement over time. ( ♪ ) >> juju: thanks for joining us and begin with the "renaissance" of queer ballroom, voguing and other dazzling dance moves are featured in her documentary, the number one movie in america and

asi ash ashan, you went behind the scenes with a star. >> they back at least five decade, the icons of ballroom enduring and overcoming so much but this younger generation facing vice and deadly threats. >> juju: so true. let's take a look. >> this is not something i would wear to any other event. can you take it up in the front. when i'm kicking it, it goes under my leg. >> reporter: for brooklyn navy honey balenciaga wearing a couture gown at a major movie premi premiere was part of her life's plan. >> i always told myself i'd be a celebrity. if i don't think that i won't become that. that's a big moment for me. >> reporter: that big moment, getting ready to see yourself on the silver convenient as a featured dancer in beyonce's

"renaissance" world tour, the movie, at least in theaters this past week. >> the goal was to create a place where everyone is free. >> reporter: the highest decorated grammy winner, seventh studio album was released in july 2022 and debuted adopt the billboard 200 chart with hit singles like "break my soul ♪ ♪ you won't break my soul ♪ >> reporter: fan favorites like "summer renaissance." ♪ i want a house make you take my name. >> reporter: "renaissance" embracing the dance music styles of disco and house. that sound, nurtured by underground queer community and '70s, '80s and '90s in new york city. a still thriving scene where queen bey's team scouted the dancers. >> i love them. i owe them everything. >> reporter: and the tour's breakout star, 22-year-old

honey. she's proven herself a formidable dancer. the main currency is competitive ballroom, voguing. ♪ i'm the girl you see on the street ♪ >> reporter: when you first started voguing what about it that you loved that set it apart for you? >> it allowed me to feel feminine and bold and audacious and it allowed me to start feeling comfortable in my skin so i'm able to express myself i don't think any of the style really moved me the way "vogue" does. >> reporter: voguing ushered into the mainstream by madonna in 1990. showcased and already developed a dynamic underground scene created by black and latino lgbtq+ folks and primarily trans women. ♪ come on vogue ♪ ♪ let your body move to the music ♪ >> i always wanted to be a woman

but i never wanted to be a poor black woman. >> reporter: long before voguing was a household term they made their name on this building on 129th street in 1980s harlem. once known as elks lounge and the birthplace of what would be become known as ballroom. >> in ballroom it was a gay pageant. you fit a category, whether it be face, realness, high fashion, wa walking. >> b-e-y-o-n-c-e, everything is yours. >> reporter: the ballroom scene of the 1980s focused in "paradise is burning" and junior the blueprint. >> a evening back is a must. you have to carry something. >> reporter: heavily inspired by junior himself, billy porter's character as the emsee in fx's

drama series "pose." >> just price that jacket in the christmas ornament box and we'll give it back to you. >> "pose" is about a chosen family of lgbt and queer kids who gather up together to go to these competitions that make them feel good and gives them a voice in the world and lets them feel like somebody. >> come on. don't keep me in suspense, rip the band-aid off. >> the test confirmed you have- >> reporter: the main character found out she was diagnosed with hiv, and in that time in t the '80s, that diagnosis came with a death sentence. when i first saw the face of aids is when i came out to the ballroom community. you know, i would see people here today gone tomorrow. >> aids, a disease for there is no known cure. >> 70% of the country's aids victims are homosexual. >> i see myself fading away. >> reporter: unfortunately, for people like us, we have mourned and grieved and lost so much, we

have a thick skin. i watched my dearest friends laid in my bed and wanted the world to precede them as crackheads rather than mention the word "aids." >> reporter: as the queer community was ravaged, harlem was hit with a second punch, a drug crunch. >> the aids, ask for crack, dope, coke is eating us up alive but you couldn't see it how beautifully we presented ourselves. i would say, well, darling, let's be like scarlett o'hara, if i have to lie, cheat or steal i'll never be hungry again. i'll cry tomorrow. ♪ >> reporter: with their backs against the wall and few places to turn, especially after many had been disowned by the family, the community formed their own creating houses and in turn

