Willi Ninja

Willi Ninja, the star of the documentary "Paris is Burning," who was considered the godfather of the dance art form voguing and was the inspiration for Madonna's "Vogue" music video, has died at age 45, friends and relatives said Tuesday. Ninja died Saturday of AIDS-related illnesses at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens, they said. Madonna, speaking through a spokeswoman Tuesday, said she was sorry to hear of Ninja's death. "He was a great cultural influence to me and hundreds of thousands of other people," she said. Ninja, inspired by Fred Astaire, "Great Performances" on PBS, Asian culture and Olympic gymnasts, was a self-taught performer who stitched together a patchwork career that extended into the worlds of dance, fashion and music. He performed with dance companies, worked under renowned choreographers and instructed models and socialites how to walk and pose for the paparazzi. But it was for the magic on the ballroom floor and in the 1990 documentary "Paris is Burning" that he was probably best known. Voguing consists of a combination of model-like poses and creative arm, leg and body movements. The documentary chronicles elaborate ball competitions in which participants walk in various categories or themes and are judged on the realness of their drag personas. On a deeper level, the balls are spins on issues of gender, class and race, observers say. Ball participants are known as children of houses, improvised families that often serve as havens from hardships such as homophobia, poverty and racism. Director Jennie Livingston said Ninja, a "supremely gifted dancer" who was extremely focused and dedicated to his craft, was "one of the main reasons" she made the film. She recalled walking through Washington Square Park one summer and spotting young men voguing beneath a tree. She approached to learn about this dance, which was new to her. "'If you really want to talk about voguing you should meet Willi Ninja,'" Livingston said the young men told her. "That's where I first heard his name. "Whenever you talk about vogue or voguing Willi's name is there," Livingston said in an interview Tuesday. "Willi refined voguing. He really brought it to an amazing level." The documentary also chronicles the origins of voguing, which date to Harlem ballrooms in the first half of the 20th century. The filmmaker also noted Ninja's warmth and second-nature ability to guide, nurture and love those around him, particularly the children in the House of Ninja, which he founded in the 1980s.