THE LEGENDARY HOUSE OF NINJA

The Most Important thing to Willy was his Mother 2007 The Legacy Live OnTHE WORLD SEEMS A LITTLE SMALLER NOW. IT FEELS LESS FILLED WITH LIFE AND AN NOPEN SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY. HOWEVER, WILLI LEFT US WITH A LESSON FOR LIVING TOGETHER. “WE HAVE GOT TO LEARN TO LOVE OTHERS BEFORE WE CAN LOVE OURSELVES”WILLIAM LEAKE, BORN APRIL 12TH 1961, BECAME WILLI NINJA, THE WELL-KNOWN, WELL-RESPECTED, WELL-LOVED MAN. A NEW YORK NATIVE. WILLI GRADUATED FROM BAYSIDE HIGH SCHOOL AND WENT ON TO COMPLETE ONE YEAR OF STUDIES AT QUEENS COLLEGE. HE MAY HAVE BEEN EDUCATED THERE, BUT HE LEARNED WISDOM AND STYLE THROUGH LIFE’S EXPERIENCES. AS THE MOTHER OF THE HOUSE OF NINJA, HE HELPED MANY OTHER YOUNG MEN WHEN THEY NEEDED ASSISTANCE. AS THE SON OF ESTHER LEAKE, HE WAS DOVOTED TO HER. AS A BRILLIANT DANCER, WILLI NINJA WAS SELF-TAUGHT AND SELF- MOTIVATED, LEAVING BEHIND A DISTINCTIVE STYLE THAT WILL FOREVER BE SYNONYMOUS WITH HIS NAMENINJA MADE VOUGE DANCING KNOWN THROUGHOUT THE WORLD BY CONSISTENTLY EXPOSING IT TO OTHERS OVER MANY YEARS. NINJA WAS NOT THE FIRST VOUGE DANCER, NOR THE LAST, BUT HE BROUGHT VOUGING TO A LEVEL OF PERFORMING PERFECTION THAT WAS MEMORABLE. HE CREATED A DISTINCT NINJA STYLE MARKED BY ITS SHARP ATTACK AND SWIRLING TURNS. IN JENNIE LIVINGSTON’S 1990’S DOCUMENTARY ABOUT A GAY VOUGE BALLS. “PARIS IS BURNING.” THE MOTHER OF THE HOUSE OF NINJA ANNOUNCED. “I WANT TO GO TO THE REAL PARIS AND MAKE IT BURN.” HE DIDWILLI NINJA’S HANDSOME ANDROGYNY APPEALED TO EVERYONE. TALL, WITH INCREDIBLY BROAD SHOLDERS, HE COULD CLASP HIS HANDS THEN SWEEP HIS ARMS OVER HIS HEAD AND BEHIND HIS BACK ISONE SMOOTH MOVE. INSPIREDTO DANCE BY FRED ASTAIRE, PBS’S GREAT PERFORMANCES, OLYMPICS GYMNASTICS, AND THE APOLLO MOTOWN SHOWS, NINJA NOTED: “NOBODY SAYS YOU CAN’T LEARN.” NINJA TAUGHT VOGUING THROUGHTOUT EUROPE AND IN JAPAN. AN ELOQUENT SPOKESPERSON FOR GAY HOUSE LIFE, HE APPEARED ON TALK SHOWS AND SERIOUS UNIVERSITY PANELS ABOUT CULTURAL LIFE. NINJA BROADENED THE SCOPE AND THE AUDIENCES FOR VOGUING, MOVING IT FROM THE CLUBS TO THE CONCERT STAGES WHEN HE PERFORMED IN WORKS BY POSTMODERN CHOREOGRAPHERS KAROLE AMITAGE, DOUG ELKINS, DAVID NEUMAN & IN HIS OWN CHOREOGRAPHY WITH HIS COMPANY.HE HAD A LONG CAREER TEACHING MODELS HOW TO WALK AND THROW ATTITUDE, WHICH HE HAD LEARNED BY WORKING IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY AND DOING RUNWAY MODELING HIM SELF FOR SUCH DESIGNERS AS JEAN-PAUL GAULTIER, THIERRY MUGLER AND ZANG TOI. HE WORKED WITH THE BEAUTIFUL AND FAMOUS, AMOUNG THEM, GRACE JONES, IMAN, & NAOMI CAMPBELL. IN 2004 NINJA OPENED HIS MODELING AGENCY, EON (ELEMENTS OF NINJA). IN ADDITION TO TEACHING AND BOOKING HE ARRANGED FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE HOUSE OF NINJA TO PERFORM AT FASHION EVENTS, POSITIONING THE DANCING BACK INTO THE MODELING WORLD THAT HAD ORIGINALLY INSPIRED IT.IN 1988 HE MADE “DEEP IN VOGUE” WITH MALCOM MCLAREN AND THEN WENT TO WORK WIT DEE-LITE AND QUEEN LATIFAH. HE HAS APPEARED IN THE FILMS “PARIS IS BURNING,” “HOUSE OF TRES,” AND THE PEABODY AWARD WINNING “EVERYBODY DANCE NOW!” AND IS FEATURED IN THE UPCOMING (2007) DOCUMENTARY “CHECK YOUR BODY AT THE DOOR,” BY SALLY SOMMER.HE IS SURVIVED BY HIS MOTHER. THEY ENJOYED A PARTICULARY CLOSE RELATIONSHOP AND WILLI WAS ENORMOUSLY PROUD OF HIS MOTHER AND HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS. HE LOVINGLY DESCRIBED HER AS “MY BEST FRIEND, MY MOTHER, MY FATHER, MY SISTER & MY BROTHER.”WILLIE WILL BE MISSED VERY MUCH. GOD NOW HAS A NEW ANGEL IN HEAVEN! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR KIND WORDS AND SUPPORT. BE SAFE AND GOD BLESS.