‘Pose’ has a ball as it re-creates ’80s LGBT scene

Each competition on “Pose” — the boisterous, resplendent FX drama of the 1980s ball scene — begins with a ritual phrase from Pray Tell (Billy Porter), the emcee: “The category is ...”

That category — the theme to which teams dress, strut and, yes, pose — might be, say, royalty, the military or “Dynasty.”

The categories are both a competitive challenge and a way to claim social spaces from which the catwalking combatants — gay and transgender, black and Hispanic — have been excluded.

“Pose,” which began Sunday, is itself a space-claiming project.

Viewers today might recognize the “category is” phrase from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” — or know the slang, if not its provenance. But “Pose” puts its characters, subculture and history at stage center.

Ryan Murphy — a co-creator, with Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals — was assiduous about hiring transgender actors and creative staff, including the author Janet Mock and Our Lady J (“Transparent”) as producers and writers.

“Pose” wears its purpose confidently but lightly. Yes, it’s a story of struggle — the AIDS crisis is a constant shadow — but it spotlights its characters’ aspirations. The show is sincere, buoyant and fun, stunningly designed and mindful that a show about balls — in which participants are judged on attire, attitude or dance skills — should be capable of having one.

At the series’ heart is an underdog story.

Blanca (Mj Rodriguez) breaks away from the imperious ball legend Elektra (Dominique Jackson), mother of the House of Abundance, to form her own house, At a glance • “Pose” can be viewed at 9 p.m. Sundays on FX.

which she christens the House of Evangelista.

A “house” is both a team and a home, and Blanca assembles misfits and castoffs in her apartment and forms an especially maternal bond with Damon (Ryan Jamaal Swain), a gay teenager and aspiring classical dancer who was kicked out of his home.

At the show’s periphery is a familiar story of greed-is-good-era New York City, with a 2018 hook. Stan (Evan Peters), a social-climbing young businessman from New Jersey, lands a job with, yes, the Trump Organization. The company’s celebrity leader is spoken of but not seen.

Stan’s boss, Matt (James Van Der Beek), personifies the age’s conspicuous consumption and velociraptor aggression.

The two worlds connect when Stan falls for Angel (Indya Moore), a prostitute and house member. They begin a long-term affair even as he and his wife, Patty (Kate Mara), build an overspent life in the suburbs; Stan’s life, too, is about the cultivation of appearances.

“Realness” is a recurring theme in “Pose.”

Elektra uses authenticity as a cudgel with Blanca, whom she insults for not “passing” well enough. A later episode centers on the pressure to get often-dangerous augmentations and injections.

But “Pose” is broadly empathetic and nonjudgmental. Like its characters, who sift through a larger culture’s looks and iconography to create a custom-fit expression, the show produces a hybrid — an old-fashioned story of surrogate family and putting on a show, remixed into something novel.