Striking a pose at the Met

There was nary an Old Master in sight at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Battle of the Legends, held outside the Fifth Avenue entrance as part of the museum’s Pride month celebrations in June, and as an extension of the Costume Institute show, Camp: Notes on Fashion (until 8 September). The artists were instead masters of vogueing, a dance style that emerged from the 1980s drag balls of Harlem. After fierce entrances in equally fierce outfits, deep dips, twirls and three rounds of one-one-one vogue-offs, Malik Mugler won the Legend Slayer and grand prize trophies among the six participants. The judges were just as legendary, including the choreographer Jose Xtravaganza and Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who shook off her usual frosty demeanour and wore a megawatt smile to throw out perfect tens to the performers like beads on Mardi Gras.