Set in the 80s amid the height of ball culture, Blanca, a “child” of the popular and prominent “House of Abundance” is inspired to become her own house mother after she learns she’s HIV positive. The news of her impending departure goes over poorly with her current “mother” Elektra Abundance, and becomes the boiling point for Blanca, who feels Elektra has been ignoring her contributions for weeks.

Following Blanca’s departure, she meets Damon, a homeless black gay boy with dreams of becoming a professional dancer. Damon becomes the first member of Blanca’s new house, and Blanca helps him fill out an application to The New School for Dance. But when he reveals he failed to submit it by the deadline, Blanca takes him back down to the school and gets him an on the spot audition. Stunning the judges, he earns a spot in the fall class.

Angel, yet another former member of the House of Abundance and a sex worker, is having a rough time after an encounter with a white married man who she finds herself falling for – despite the fact that he says he’ll never leave his wife. Yearning to be treated as the woman she is and not someone who has to be hidden, Angel leaves Abundance to join Blanca’s new house, with her strict but caring rules a new, stronger sense of family.

At the House of Evangelista’s debut, against non-other than the House of Abundance, Blanca and her children score impressively. But it’s not quite enough to beat Abundance, leaving them eager to try again.