Leiomy Maldonado is frequently referred to as the "Wonder Woman of Vogue," and she's been instrumental in shaping the ballroom world as it is today, creating poses like the "Leiomy Lolly," which have been adopted by the likes of Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. She was the first openly trans performer on MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew" and has served as a model in various campaigns. She also choreographed the show "Pose" and is currently a judge on the voguing competition show "Legendary" alongside Keke Palmer, Jameela Jamil, and Law Roach.
For 35-year-old Maldonado, who hails from the Bronx, NY, voguing was a way to process her emotions and connect with an invaluable support system. "When I first saw voguing, I was immediately intrigued with it," she tells POPSUGAR in a recent interview. "It was just the energy and just the emotion that I saw behind the person that was actually voguing who ended up becoming my first mentor, and I just realized right there and then that voguing would be the best way for me to express any feelings I had."
Over the years, she's shifted her focus from dancing to teaching and choreography, which allows her to "[help] people build confidence through dancing and [show] different people that no matter what body type you have or if you're flexible or not, you can actually do it," she said. As a judge on "Legendary," she looks for confidence, chemistry between families, and personality.
Recently, Maldonado appeared on an episode of "Are You Listening?" where she spoke about her process of leaving her family and finding her own chosen family in the LGBTQ+ community. "For me, chosen family means that you get to choose who is your blood. You get to choose those people that are going to be a part of your life and be something good, like positive role models," she says of the community she discovered in the voguing world.
Despite the fierce competition inherent in ballroom — which is why she doesn't compete anymore — voguing has helped her through the struggle of achieving her dreams. "I've been homeless, I've been in places where I wanted to give up on life and give up on my career, and I can truly say that today, I have basically everything that I want and need and I'm OK with that," she says. "I feel blessed."
