A prominent transgender performer in New York City's gay ball culture, Xtravanganza featured in the acclaimed 1990 documentary film Paris is Burning.

[5] Some of her other responsibilities included helping her house children select their outfits and shoes for balls, as well as simply navigating being gay in an unaccepting world without the support of their families.

Having seen many friends and House members lose their battles with the disease, Xtravaganza advocated for more attention towards it as the illness ravaged her community.

As a result of her profile, Xtravangaza featured in the 1988 article "The Slap of Love" by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Cunningham, as well as the 1990 documentary film Paris is Burning directed by Jennie Livingston.

After Venus’ death, Xtravaganza claimed that her murder was an unfortunate reality, and simply “part of life being a transsexual in the city”.

[12] Over 100 mourners attended Xtravaganza’s funeral, sharing the sentiment that “voguing and ecstatic, elaborate balls, had died along with Angie”.