Biography
Leiomy Maldonado is a transgender ballroom dancer, model, educator, activist, and dancer from Puerto Rico. She is well recognized for her voguing and is the creator of the House of Amazon. When Maldonado arrived on the scene in early 2000s New York, she brought a new, more dramatic and athletic form of voguing.
Age
She is 37 years old as of 28 April 2024. She was born in 1987 in New York, New York, United States. Her other names are Wonder Woman of Vogue, Amazon Mother, and Amazon Leiomy.
Net Worth
She has an estimated net worth of $ 7 million.
Legendary
Maldonado is a judge on the dance competition Legendary on HBO Max, which draws inspiration from the ballroom industry. Weekly vogue bouts pit ten houses against one another; each episode has a new topic. Alongside rapper Megan Thee Stallion, actor Jameela Jamil, and celebrity stylist Law Roach, Maldonado served as a judge.
The show tracks nine balls (dancing, voguing, and walking activities) in which LGBT house members—mostly from eight to ten houses—manoeuvre about in pursuit of a $100,000 US reward for the top house. GLAAD applauded the series for showcasing LGBTQ and trans artists that are “from the New York ballroom scene.”
HBO Max picked up the show for a second season in July 2020. First showing was on May 6, 2021. HBO Max renewed the show for a third season in June 2021. First showing was on May 19, 2022. After three seasons, HBO Max terminated and withdrew the series in December 2022. The Roku Channel and Tubi will release the series, it was announced on January 31, 2023.
Pose
Maldonado is the choreographer for the ballroom scenes in the show Pose. She also appeared in Pose playing the character Florida Ferocity, a member of the House of Ferocity. “The juxtaposition of several segments of life and society in New York City at that time” is the focus of Pose, which is set in 1987–1998. It explores the emergence of the yuppie milieu, HIV, the world of African-American and Latino ball culture, and the downtown social and literary scene.
On June 11, 2019, the second season debuted to even more positive reviews. To more enthusiastic reviews, the third and final season debuted on May 2, 2021, and ended on June 6, 2021. Michaela Jaé Rodriguez received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series on July 13, 2021, making history as the first transgender lead nominee ever.
Career
Maldonado was initially exposed to voguing at the Bronx’s Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club when he was fifteen years old. She claims that a mentor there gave her a VHS tape as an introduction. She was first exposed to the ballroom scene a year later, at the age of 16, and she went on to become involved in the New York community. Ballroom is an underground subculture that largely consists of LGBT kids from low-income Black and Latino backgrounds. It provides a safe space for them to express themselves via pageantry and dance competitions. Ballroom giants Alloura Jourdan Zion and Yolanda Jourdan are cited by Maldonado as the primary sources of inspiration for her style.
In 2009, she made her debut as the first openly transgender woman on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew Season 4, where her team placed in the top five. Maldonado’s trademark hair flip, known as “The Leiomy Lolly,” gained popularity after he appeared on television, and artists and celebrities including Janet Jackson, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Britney Spears embraced it. Maldonado made an appearance and performed her unique move in Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair” music video. Although she is credited with creating many of the moves that are now well-known globally, she has not always been acknowledged as the creator.
She continued to feature in several music videos, including the “All Night” video by Icona Pop, which honored the 1991 film Paris is Burning, and the “Цвет наcтроения синий” (Mood color is blue) music video by Russian pop singer Philipp Kirkorov. Maldonado, who is the only transgender athlete to be included in a Nike video advertising, was the face of the company’s “#BeTrue” Pride Month 2017 campaign. As Black Opal’s first trans model, she also starred in their beauty campaign.
She is Tati 007’s “mother” and makes an appearance in the second episode of the documentary series My House. In September 2021, Maldonado participated in the Savage X Fenty Show, a television program centered around the fashion show of Rihanna’s lingerie brand Savage X Fenty. Maldonado has also walked the catwalk during New York Fashion Week.
Movies and TV Shows
♦ 2020–22 – Legendary
♦ 2018–19 – Pose
♦ 2018 – My House
♦ 2009 – America’s Best Dance Crew