House of Harmony creates space for underrepresented artists

Last semester, two strangers submitted nearly identical pitches for the Dream Initiative, an opportunity to produce an original event at USC. Sean Guzmán, a junior majoring in cinema and media studies, and Martín Aguirre Lanner, a senior majoring in business administration as well as theatre, existed in different worlds with the same dream.

Their paths aligned when the executive director of the Undergraduate Student Government’s performing arts committee suggested they meet to discuss their visions for bringing “a night of underrepresented art” to campus. They instantly clicked over a cup of coffee, and House of Harmony was born.

“House of Harmony is essentially an interdisciplinary arts performance slash experience for blending fashion, music, film and dance to examine the notion of existence as resistance,” Guzmán said.

United thematically, multiple artistic mediums intersect unexpectedly, working together to push back against traditional notions of performance.

“House of Harmony is a performance that at least aims to resemble the experience of what it’s like to resist the marginalization of your identity while also finding empowerment through it,” Aguirre Lanner said.

Guzmán and Aguirre Lanner share a love for Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour and a desire to produce a similar event inspired by ballroom culture. They aim to highlight underrepresented artists in a fun environment and safe space that brings people together through creative expression.

“I loved the idea that at the Renaissance Tour, there was an outlet for queer people to just, like, have fun, dance and experience all their culture on such a large scale. And so I wanted something like that at USC,” Guzmán said.

As co-creative directors, Guzmán and Aguirre Lanner hope to make a similar impact that outlasts the one-night-only event.

“The biggest thing we look up to in [Beyoncé] as an artist is just her ability to bring in these underrepresented voices or misrepresented ideas and concepts of Black culture,” Aguirre Lanner said.

It’s more than mere coincidence that the pair had separately been envisioning similar events. In identifying their shared experiences, Guzmán and Aguirre Lanner realized there was a wider demand for the promotion of underrepresented artists. Ultimately, their strong vision for the spaces that still needed to be created at USC guided the project.

“I feel that House of Harmony is my home away from home. And that’s because the reason I became an artist, the reason I love art, is because I get to tell stories that are usually not told by people who look like me. And with this event, I’m able to invite people into the space to do exactly that,” Guzmán said. 

Guzmán and Aguirre Lanner have laid the groundwork for not only a new kind of event but a multidisciplinary mosaic of conceptually connected creatives.

“I really wanted to give people the opportunity to create something that was near and dear to them. And so by having those three different phases, people are able to pick one that they feel aligns with them the most,” Guzmán said.

Quincy Bowie Jr., a senior majoring in journalism, will present his film titled “Susurration” at House of Harmony during the resistance phase. The film explores how “the whispers that represent external pressures and literal whispers of people from the South” impact the experience of coming into one’s queerness, based on his own experience as a Black American growing up in the Deep South.

“The idea of resistance, the concept of resistance, somehow, some way, it also doesn’t have any dialogue. So I wanted to really lean into a sense of visual storytelling, something that transcends language, I hope, and it’s really able to connect with the most human part of a person,” Bowie Jr. said.

The artists of House of Harmony are bringing their whole hearts to their projects, amping up for a refreshing performance experience in November. Discovery, resistance and rebirth are not only phases of the show but feelings that emanate throughout the event as it exceeds expectations of what a performance looks like.

“I hope that people watch it and they understand that we are interested in paying homage to the legacy of Black and Latina, queer and trans individuals that have paved the way for us to be able to create projects like this, but also that we’re interested in continuing to push that legacy forward,” Bowie Jr. said.

House of Harmony is set to leave its mark, inspiring a new renaissance on campus.

“Everything we do in a society that oppresses us is a form of liberation for us, right? Like even just existing is a reminder to those oppressive forces that we are not going to be oppressed, right? We’re still here,” Aguirre Lanner said.

House of Harmony will take place at Tutor Campus Center Ballroom at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 22. Registration will be available online via EngageSC or at the door.

Quincy Bowie Jr. formerly served as video editor at the Daily Trojan in Fall 2023. Bowie Jr. is no longer affiliated with this paper.