chosen family. ♪ >> i need a place to stay, i need a mother in my life. i need a father in my life so the house is there to give you support. the house is there to mobilize together and go into these balls. >> am i looking away from the camera or to the camera? >> reporter: today high-profile performers like honey whose home is the house of balenciaga voguing for highs. >> oh, that's hot. >> reporter: growing up in brooklyn's east new york neighborhood and drawn to being the center of attention. honey learned how to dance at a young age. >> it was him first dancing or ballroom. >> i was a theater kid. i loved singing. i loved acting. i loved dancing, i learned ballet, tap, jazz, i was never surrounded around queer folk or anyone in the lgbt community. i thought it was weird. i was like, why do i like boys? am i supposed to like boys and

ballroom definitely gave me that strength to find a person i want to become, and be comfortable in my gender and body identity. ♪ >> reporter: through an after-school program, honey found an outlet to learn and perfect her chance of choice voguing with other top voguers in new york. while considered the mecca for the world of ballroom, new york is still, well, new york and honey wasn't immune to the city's grit. >> new york is a tough city to grow up in for anybody. >> you got to be a tough cookie. >> what was it like growing up for you? >> i remember getting called the "f" word a lot in brooklyn. there was no one else that was really gay so it was hard to go to school and feel like i was the only girl in the world. >> you probably got numb to the bullying. >> people were bold and weren't open to queerness but one thing about me, ballroom has taught me to walk with my head up high. you have to walk and show and exude this confidence.

>> reporter: honey parlayed it from the competitive new york city ballroom scene all the way to sharing the stage with beyonce. freaking beyonce. >> she's always had her eye on ballroom. having the biggest artist in the world makes such a big statement very special to not only me but to ballroom. >> reporter: it's been a meteoric rise for honey and ballroom from the fringes of the big apple to pop culture's center stage. ♪ >> reporter: even at the highest of heights, "renaissance" selling out met stadium. just miles away, a young man proudly voguing could bring a death sentence. stay with us. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3.

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♪ >> was like a ball of joy. as long as he put the beat on you'll see this six-foot blackman voguing down and having fun and feel completely comfortable and that's who he was and didn't care who was around. >> ashan: it was the big stage and bright lights that brought o'shea from philadelphia. ♪ heading out ♪ >> ashan: to new york city, the dreams of dancing. >> most of our friends from our dance world are coming to new york so we knew we wanted to go on broadway and knew we wanted to dance -- >> ashan: o'shea was more than a best friend to otis.

he became family. >> he was the moon to my sun and he's the sun to my moon. you can't have salt without pepper or peanut butter without jelly. o'shea, don't bring me to no laundromat. >> ashan: the ballroom scene didn't just help them with the basics they needed but a community. >> there is a community, there is a family here. you will be supported and loved and admired and clapped for. they give us food, showers, clothes, whatever we need. those were the places. >> ashan: while ballroom was his passion, o'shea was a student of the craft studying at the alvin ailey dance company and performing at lincoln center. >> he had that thirst for knowledge to keep dancing and learning the foundation so it was like the constant knowledge and thirst for knowledge. >> every day. >> reporter: on july 29th, o'shea, otis and friends took a

trip to the beach. >> we were celebrating my birthday. >> ashan: had to gas up the rental before returning it in brooklyn. >> we pulled into this gas station to fill up the tank and i got out the car. o'shea got out the car and was joki joking. >> ashan: beyonce was playing that night at metlife stadium 20 miles away in new jersey. >> be goofy, dancing around. this gentleman came up from the gas station and all of a sudden started yelling things towards us. i'm like, what's going on. >> ashan: homophobic slurs began to fly as they confronted otis, o'shea and their friends. what were they saying. >> they were like get out of here, bleep mr. we were talking with them. hey, we have every right to be here. we start walking away and i could see from the corner of my eye that o'shea turned around and eventually he gets out of my vision. and when i finally walk up to the edge of the car and i'm looking at o'shea, bro, what's wrong, he looks down.

