Escuelita

301 W. 39th Street
New York, NY 10018

This legendary Midtown club is a unique venue that perpetuates the art of drag and gender-illusion performance. Escuelita is in essence a Latin club, but it draws an extremely mixed crowd of girls, boys and everything in between, coming from all 5 boroughs and even further. All genders and sexualities are represented, and the crowd is a colorful mix of tasty trannies, homo-thugs, papi-chulos, white kids, fem-queens and baby dykes, and all other possible shades of the rainbow. This delightful and poly-sexual mix of characters congregates in the hallowed basement of Escuelita to party and enjoy the divine and outrageous shows that punctuate the night. The music ranges from house to hip-hop, with some salsa, freestyle and reggaeton thrown in the mix. Sexy Latin and black go-go studs shake it off on the boxes, and also battle in the famous Sunday go-go boy contest to seduce the audience and win a cash prize.

On Thursdays takes place the party "Traxx", supposedly catering to tough guys and homo-thugs. The big show night is Saturday, hosted by the divine Latina diva Angel Sheridan. Showtime is a 2 am, and starts with the a little comedy moment courtesy of Angel Sheridan. With her bitchy antics and witty rants, she delights the crowds with her cunty realness. After her stint, she then gives way to the fabulous spectacle of gender illusion, performed by Escuelita’s own "Diamond Doll’s". These mesmerizing creatures perform a series of dancing and singing numbers, gracing the stage with their polished and carefully crafted expression of femininity. At their best, these shows alternatively convey a sense of burlesque comedy, and of poignant drama. The actresses of this spectacle display a wonderful craftsmanship in their art of gender illusion, to which Escuelita is the ultimate sanctuary.

Sundays at Escuelita are home to Harmonica Sunbeam long running T-Dance, co-hosted with the fierce black diva Sugapie Koko. Harmonica and Koko spend the evening kikiing and throwing shade at each other, performing all sorts of dancing and singing, hosing the traditional go-go boy contest , and most importantly, collecting dollar bills for their hysterical rants and over the top antics. Once a month, the T-Dance is followed by an authentic drag ball, where the children congregate to compete in various battles of runway dancing, vogueing, gender-bending impersonation and other "realness" contests.

Pictures from Escuelita

Escuelita: New York's legendary latin gay club

A New York institution, Escuelita is the quintessential latin gay club, featuring all the ingredients emblematic of this sub-culture: outrageous drag shows, an eclectic mix salsa, merengue and tribal house, hunky horse-hung exotic dancers in net briefs, and sexy papis chulos sporting the latest urban fashion bumping and grinding on the dance floor.