It is called ballroom, but there is no waltz or foxtrot.
The well-worn stage at The Tivoli, in the heart of Brisbane's nightclub precinct, is instead graced by performers in elaborate, gender-defying costumes as they battle it out for trophies, cash prizes, and most importantly, status.
With each category that passes the crowd's energy increases.
Instead of clapping, audience members click their fingers to show appreciation for the performers in dramatic costumes who twirl and pose during the runway category.
There are squeals of shock and delight when a contender in the best-dressed category delivers a scathing commentary on their adversary's outfit.
The electric atmosphere ratchets up until the final category: the show-stopping dance style "vogue femme" — for which there is a $1,000 prize.
At the climax of the dramatic final battle, the two dancers throw themselves onto the floor in a move called a dip, and then collapse into each other, catching their breath while the judges decide their fate.
Then it is over, and close to midnight, the attention of the hyped-up crowd falls to Ella Alexander, who walks to the floor to wrap up the night of fashion, performance and celebration, known as the Alexander Ball.
As she reaches the end of her address, she asks: "Can I get all the trans women of colour on the stage?"
It is a question that might be expected to go without much of an answer in any other scene, but in this room the response is uproarious, and soon the stage is full.
Ballroom is a subculture created by Black and Latina trans women in the 1950s as a response to the racism and transphobia of drag pageants.
The events have since become a haven for LGBT people of colour across the globe, including Brisbane since 2019.
The Alexander Ball is a showcase of what many performers in Brisbane's ballroom scene have been working towards for months.
It is a celebration of the strong community of LGBT people of colour that has been forged in the city's outer suburbs over years.
'100 per cent absolutely accepted. For everything'
At the head of that community are Ella Alexander and Joshua Alexander, the "house parents" of Brisbane's pioneering ballroom house, the House of Alexander.
Houses in ballroom are like teams, mimicking a family structure where the house's "siblings" are watched over by their "parents".
To signify membership, the house members adopt the house's name as their surname.
Rehearsals for the House of Alexander take place in a variety of locations across Brisbane's suburbs.
One house in Darra is close enough to the Ipswich motorway for the roar of cars to overpower conversation, but as the Alexanders begin to warm up, soon even the noise of the traffic has to fight to be heard over the high-energy, electric beats of ballroom tracks.
Father of the House of Alexander, Joshua Alexander, makes sure his family have food on the way and are settled before rehearsal begins.
The tension bleeds out of him the moment he starts to move, flowing into the mesmerising moves of vogue femme, a dance style characterised by exaggerated feminine movements that combine elements of ballet, jazz, street styles like hip-hop, and modern dance.
Vogue femme has five components, including hands performance, where dancers are encouraged to weave a story with their hand movements; the catwalk, where dancers use the swing of their hips to accentuate their femininity; and the most dramatic of the five, spins and dips, where dancers twirl across the stage and then drop to the floor.
Joshua performs all five with grace.
For him, what makes ballroom so important is the safe space it gives to LGBT people of colour.
"The people that come up through the community, they see themselves in us. Even if it's the smallest bit, that's enough to make a little seed grow into a big tree," he said.
"You can come in and be just realising you want to transition. I've met people who have transitioned and then de-transitioned. There's no worry in ballroom about that. You're allowed to.
"It creates an awareness too for the white queer community who do want to come and educate themselves. We've got everyone encouraging us.
"It's crazy being a First Nations man in the ballroom community and for once feeling 100 per cent absolutely accepted. For everything."
'Brisbane has a full-on ballroom scene now'
Neesha Alexander is one of the House of Alexander's Fem Queens – the ballroom term for trans women.
She's also the DJ on the night of the Alexander Ball, performing in a stunning floral gown as she works the turntables.
She remembers the first time she met Joshua Alexander.
"We used to live in the same suburb, Inala, and he'd see me walking down the road just voguing.
"He would tell me that he loves voguing as well and hoped for a ballroom scene here in Brisbane.
"Fast forward a few years later, Brisbane has a full-on ballroom scene now.
"A few people were asking, 'Where the hell has the House of Alexander come from?' We were always here. You just don't see us."
For her, one thing that makes ballroom important is giving not just visibility but protection to trans women.
"In the outside world, a trans woman would die and people just brush that off.
"In ballroom, everyone's name gets to live on forever."
