Willi Ninja passed away this morning, RIP

[ibrandon]

Thanks for your inspiration. Rest in Peace.

It was is very hard for me to even write this but this morning Willie passed away. Willie was such an angel and now heaven has just added another. I spoke to him every day and he has asked me to take care of his myspace page for him. Last week when I spent the day with him in the hospital I read him every message that you have all wrote and he loved them all. He thanked everyone for their support. Willie will always be a legend! Please keep him in your prayers and remember him for the way he lived, loved and most of all moved us with his incredible flexibility with his voguing and his need to help others however and wherever he felt he was needed.

Be Safe & God Bless

Aimee

[lunic]

very sad about this. been seeing willie do his thing on dancefloors for over 15 years a part of house music history has physically left the building. his gracious movements will live on in the minds of those lucky enough to have seen him work his body. a true talent. god bless, your memory lives on.

[grf1221]

r.i.p

wow, this is fucked up, dudes been in the house scene for a loooooooooonngg time.

[splicer8]

rip i saw him live at asseteria once, he was doing his thing and there were a few people he was teaching to vougue at the party. I saw him on vh1 teaching paris hilton how to pose.

The inventor of vogue

[argdiesel]

this is sad because willie was the king of vogue...rest in peace willi.

makes me wanna keep dancing because its what makes me happy when i'm in a bad mood or just feeling blehh.

[diva421d]

Thanks for your inspiration. Rest in Peace.

RIP,So glad to nave met Willi back in the 90's,such a Sweetheart.Will always Love You Willi.

[max3]

Hey that dude looks familiar...Did he run a modeling agency and live in queenS?

If its the same person, I think he had contacted me on Iam not sure if it was myspace or Hi5 about at least 5 months ago...then he disappeared for some time for some reason...He was friendly and cool....

If it is, I think its very tragic to be so young and go so sudden, so fast....

What did he die from anyways?

RIP!

[max3]

I just checked my email records annd YUP..It is him:what: He emailed his cell # to me apparently one time, I just called it, and it says he is in the hospital and it gives the hospital phone # where he can be reached...

WOW..you're here one day, and the next thing u knw, you're gone,and FOR GOOD!!!!!that is SO SAD and SHOCKING...

RIP WILLI

thanks for the kind words and being such a nice helpful person

[silverbull]

THAT makes 3 sadly.

First there was ADAM GOLDSTONE then HECTOR CRUZ and now WILLIE NINJA all in the span of a week.

[starscream]

THAT makes 3 sadly.

First there was ADAM GOLDSTONE then HECTOR CRUZ and now WILLIE NINJA all in the span of a week.

Very sad indeed,its been a tough week on alot of us.My prayers go out to all 3 of there families.

[cotoncandydream]

R.I.P. Will

I will never forget the nights in front of Cheetah .....

[silverbull]

heres his NY TIMES OBITUARY

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/06/arts/dance/06ninja.html?_r=2&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

September 6, 2006

Willi Ninja, 45, Self-Created Star Who Made Vogueing Into an Art, Dies

By LOLA OGUNNAIKE

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.

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.