Angie Xtravaganza

Who was Angie Xtravaganza?

Angie Xtravaganza was born in New York City. Angie was a founding member and the Mother of the House of Xtravaganza. Consistent with the tradition of New York's gay ball scene, in 1982 Angie took the House name as her surname. A transgender performer, underground superstar and an active member of New York's gay ball culture, Angie was featured in Jennie Livingston's 1990 documentary film 'Paris is Burning'. By the time the documentary screened to rave reviews, the House of Xtravaganza, the first primarily Latino house within New York's gay ball scene, was almost ten years old and had taken the Harlem ball scene by storm.

Arriving on the streets of New York City at the age of 13, Angie nurtured a family of "children" during her days on the lower westside Navy Pier and the streets of Times Square. Throughout the 1980s and until her death in 1993 Angie and her adopted house children would influence popular culture through the nightlife scene, the performing arts and through the fashion and the recording industries.