Willi Ninja
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
dancer and choreographer best known for his appearance in the documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Paris is Burning
Paris is Burning (film)
Paris Is Burning is a 1990 documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, it chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the African American, Latino, gay and transgender communities involved in it...
.
Ninja, who was gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, was a fixture of ball culture
Ball culture
Ball culture, the house system, the ballroom community and similar terms describe the underground LGBT subculture in the United States in which people "walk" for trophies and prizes at events known as balls. Those who walk often also dance and vogue while others compete in various genres of drag...
at Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
's drag balls who took inspiration from sources as far-flung as Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
and the world of haute couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
to develop a unique style of dance and movement. He caught the attention of Paris is Burning director Jennie Livingston, who featured Ninja prominently in the film. The film, a critical and box office success, served as a springboard for Ninja. He parlayed his appearance into performances with a number of dance troupes and choreography gigs. His style served as an inspiration to Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, who immortalized it in her 1990 hit song and music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
"Vogue." He also starred in the earlier music video for Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...
's "Deep in Vogue
Deep in Vogue
"Deep in Vogue" is a 1989 dance single by Malcolm McLaren and the Bootzilla Orchestra featuring Lourdes and Willie Ninja. The song was lifted from his fourth album Waltz Darling. The single was McLaren's fourth entry on the dance play charts and his only number one. "Deep in Vogue" was number one...
".
Early life
Born William Roscoe Leake in Middletown, New YorkMiddletown, New York
Middletown is the name of two separate places located in the U.S. state of New York:*Middletown, Delaware County, New York, a town*Middletown, Orange County, New York, a city...
, Willi was a self-taught dancer and was perfecting his vogueing
Vogue (dance)
Vogue or voguing is a highly stylized, modern house dance that evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene in the 1960s. It gained mainstream exposure when it was featured in Madonna's song and video "Vogue" , and when showcased in the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning...
style by his twenties. It was from fellow voguers in Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
that Jennie Livingston first heard his name. While he didn't create the form, he worked at refining it with clean, sharp movements to "an amazing level". His influences included Fred Astaire, olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
gymnasts, and Asian culture.
Career
He participated in Harlem's drag balls with "children" from his House of Ninja. Like other ball "houses", HoN was sort of a combination of extended social family and dance troupe with Ninja as its Mother. Willi was a featured dancer in many music videos including Malcolm McLarenMalcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...
's "Deep in Vogue
Deep in Vogue
"Deep in Vogue" is a 1989 dance single by Malcolm McLaren and the Bootzilla Orchestra featuring Lourdes and Willie Ninja. The song was lifted from his fourth album Waltz Darling. The single was McLaren's fourth entry on the dance play charts and his only number one. "Deep in Vogue" was number one...
" and "I Can't Get No Sleep" by Masters At Work
Masters At Work
Masters at Work is the house/garage production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. They first worked together using the name, which had been given to them by mutual friend Todd Terry , in 1990...
featuring India
La India
La India , known also as "La Princesa de la Salsa" , is a singer of salsa. She has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy awards.-Early years:...
. In 1994, he released his single "Hot" (another Masters At Work production) on Nervous Records
Nervous Records (US)
Nervous Records is a New York City record label of underground house music and hip-hop, founded in 1991. Noted for early productions by notables including Armand Van Helden, Mood II Swing, Masters At Work and Josh Wink...
. Willi's later career included runway modeling for Jean-Paul Gaultier
Jean-Paul Gaultier
Jean Paul Gaultier , born 24 April 1952 in Arcueil, Val-de-Marne, France) is a French haute couture fashion designer. Gaultier was the creative director of Hermès from 2003 to 2010. In the past, he has hosted the television series Eurotrash....
, performing with dance companies under Karole Armitage
Karole Armitage
Karole Armitage is an American dancer and choreographer currently based in New York City. She is Artistic Director of Armitage Gone! Dance, a contemporary ballet company that performs several times annually in New York City as well as touring internationally...
, providing instruction to Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
on perfecting her walk. He opened a modeling agency, Elements of Ninja, in 2004, and made an appearance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show. Willi was also prominently featured in the 2006 documentary release How Do I Look
How Do I Look
How Do I Look is a LGBT Historic Art Documentary, released in 2006 as a documentary film directed by Wolfgang Busch, assistant directors are Kevin Omni and Luna Khan. Distributed by Art From The Heart; USA , 80 minutes...
directed by Wolfgang Busch
Wolfgang Busch
Wolfgang Busch, born on November 6th, 1955 in Heppenheim, Germany, is a humanitarian award winning documentary filmmaker, director, producer, cinematographer, editor and special events coordinator, and is also a social and artistic activist for the LGBT community who has used his skills to lead...
.
He was also well known for coining the position "The Ninja Deathstar"
Ninja died of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related heart failure in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on September 2, 2006, aged 45.