HOUSE OF NINJA (2022)

Allen is on the left between Nile Rogers and Nam June Paik, just behind David Byrne.  Kenny Scharf,  Quentin Crisp, “Randee of the Redwoods”, Lady Bunny, Willi Ninja,  Joey Arias, Tseng Kwong Chi, Mink Stole, ABC’s David Yarritu, “Frieda the Disco Doll,” John Kelly as the Mona Lisa, many many others, and of course the B-52s. Video was Directed by Tom Rubnitz.    May 1989.  

"I want to take Vogueing not to just Paris is Burning. But I want to take it to the real Paris. And make the real Paris burn." - #willininja #houseofninja #muhvah #parisisburning #blkhistorymonth #365blk

Reposted from @parisisburningz - House of Xtravaganza and Paris Is Burning legends, Brooke and Carmen last month! Kudos to @iambruceavery #parisisburning #gayballroomscene #doriancorey #pepperlabeija #houseofxtravaganza #houseofninja #willininja #houseoflabeija #venusxtravaganza #kimpendavis #Freddiependavis #octaviastlaurent #carmenxtravaganza #brookextravaganza #parisdupree #houseofdupree #houseofpendavis #opulence #blackgayhistory #gayhistory #asfreeasthewindonthisbeach #transgender https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz2_Ji0B7OY_r36VL2_VvT0LDEX3MCJ_lrdUvU0/?igshid=5o4hpoi4v4js

“Voguing is the same thing as taking two knives and cutting each other up, but through a dance form…Voguing came from shade because it was a dance that two people did because they didn’t like each other. Instead of fighting, you would dance it out on the dance floor, and whoever did the better moves was throwing the best shade, basically.” – Willi Ninja . Picture: Willi Ninja (April 12, 1961 – September 2, 2006), New York City, c. 1990. Photo © Chantal Regnault. . Willi Ninja, who was born fifty-six years ago today, was an American dancer and choreographer, “known as the Grandfather of Vogue, a dance form that he helped move from the New York club scene of the 1980s to the concert stage.” . “Voguing—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,’” Ninja’s New York Times obituary explained. “Voguing had been around for many years, but Willi Ninja brought it to a level of visibility and perfection in performance that no one had ever reached before.” 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, Willi became a New York celebrity, and “Paris is Burning” brought the self-described “butch queen” greater fame. During his career, he appeared in music videos including Malcolm McLaren’s “Deep in Vogue” and Janet Jackson’s “Alright,” modeled for designers like Jean Paul Gaultier, and helped up-and-coming models perfect the strut. . Willi Ninja died of AIDS-related illness on September 2, 2006; he was forty-five. . “Until his death,” the Village Voice noted, “Ninja outlived many of his co-stars in ‘Paris Is Burning,’ including Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, Angie Xtravaganza, and Avis Pendavis. At the end of the movie, the late Corey says, ‘You've left a mark on the world if you just get through it and a few people remember your name. You don’t have to bend the whole world.’ But Willi Ninja…did just that. R.I.P.” #HavePrideInHistory #WilliNinja