Willi Ninja

June is #PrideMonth. All month long we're celebrating Pride with our friends. This page is not just an ally, we are an accomplice. For Pride Month this year we're focusing less on "love who you want" and more on "queer and trans people are in danger." In the spirit of that vibe, we're choosing to highlight activists and events where the struggle for basic human and civil rights wasn't all rainbows (see what we did there) and sunshine. 

Willi Ninja (1961-2006) was born William Roscoe Leake and grew up in Flushing, Queens. A completely self-taught dancer, Willi began to dance publicly at age 7. Not much is known about his childhood, although in many interviews he describes how his mother, Esther Leake, was very accepting of his sexuality and had a direct role in nurturing his interest in dancing. Esther often took Willi to the ballet and the Apollo Theater to see various dance performances. 

After high school, Willi enrolled in beauty school and moved to Greenwich Village in the late 1970s.  Inspired by Fred Astaire, Olympic gymnasts, and the martial arts. Willi formed a dance group called the Video Pretenders in the early 1980s. They would go to clubs and mimic the dance moves in the music videos being shown on the screens. 

Willi Ninja rose to prominence dancing at the Christopher Street Pier and Washington Square Park in the burgeoning Harlem Drag Ball scene. Ninja helped create and shape the dance form of voguing that combined exaggerated model poses and intricate mime-like choreography, which became a world-wide trend.

Willi Ninja founded the House of Ninja in 1982, acting as a “mother” to a group of adopted gay and transgender “children” in New York City.  In 1989, Ninja starred in the music video for Malcolm McLaren's song "Deep in Vogue" and the documentary Paris is Burning in 1990. Willi became a well-known choreographer, musician, runway model and modeling coach, as well as serving as a direct inspiration to various artists who immortalized the style in their music videos. 

His legacy continues as the House of Ninja members keep voguing alive and advocate on behalf of their mother to raise HIV/AIDS awareness.