Kevin Aviance

Kevin Aviance (born Eric Snead on 1968 June 22 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American female impressionist, dance musician, and fashion designer. He is a very popular personality in New York City's gay scene and is a member of the House of Aviance, a local gay performer's group. He is known for his trademark phrase, "Work. Fierce. Over. Aviance!"

Kevin Aviance was raised in Richmond, Virginia, in a close-knit family with seven siblings. From a young age, Aviance dedicated himself to the study of music and theatre. Kevin’s career as a performance artist and club personality began in Washington DC, continued in Miami, and eventually landed him at the epicenter of the club and music scene: New York City. In 1989, the House of Aviance [1]was founded in Washington DC by Mother Juan Aviance. The House of Aviance currently reigns the club scene in NYC with DJ's Drag-Queens, singers, dancers, actors, visual artists, performance artists, set designers etc., some of whom make appearances with him around the world.

He has appeared in several films, including Flawless starring Robert De Niro and the independent film Punks. Besides his feature-film work he has made guest appearances on such shows as the The Tyra Banks Show, and America's Next Top Model, also hosted by Tyra Banks. His songs "Din Da Da,", "Rhythm Is My Bitch", "Alive,", "Give It Up" and 2006's, "Strut", have reached the top of the Billboard dance chart. His second album, "Entity" is a more consistent effort than his first but seems to be available online only.

On 2006 June 10 while exiting the Phoenix, a popular gay bar located in the East Village, Manhattan, he was robbed and beaten by a group of men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him. Four suspects were arrested under New York's hate-crime law, but reports say up to seven men were involved in the attack.[2] Despite suffering a broken jaw, he insisted on appearing in the city's gay pride parade later that month. [3]

On 2007 March 21 all four assailants pled guilty, receiving prison sentences ranging from 6 to 15 years in plea agreements that included hate crimes embellishments. The four young men, who range in age from 17 to 21 years old, had faced up to 25 years each for the attack, had they been found guilty in a trial. All had been charged with gang assault as a hate crime.[4]

Recently, Kevin appeared on the song This is New York City (Bitch!) by the tranny rap group, La'Mady from the album Jonny McGovern Presents: This is NYC, Bitch! The East Village Mixtape.

See also

• Ball culture
• list of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
• list of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

External links

• Kevin Aviance's Web Site
• Kevin Aviance at the Internet Movie Database
• News of the attack at www.wcbstv.com
• House of Aviance
• This is New York City (Bitch!) at CD Baby and iTunes

This article is based on a GNU FDL LGBT Wikia article: Aviance Kevin Aviance

LGBT