The sheer physicality and body autonomy powering, let’s say, a drop or duckwalk, is undebatable. Honey Balenciaga, the Honduran-Puerto Rican ballroom extraordinaire who made a name for herself starring in 2021’s second season of Legendary and performing alongside Beyonce during last year’s Renaissance World Tour, makes it look easy. Hypebeast captures the starlet behind the scenes in a custom photoshoot featuring Samsung’s innovative Galaxy Ring and Galaxy Z Flip6. A quick flash of her readings collected from the ring’s biodata showcases the full scope of this athleticism, as she fiercely commands the floor and moves with an outright disregard for the laws of gravity. It’s clear by her spiking heart rate and oxygen levels, she’s breaking a sweat in the most elegant way possible.
As if sent by the stars, Honey Balenciaga shines — she’s a natural conversationalist, vivacious and so wonderfully embodied that you too can’t help but feel emboldened by the act of breathing. Her unbridled sense of confidence was first nurtured in the ballroom scene, an underground subculture founded by Black and Latino communities as early as the 1970s. Ball culture is celebration as protest, gender as performance and a reclamation of the life force behind New York’s LGBTQ+ communities and the voices of those historically ostracized by mainstream culture.
When Honey began her career in ballroom in 2017, it birthed her anew. “Ballroom inspired me to vogue, to be my most authentic self and create this diva persona that I evoke. But it also compelled me to enter other fields of creativity and realize I can be more than one thing in the industry. Part of it is being surrounded by all these amazing people who inspire me to step out of my comfort zone.”
Surrounded by her PR, hair and makeup team, this star power is on full display as she glides from the studio set to grab a quick bite and back to the makeshift metallic stage, where she performs 360 spins and acrobatic vogue routines as if made of silk. Throughout the day she mingles and makes sassy quips about her energy score and active calories burned, joking that serving a fierce look is her preferred form of fitness. Not only does the sleek ring blend seamlessly with her chrome nail art, it provides accurate wellness readings on her sleep patterns, skin temperature, steps and more, allowing her to create a comprehensive overview of her daily health.
“I’m very grateful for my time in LA. I think that I was able to find myself, find who I am, find what I love, and find what doesn’t work for me at the moment.” When the native Brooklynite relocated to Los Angeles at 18, her friendships catalyzed a formative period of self-growth and exploration, providing her with the tools and inner strength to unpack her experiences with body and gender dysmorphia while igniting a love for high fashion and all things glamorous. Having cemented her style DNA and embraced a chosen family in the fashion industry, she refuses to look back. “Now, I feel so comfortable with who I am that it’s just natural to me. I’m going to the grocery store to get a BEC with turkey bacon, vinegar and pepper looking fabulous in my high heels.”
Back in the Big Apple, aged 23, Honey explores creative avenues outside of ball culture, including ventures into music and fashion design. She envisions a line of shoes created for dancers, a possible stunt on Broadway to reconnect with her original love, theater, and a series of balls that spotlight new performers entering the fore.
“You have to be able to advocate for your community in a proper way that’s not taking advantage of your community. If a brand wants to throw a ball with me, it goes back to the community. Someone who needs that money could walk away with a $5,000 grand prize. That type of money can change someone’s life.”
When asked if other artists on her radar show out for the culture, outside of Beyonce and her muse, queen of artifice Lady Gaga, Honey immediately thinks of one lady in particular. “Victoria Monet. I think she is such a thoughtful woman. She is very kind. She went to a ball in LA and got her LSS. She advocates for dancers, advocates for our community. She wants to learn more and more about it.” Honey also mentions a fellow ballroom idol dominating the fashion sphere, Dominican American designer Raul Lopez, founder and creative director of LUAR. “He did fashion categories, but he was also a spectator, someone that was just around the ball and girls. He was at my birthday ball voguing down in the back. Everyone was like, ‘What girl? We didn’t know you could do that.’”
For Honey, it starts with these memories and friendships. LA was the inception of a new persona, a new era, but she’s back in her land with the girls who matter most. “LA was slow. Some things are just too slow and some things are just too fast. In New York, I get to take my time and do whatever I want, meet in the middle, then dance all night.”
Surely by her energy levels collected from the Galaxy Ring, if anyone has earned a night’s sleep, it’s Miss Honey. Watch the fashionista showcase her arsenal of skills in the video and galleries above. Learn more about the Galaxy Ring and Galaxy Z Flip6 by visiting Samsung’s website.