Leiomy Maldonado is a work in progress. Yes, this Afro-Puerto Rican has redefined what voguing is to the point where she has entered icon status as La Mujer Maravilla. And yes, she has become the embodiment of the liberation that is felt by the LGBTQ+ community within ballroom culture. Oh, there’s also the fact that she judged on shows like Legendary, did choreography for the hit FX series Pose, and walked in Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty show. But this model, transgender activist, and icon is not done or reached the end of the line when it comes to what she wants to do. In fact, she’s just beginning.
Maldonado sat down and shared what’s on the horizon in an interview with Remezcla. And when it comes to dreams, Maldonado wants to share how she got here. Because there’s a big difference between watching a video of her Voguing or reading an interview like this when she wants to tell her story herself. “I really want to work on writing a book about my journey and my life because not too many people know everything in detail.” But that’s not all when it comes to telling her story. She wants to put on a one-woman show.
“I’ve been talking about it for a very long time, but I feel like right now in my life, I’m so prepared for it,” Maldonado said, “It’s needed not only for me, but for my fans and for the people who are dying to see La Mujer Maravilla on the floor again.” And if given the chance, she wants to continue to evolve her relationship with the LGBTQ+ community and those who have supported her by starting her own Vogue school. “I want to have my own Vogue school straight up just voguing. That would be amazing. And to be able to have teachers that I feel like deserve to be teaching and that know what to do so we can eliminate the no-gers (non-Voguers) in the world.”
Teaching Voguing isn’t enough for Maldonado either. Because this craft is about more than moves. It’s about imbuing her students with strengths she’s gained along her journey or lessons she’s learned. And this is especially true for the transgender community, who are consistently written off or demonized in this day and age. “For me, I love to teach people how to be confident, and it’s hard to teach someone to be confident, but I’ve learned that teaching people to be confident, it’s not a physical thing. It’s more so just living and showing people that no matter what you go through in life, as long as you believe in yourself and you’re confident in who you are and how you want to portray yourself to the world, that’s enough.”
Hand in hand with confidence is being true to yourself.
In this tech-savvy day and age, social media is the name of the game. Everyone is seemingly sharing how happy they are or the big wins they’re achieving in life with every post or story. And it’s simply not true. “A lot of times social media, the lives that people portray on social media and the things that they claim to live, it makes people feel like their life is not worthy or they’re not doing enough.” For Maldonado, it’s about teaching her students, and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, that you are more than enough. Because she’s not just carving out her own path. She’s helping others carve their own paths while, “reminding yourself where you came from and to remind yourself that you can be happy with having the things that you need in life and not the things that you want.”
It’s also important to remember to give yourself some grace as you climb these mountains in your career and face these challenges that will define or redefine who you are. Because even icons like Leiomy Maldonado need to take a break every once in a while before continuing to carve out their own path. “I’m just getting back into work,” Maldonado shared, “I actually took a whole year off of work. I lost my grandmother last year and I realized that I’ve been working so hard for such a long time and I needed just time for myself.”
One of Maldonado’s first big projects after her break from the industry was working with Meta as a partner in the It’s Your World Series. It’s a way to combine Maldonado’s passion for guiding the next generation with what Meta is known for aka connecting people from all over the world. And as a dancer, she feels like it’s pretty wild that her first big partnership after taking a break features a pair of glasses (Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses) that record her moves and share her experience from her perspective.
“For me, what has been groundbreaking is the fact that I can have them on and people get to see my movement through my eyes,” Maldonado explained. For the longest time, she’s felt like others have experienced her artistry through YouTube videos or a single camera focused on her. This new tech shakes things up and gives students or fans a different perspective on something that is part of La Mujer Maravilla of Vogue, “It’s such a different experience. Actually having the glasses on and seeing me dance full out with the glasses on. To me, that is so amazing. So I look forward to making that type of content.”
But again, Maldonado wants her fans, or anyone who is following a similar journey as hers, to give themselves some grace and feed their mental health as they’re putting themselves out there.
“I feel like a lot of times as artists, we’re always on the go. We’re always feeding the world because we want people to know that we are here for them,” Maldonado said, keen in her understanding that LGBTQ+ people like her know the importance of being unapologetically visible in 2023 and beyond. Nevertheless, she wants people to remember the importance of “sharing your happiness” alongside “your sadness as well.” Because this journey isn’t an easy one for those in our communities. And the only way we can make it, can carve out a path of our own is side by side and by being honest about who we are, warts and all.
