After watching Paris is Burning, I became really curious about what happened to the lives of these dancers, house mothers, gays, transexuals after the film was released in 1990. Now that more than 30 years has passed, a lot must have happened to the clubs and the ballroom culture too.
Fortunately, I did find a relevant YouTube video that followed up most people in the film and described their lives after (although most of them passed away by now). The link to the video is here: Life After Paris is Burning | TRIBE TV NTWRK. I will summarize what is being said down below.
1. Pepper Labeija
From when he became the mother for the House of Labeija, Labeija remained to be the mother for the following 20 years. On May 14, 2003, Labeija died of a heart attack only at the age of 54. Recall how he said in the documentary that he felt smart not to do the sex reassignment surgery, such that in the following 40 years he would live well, hearing his death at just 54 makes me feel sorry and unexpected.
2. Venus Xtravaganza
Venus Xtravaganza is one of most memorable person to me from the film. She is just so pretty and talks so softly. I remember her talking repeatedly about her hopes of life and what she wants as an aspiring model. She also talked about how she escaped an attack from a man that tried to sleep with her. Another reason why her image sticks in my mind so much is probably because her death occurred during the filming of Paris is Burning. Her dead body was under the bed of a Duchess Hotel, perhaps due to a similar occasion of his attack.
As of 2019, the killer has not been found, but in 2013 a New York’s theatre group displayed a murder mystery play that referenced Venus’s death. In POSE, Venus was also paid homage through multiple hot lines.
3. Octavia Saint Laurent
Octavia was the girl who took modeling seriously and tried the best out of her self. I remember her because her dance is good, her makeup is done well, and her poses when she was being photographed as a model were all delicate. After Paris is Burning, in 1993, she played a role in the Saint of Fort Washington. In 2005 Octavia was a host of the TV award show, The Pill Awards. The next year she starred in Wolfgang Bush’s How Do I Look. In this film, she commented Paris is Burning as “a terrible movie.” She also discussed her drug use, sex work, and fight with AIDS. In 2008, she was diagnosed with cancer, and on May 17 the following year, she passed away.
4. Willi Ninja
Willi Ninja is the mother of the House of Ninja. My impression of him is that his vogue dance was so good and delicate. If I remembered correctly, he became the godfather of Vogueing and even in the film, he described himself as the one who could dance the best out there. Paris is Burning greatly helped Willi’s career. He starred in the music video for Malcom McLaren’s song Deep in vogue. He also danced in two of Janet Jackson’s music videos from the album Rhythm Nation 1814. He also appeared in the 2006 follow-up How Do I Look documentary. Unfortunately, Ninja died of a AIDS-related heart failure the same year How Do I Look was released.
5. Angie Xtravaganza
The mother of her house, Angie’s nice and tender personality is probably what made me like her so much when watching the documentary. She took such great care of her house members, saying how whenever there’s a ball she would have to help her members prepare. During a short passage describing how she got paid to get her breast, her members cheered her up and said that Angie “nourished them,” showing their love for Angie. She also won the mother of the year, as shown in the documentary!
Unfortunately, she passed 3 years after the filming from an AIDS related liver disease, only 28 years old. 3 weeks after her death, the NYT published an article on the ball scene and gave her a large photo on the front of the Styles section, with the title, “Paris Has Burned”. A year later, Junior Vasquez released a house single titled “Eggs”, dedicated to Angie.
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