Live. Work. Watch ‘Pose’.

The category is… vivid 80s ball scene realness.

And so goes ‘Pose’ (2018). FX’s award-winning drama series set in retro New York where an ensemble of transgender and gay performers, dancers and yes, survivors, take centre stage.

Inspired by Jennie Livingston’s seminal ‘Paris is Burning’ (1990), ‘Pose’ features the largest cast of transgender actors as series regulars as well as the biggest recurring LGBTQI+ cast for a scripted series with the added realness of transgender icon Janet Mock as a producer.

Out of all this emerges The House of Evangelista, a ragtag coming together of legendary children slowly making a name for themselves on the New York ball scene where LGBTQI+ misfits and outcasts find glory in the dramatic but ultimately affirming world of these underground pageants.

Each cast out of their homes for being who they are – transgender, gay, a dancer – the Evangelistas are led by the captivating Blanca once of the House of Abundance, sweetened by Angel, a beautiful trans sex worker, and are undeniably world class through Damon, a gay teen dancer killing it at the New School by day and amidst the throes of his first love by night.

Humanising, enlightening and sometimes all-out fun, ‘Pose’ presents African-American and Latinx gay and transgender subculture in the late 80s with nuance and style.

Heartbreaking in the bigoted realities that have brought the ensemble together, celebratory in the life and language that continues to influence pop culture and slickly produced to elevate the all-out artistry and competition inherent in participating in a ball, the series – created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals – offers a rare glimpse into the trials and triumphs of this underrepresented community.

A show in which the villains have heart and the affluent straight-laced white corporate world brushes up against the skint gay and transgender community of colour, ‘Pose’ does some work in highlighting issues of class, race and sexual objectification while telling a tender story of bodily autonomy through Elektra Abundance, a glamourous but abrasive house mother who regularly passes as a woman but is yet to fully transition.

Introducing an exciting crop of LGBTQI+ talents including breakout stars MJ Rodriguez as Blanca and Billy Porter as Pray Tell, the garrulous host of the New York balls, ‘Pose’ also stars Indya Moore as Angel, Ryan Jamaal Swain as Damon, Dyllón Burnside as Ricky and Dominique Jackson as Elektra, supported by Evan Peters, James Van Der Beek, Kate Mara and Charlyanne Woodard.

Historic, necessary, intermittently melodramatic but full of heart, soul and extravaganza, the critically acclaimed show is incoming with a second season and, honey, we’re here for it.