The House of Ultra Omni 45th Anniversary Celebration

You're cordially invited to The House of Ultra Omni's 45th Anniversary Celebration!

Join us for a night of music, performance, and memories as we commemorate 45 years of Omnipotence, Ovahness & Opulence!

Get ready to move and groove while mingling and rubbing shoulders with Ballroom Legends, LGBTQIA+ Organization Executives, KiKi Houses Making Their Name On The Scene & Artists, Scholars & Historians of Ballroom! This event is a celebration of our rich history, honoring our founder Diamond Pioneer Icon Kevin Omni Burrus, and a toast to many more years of spreading joy through ballroom! Don't miss out on this special occasion, limited tickets available!

CATEGORIES WILL BEGIN AT 9:00PM SHARP! (Omni's Are Never Late!)

Categories Include:

• Open To All / Runway $1000
• Open To All / Vogue Performance $1000
• Executive Realness (Honoring Legendary Diamond Pioneer Icon Kevin Omni) $1000
• Pioneer Category, In Honor Of Diamond Pioneer Icon Kevin Omni: High Fashion Eveningwear (In Honor of Larry Ebony, Dutchess LaWong, David Ultima, John Infinti Moschino, Junior LaBeija, Chris LaBeija & RR Chanel & Terry Chanel. Sponsored by Victor Omni) $1000
• Legendary Face (Honoring Legendary Face & Icon Face Diamond Pioneer Kevin Omni & ‘Lady C’ Ultra Omni (Male & Female Duo) $1500 (Sponsored by Black Beauty Archive Female Face: Flawless Skin, Sparkling Eyes & Gorgeous Lips // Male Face: Well Groomed, Flawless Skin & Stunning Bone Structure
• Femme Queen Performance $2500 (Sponsored by TENTACLES Initiatives)

History of The Worldwide Pioneering House of Ultra Omni

Origins: Omni was born, January 21st, 1979 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Kevin Burrus and Thomas Dimples Baker went to their first ball in 1975. Then a second ball in 1978. This ball was given by Paris Dupree, it was in Harlem on the 116th Street at this place called Mr Souls. The bail was called “April in Paris.”Thomas Baker decided that Kevin and Thomas should start their own house. In Kevin’s living room, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Thomas opened the dictionary looking for names. Thomas and Kevin heard the name Dupree, Princess, LaBeja, or Ebony. When Richard and Larry started the house of ebony in 1978 as a realness house they wanted Kevin to join. Although Kevin was a close friend to the house of Ebony, he knew he had to be a leader and make his own house. Thomas found the word “Omni” in the dictionary and saw that it meant “all.” Kevin liked the name and after much persistence, Thomas convinced Kevin to open the house of omni. In order to be a member of the Omni family you had to follow Kevin’s three rules:

1. You had to have an education or at least be going to school.

2. You had to have a job.

3. Most importantly you had to have a personality.

Kevin ‘Ultra Omni Burrus is a diamond icon pioneer of ballroom culture, an assistant director, prominent club-promoter, educator, and historian. In 1979, Kevin co-founded one of the first Brooklyn house—the worldwide pioneering house of Ultra Omni. While working on Wall Street, Kevin simultaneously became an icon in the underground ballroom culture. While the 1980s wore on, he devastatingly lost over 600 friends during the AIDS epidemic. It is from this lived experience and struggles of his community that he has remained a vocal advocate for people living with HIV/AIDS. As a direct response to the devastating loss of a generation of peers, Kevin collaborated on the first ballroom AIDS-fundraiser, the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS’ Love Ball, and later established the “Kevin Ultra Omni Memorial Burial Fund,” which have provided members of the ballroom culture with their right to a dignified burial. Kevin Ultra Omni Burrus’ legacy outside of the ballroom scene includes being a noted club promoter to countless historic New York City clubs such as Better Days, Escuelitas, Club Studio 54, Sound Factory Bar, and many more. Burrus’ legacy has remained critical of the non-profit industrial complex and outside exploitation of ballroom culture. As an educator he has sat on the board of the Harlem Arts Council, and New York City’s Black Pride. He was assistant director and producer of the 2006 documentary How Do I Look with filmmaker Wolfgang Busch which provides a central documentary from the pioneers of the house-structured ballroom culture that provides a humanizing and accurate view of ballroom culture. Kevin Ultra Omni Burrus has single-handedly created a comprehensive timeline of ballroom culture online via his “Harlem’s Historic Ballroom Culture” project.

Today, almost forty-five years after opening his house, Kevin and Ultra Omni syndicated have sustained the ballroom scene spread ballroom and voguing culture globally. Kevin Ultra Omni has remained a key source to historians (Tim Lawrence and Marlon Bailey), journalists (New York Times, The Village Voice, Vibe Magazine), television (MTV News, LOGO TV, and the BBC), and educated new members of the ballroom scene. He has also collaborated with countless artists such as Lil Kim, Kevin Aviance, DJ Red Alert, Ultra Nate, and Rochelle Flemming. In this moment, while the ballroom scene’s influence is everywhere, Kevin Ultra Omni, the foremost educator on ballroom culture, has remained a beacon of knowledge, strength, and, of course, style.

Host or Publisher The House of Ultra Omni