that's when we see the blood is coming down from his side and i run up and grab his waist, grab his side and try to calm him down because now he's freaking out. >> ashan: o'shea was stabbed multiple times in the chest. >> he is in pain. >> yeah, he's in pain and eventually he collapsed to the floor. i started putting pressure on his wound but i could feel o'shea was in and out and getting weak and so when he probably went to the ground we called the ambulance and called the police. they remember on their way, and unfortunately he nodded off, he nodded off right there on site. >> ashan: in front of me. >> right in front of me in my harms. >> ashan: he was 28 years old. the suspect just 17 years old evaded police for days. as pressure mounted across social and traditional media, the teen turned himself in. charged with second-degree murder entering a plea of not guilty nearly two weeks later. a defense attorney for the accused mark pollard speaking about his client say i strongly suspect we will be going self-defense and that he had a reasonable ground to reasonably

believe that he had to defend himself in this situation. the latest federal crime statistics showed a 32% jump in hate crimes based on gender identity. in addition to a 13% rise in those based on sexual orientation. in the aftermath, vigils sprouted up around the city, one of them at the scene of the crime. >> i have to show up because that's my job as someone that is in the forefront, i know i have to be there for o'shea. ♪ >> ashan: honey grew up a few neighbors over from where o'shea died. >> i was heartbroken to hear that, so close to home because i walk out feeling so bold and feminine and me and my girlfriends would walk the streets in vogue so to think that that is something that will get you killed is very scary. >> ashan: the outpouring of support got beyonce's attention who grieved o'shea's loss on her site. the same night of beyonce's show is stark.

but it's a scene familiar to the community. in the face of violence and hate, the response was to be even more. ♪ >> honey is somebody that will make sure when she come out she makes her moment. she's a moment maker. she's a room shaker. >> she made her name. she put in the work and o'shae and her -- when i joined the ballroom community, she was the first person i looked at and she cares. >> ashan: despite her stratospheric rise honey remains ingrained in new york city's ball culture. on this night, heading to queens for the grand balance of one of the community's top houses, the house of juicy couture. ♪ >> expect a lot, because no one plays about the juicy. ♪

no one plays about us. we're the fabulous house on the scene. >> ashan: the entire house of juicy couture was flooded in white. >> to all wear gold, white, look like royalty. >> ashan: the belle of the ball, none other than honey herself showing out with her signature move, dip and the duck walk. ushering in a rebirth or a renaissance. >> there's a renaissance happening and it will always happen and we'll always make a statement and let people know we're here and it's not changing. you can do whatever you think is going to damage the community but we'll always come back stronger. >> ashan: for decades it voted a safe space for the lgbtq+ community nestled in the underground of new york. now, ballroom is undeniable. it's an art form that requires equal part grace, athleticism and glamour. and it's being celebrated worldwide in arenas and stadiums

by all walks of life. but even at the top, safety isn't guaranteed. >> voguing, ballroom culture can literally be on top of the world, right? but at the same time, it you can be stabbed to death right here for voguing, doing what you do. >> we have a lot of work still to be done to be comfortable and open and, unfortunately, we were just living open and being ourselves and our safety was at risk. >> ashan: stay with us. to help protect from hiv. i prep without pills. with apretude, a prescription medicine used to reduce the risk of hiv without daily prep pills. with one shot every other month, just 6 times a year. in studies, apretude was proven superior to a daily prep pill in reducing the risk of hiv. you must be hiv negative to receive apretude and get tested before each injection. if you think you were exposed to hiv or have flu-like symptoms, tell your doctor right away. apretude does not prevent other sexually transmitted infections.

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♪ >> being on stage with the arti

have to imagine that was nothing short of a dream come true. >> i want to cry right now. it was definitely a dream come true. i remember just looking at her after i -- i go around her and i do a little dip in front of her and came up, i'm like, wow, i'm really here, i'm really dipping in front of the queen. it's the biggest opportunity i could ever have and ever get. >> ashan: it never gets old? >> it will never get old. i feel complete. i feel like now that i've done this tour with the biggest artist in the world i feel like i can do anything. ♪ >> no one can get enough of taylor and travis. >> totally don't think it's safe. i think it's real. are you kidding? >> you are dating taylor swift. >> one, two, three, we've never seen something like this. everyone went