February 19-21  |  Starting at $25

Smoke & VErse:

THe Moulin Noir Ballroom Weekend

What to Expect

February 19–21, 2027 • Kansas City, Missouri

Harlem never ended.

Smoke & Verse is a three-day Ballroom cultural weekend honoring the brilliance, rebellion, fashion, literature, nightlife, movement, and Black queer imagination of the Harlem Renaissance — while asking what that legacy looks like now.

Presented by the Haus of Moulin Noir, the weekend brings together Ballroom elders, leaders, artists, families, competitors, and community for education, celebration, competition, and collective gathering.

FRIDAY • FEBRUARY 19

THE LEADERS’ TABLE

An intimate opening-night cocktail dinner honoring the people who carry Ballroom culture forward.

Pioneers. Icons. Legends. Overall leaders. Mothers. Fathers. Community builders.

A night for conversation, relationship-building, remembrance, and vision before the floor opens.

7:00 PM

THE WEEKEND

SATURDAY • FEBRUARY 20

BALLROOM EDUCATION + CULTURAL WORKSHOPS

Before we compete, we learn.

Smoke & Verse begins Saturday with a full day of workshops designed to strengthen Ballroom knowledge, artistry, technique, and cultural preservation.

Sessions include:

Ballroom 101 • Ballroom History • Commentating • Runway • Fashion • Face • Realness • Body & Sex Siren • Bizarre • Vogue Femme • Old Way • New Way • Hands Performance • Women in Ballroom

The day also includes an Elders Panel and community lunch, creating space for intergenerational knowledge to move across the room.

Workshops: 10:00 AM–3:00 PM

SATURDAY NIGHT

SMOKE & VERSE: THE MOULIN NOIR BALL

Black queer artists still own the night. Poets are celebrities. Ballroom houses sit front row at fashion week. Harlem dandies walk red carpets. Josephine Baker has descendants on every stage. Vogue lives beside jazz, gospel, couture, literature, photography, and protest.

Tonight, you are not recreating Harlem.

You are showing us what Harlem became.

Every category is exceptional.

Historical reference alone will not carry you. Interpretation, execution, fashion, presentation, and Ballroom excellence matter.

Reference is not enough. Elevate it.

Doors: 4:00 PM
LSS: 6:00 PM
First Category: 6:30 PM

GRAND PRIZES • FASHION • PERFORMANCE • REALNESS • FACE • BODY • SEX SIREN • BIZARRE • SPOKEN WORD •

View All categories

SUNDAY • FEBRUARY 21

THE HARLEM SUNDAY SOCIAL

FAMILY GATHERING BRUNCH + KIKI BALL

Yesterday we made history.

Today we gather.

The Smoke & Verse weekend closes around the table with food, music, family, laughter, and the next generation of Ballroom.

Hosted by The Blindian Table and Korea’s Seoul Kitchen, the Harlem Sunday Social combines a family-style brunch with a Kiki Ball for competitors 30 and under.

KIKI CATEGORIES

OTA Runway — Sunday Best • $300
OTA Performance — The Sunday Cypher • $300 and more…

Come eat. Come fellowship. Come battle. Come home.

KIKI Categories

  • Our weekend invests in the entire ecosystem: competitors, elders, emerging artists, commentators, designers, educators, houses, young people, and community. Education happens before the ball. Community happens after it. And the floor becomes the place where everything we have learned, survived, inherited, and imagined comes alive.

    BALL IS CULTURE

TICKETS AND WEEKEND PASSES

  • $30

  • $10 for Ball community

    $25 for everyone else

  • COMMUNITY PASS • $25

    General admission to the Smoke & Verse Ball for ballroom members and BIPOC community

    Come experience the floor, the fashion, the battles, and the culture.

    VIP • $80

    Priority Entry • Reserved Table Seating

    Skip the general admission line with priority entry and enjoy reserved table seating located toward the back of the ballroom.

    Includes:

    • Priority entry

    • Reserved table seating

    PLATINUM VIP • $100

    Priority Entry • Premium Seating • Wine + Charcuterie

    Get closer to the floor and experience Smoke & Verse with elevated hospitality.

    Includes:

    • Priority entry

    • Closer reserved seating

    • Charcuterie

    • Bottle of wine

    COME AS A HOUSE

    HOUSE TABLE • $600

    8 Seats

    Bring your Haus and experience the ball together.

    Your reserved House Table gives your group a dedicated home base for the night while keeping your people together throughout the ball.

    Includes:

    • Reserved table for 8

    • Priority entry

    • 8 reserved seats

    [RESERVE A HOUSE TABLE]

    THE PREMIUM TABLE EXPERIENCE

    SPONSOR TABLE • $1,500

    8 Seats • Near the Judges

    Put your organization, business, Haus, or chosen family at the center of the experience.

    Sponsor Tables are positioned near the judges and the action, offering one of the best views of the floor.

    Includes:

    • Premium table for 8

    • Seating near the judges

    • Priority entry for all 8 guests

    • Charcuterie

    • Wine

    • Sponsor recognition

  • KIKI ENTRY • $25

    Admission to the Sunday Family Kiki.

    KIKI + BRUNCH • $50

    Admission to the Kiki plus the Family Gathering Brunch.

    KIKI + BRUNCH+BOTTOMLESS MIMOSAS • $60

    KIKI + BRUNCH + TABLE for 8 • $350

  • WEEKEND GA • $100

    Saturday Workshops Smoke & Verse Ball
    Sunday Family Kiki
    Family Gathering Brunch

    WEEKEND VIP • $250

    Saturday Workshops VIP Smoke & Verse Ball experience
    Sunday Family Kiki
    Family Gathering Brunch

    WEEKEND PLATINUM VIP • $300

    Saturday Workshops Platinum VIP Smoke & Verse Ball experience
    Sunday Family Kiki
    Family Gathering Brunch
    Bottomless mimosas during brunch

Ballroom deserves infrastructure for what happens beyond the floor.

Throughout the weekend, Moulin Noir will create intentional opportunities to talk about conflict, accountability, harm, leadership, community care, and how we build healthier Ballroom spaces without abandoning the culture that made us.

We believe preservation means protecting our history and building the Ballroom our people deserve next.

Sponsor smoke and verse