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Ninja started the House of Ninja in 1982, despite not having been part of a house previously or winning three grand prizes, which was generally seen as a requirement to start a house. The name Ninja came from the house's Asian and martial arts influences, coupled with the fact that people in the
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He participated in Harlem's drag balls with "children" from his House of Ninja. Like other ball houses, the House of Ninja was a combination of extended social family and dance troupe, with Ninja as its Mother. He taught his children late into the night on the old
193:, Willi was a self-taught dancer and was perfecting his voguing style by his twenties. Willi was born to a black mother and was of mixed racial ancestry, claiming to have Irish, Cherokee, and Asian ancestors. It was from fellow voguers in
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Since his death, he has been a figure in art and music DJs. Ninja is also a figure in LGBTQ studies, gender studies, and performance studies for his nonconforming and transgressive gender expression as an artist.
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ballroom scene did not know who they were. The House of Ninja had a reputation for being multiracial. Except for the Latino House of
Xtravaganza, most houses at the time were African-American.
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that Jennie
Livingston first heard his name. While he did not create the form, he worked at refining it with clean, sharp movements to "an amazing level". His influences included
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159:. The film served as a springboard for Ninja. He parlayed his appearance into performances with a number of dance troupes and choreography gigs.
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also starred. In the episode, the cast talked about the docufilm and encouraged audience members to "walk" as if a participant at a
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on perfecting her walk. He opened a modeling agency, Elements of Ninja, in 2004, and made an appearance on
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Ninja starred in a handful of films and television series. On August 8, 1991, he was a guest on
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623:"Willi Ninja, 45, Self-Created Star Who Made Vogueing Into an Art, Dies"
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685:"Strictly ballroom: The vampy, campy voguing scene is having a revival"
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Voguing: Voguing and the House
Ballroom Scene of New York City 1989-92
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to develop a style of dance and movement. He caught the attention of
576:"All you need to know about the 'Godfather of Voguing', Willi Ninja"
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as a dancer. Ninja also appeared posthumously in 2012 documentary,
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and used a wheelchair. Her trips with Ninja to the ballet and the
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Ninja worked hard to care for his mother, Esther Leake, who had
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267:. Ninja was also prominently featured in the 1990 documentary
114:(April 12, 1961 – September 2, 2006), better known as
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Ninja was a featured dancer in many music videos including
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527:"Who is Willi Ninja and In How Many Movies He Had Worked?"
249:. Ninja's later career included runway modeling for
332:were inspiration for his later endeavors in dance.
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177:community who died of AIDS complications in 2006.
122:known for his appearance in the documentary film
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816:People from Middletown, Orange County, New York
162:In 1989, Ninja starred in the music video for
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16:American dancer and choreographer (1961–2006)
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469:Regnault, Chantal; Lawrence, Tim (2011).
383:. In the same year, Ninja starred in the
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655:Limnander, Armand (18 February 2009).
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473:. London: Soul Jazz Books. p. 5.
439:List of LGBT people from New York City
301:", whose remix featured late rap star
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657:"Is Beyoncé the New Willi Ninja?"
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287:Ninja also danced in two of
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707:"Willi Ninja Google Doodle"
601:Episode dated 8 August 1991
525:Dale, Daniel (2023-06-09).
499:"Eulogies for Fabulousness"
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395:Check Your Body at the Door
317:. He also was featured in "
39:style of dance in the film
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135:and was a fixture of
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738:Voguing: The Message
683:Allaire, Christian.
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264:Jimmy Kimmel Live!
251:Jean-Paul Gaultier
504:The Village Voice
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691:February 8,
510:5 September
326:Parkinson's
116:Willi Ninja
93:Occupations
23:Willi Ninja
775:Categories
607:2019-12-01
585:2023-06-10
560:2023-06-10
536:2023-06-10
450:References
241:featuring
181:Early life
77:2006-09-03
381:Drag Ball
166:'s song "
155:director
719:June 16,
634:Archived
428:See also
319:Escapade
201:, young
185:Born at
743:YouTube
353:In film
303:Heavy D
299:Alright
211:Olympic
133:voguing
75: (
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712:Google
640:9 June
477:
390:Anthem
330:Apollo
313:, and
217:Career
141:Harlem
99:Dancer
87:, U.S.
64:, U.S.
45:(1990)
243:India
37:vogue
764:Life
752:IMDb
721:2023
693:2014
670:2009
642:2023
512:2006
475:ISBN
407:AIDS
371:and
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175:LGBT
70:Died
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750:at
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
