NYCe
09-07-2006, 06:25 AM
I met him once. Very nice guy
Willi Ninja, 45, Self-Created Star Who Made Vogueing Into an Art, Dies
By LOLA OGUNNAIKE
Published: September 6, 2006
Willi Ninja, known as the Grandfather of Vogue, a dance form that he helped move from the New York club scene of the 1980’s to the concert stage, died on Saturday in Queens. He was 45.
Willi Ninja, self-described “butch queen” and master of the pose.
The cause was AIDS-related heart failure, said Archie Burnett, a close friend.
Vogueing — with its angular body movements, exaggerated model poses and intricate mimelike choreography — and the colorful characters who populated Willi Ninja’s world were introduced to the public at large by “Paris Is Burning,” the award-winning 1990 documentary about New York’s drag vogue-ball scene. Later in his career, Willi Ninja also performed in works by postmodern choreographers including Doug Elkins, David Neuman and Karole Armitage.
Vogueing had been around for years, but Willi Ninja brought it to a level of visibility and perfection in performance that no one had ever reached before, said Sally Sommer, a professor of dance at Florida State University.
“He was tall man, about 6-3,” she said, “and God gave him the biggest, broadest dance shoulders in the world, so when he would do those things with his arms it was just so impressive.”
Willi Ninja is featured in Ms. Sommer’s documentary, “Check Your Body at the Door,” now in production.
William R. Leake was born in Queens on April 12, 1961, and grew up in Flushing. He began dancing at 7. By the early 1980’s he was vogueing in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village and at drag balls throughout Harlem. He prided himself on being a clean, sharp dancer, with swiftly moving arms and hands, and he was deeply inspired by the martial arts — hence his adopted name, Ninja.
As the “mother” of the House of Ninja — part dance troupe, part surrogate family — he became a New York celebrity, known as much for his quick wit and sharp tongue as for his darting limbs. His ensembles — a coat made of braided synthetic hair, a suit jacket with a skirt and Doc Marten boots — also turned heads wherever he went: “severe” is the word.
An androgynous, self-described “butch queen,” Willi Ninja taught vogueing throughout Europe and Japan, modeled in runway shows for the fashion designers Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler and danced in music videos.
He also taught models how to strut, giving stars like Naomi Campbell pointers early in their careers. Most recently, he worked with the socialite Paris Hilton, whose red carpet sashay has since become her signature.
In 2004, he opened a modeling agency, EON (Elements of Ninja), but he never gave up dancing, appearing on televisions series like “America’s Next Top Model” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and dropping in at local clubs.
“If he saw someone doing something on the dance floor that he loved, he’d walk up to them and say, ‘Oooh, child, you are fierce,’ ” his friend Mr. Burnett recalled. “That was one of his highest compliments.”
Willi Ninja is survived by his mother, Esther Leake of Queens.
Willi Ninja, 45, Self-Created Star Who Made Vogueing Into an Art, Dies
By LOLA OGUNNAIKE
Published: September 6, 2006
Willi Ninja, known as the Grandfather of Vogue, a dance form that he helped move from the New York club scene of the 1980’s to the concert stage, died on Saturday in Queens. He was 45.
Willi Ninja, self-described “butch queen” and master of the pose.
The cause was AIDS-related heart failure, said Archie Burnett, a close friend.
Vogueing — with its angular body movements, exaggerated model poses and intricate mimelike choreography — and the colorful characters who populated Willi Ninja’s world were introduced to the public at large by “Paris Is Burning,” the award-winning 1990 documentary about New York’s drag vogue-ball scene. Later in his career, Willi Ninja also performed in works by postmodern choreographers including Doug Elkins, David Neuman and Karole Armitage.
Vogueing had been around for years, but Willi Ninja brought it to a level of visibility and perfection in performance that no one had ever reached before, said Sally Sommer, a professor of dance at Florida State University.
“He was tall man, about 6-3,” she said, “and God gave him the biggest, broadest dance shoulders in the world, so when he would do those things with his arms it was just so impressive.”
Willi Ninja is featured in Ms. Sommer’s documentary, “Check Your Body at the Door,” now in production.
William R. Leake was born in Queens on April 12, 1961, and grew up in Flushing. He began dancing at 7. By the early 1980’s he was vogueing in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village and at drag balls throughout Harlem. He prided himself on being a clean, sharp dancer, with swiftly moving arms and hands, and he was deeply inspired by the martial arts — hence his adopted name, Ninja.
As the “mother” of the House of Ninja — part dance troupe, part surrogate family — he became a New York celebrity, known as much for his quick wit and sharp tongue as for his darting limbs. His ensembles — a coat made of braided synthetic hair, a suit jacket with a skirt and Doc Marten boots — also turned heads wherever he went: “severe” is the word.
An androgynous, self-described “butch queen,” Willi Ninja taught vogueing throughout Europe and Japan, modeled in runway shows for the fashion designers Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler and danced in music videos.
He also taught models how to strut, giving stars like Naomi Campbell pointers early in their careers. Most recently, he worked with the socialite Paris Hilton, whose red carpet sashay has since become her signature.
In 2004, he opened a modeling agency, EON (Elements of Ninja), but he never gave up dancing, appearing on televisions series like “America’s Next Top Model” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and dropping in at local clubs.
“If he saw someone doing something on the dance floor that he loved, he’d walk up to them and say, ‘Oooh, child, you are fierce,’ ” his friend Mr. Burnett recalled. “That was one of his highest compliments.”
Willi Ninja is survived by his mother, Esther Leake of Queens.