Antoine Ashley (December 17, 1984 – October 1, 2012), better known by the name Sahara Davenport, was an American drag queen, singer,

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personality, and classically trained

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

. Davenport was best known as a contestant on the second season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

''.

''RuPaul's Drag Race''

Davenport appeared on the second season of ''

'' in 2010. She was pegged as "the dancer" when in the first episode she had to " lip-sync for her life" against Shangela, her former classmate at Southern Methodist University (where she earned a BFA in dance at the Meadows School of the Arts). In the second episode, Davenport became a team leader when she and Pandora Boxx won the mini challenge. Sahara won the second episode elimination challenge by leading her team to earn the most money by pole dancing and selling Cherry Pie gift certificates on the streets of

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. In the fourth episode, Davenport gave a humorous impersonation of Whitney Houston in the "

Snatch Game Snatch Game is a comedy challenge recurring across the ''Drag Race'' television franchise and a fixture of the reality competition series. Since the second season of the original American ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' series in 2010, the challenge ha ...

" challenge. In the Wedding Dress episode, she was placed in the bottom two again, but remained safe with her lip sync performance to Martha Wash's "Carry On". Sahara was eliminated in the sixth episode for not conveying enough of a "rock 'n' roll" attitude and being too much of a lady. The first season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' aired following her death, and featured her partner, Manila Luzon, as a contestant. The first episode was dedicated to her memory. Davenport's drag sister Kennedy Davenport appeared on season 7 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and on season 3 of '' RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'', where she placed as runner-up. Her drag niece, Honey Davenport, placed 13th on the 11th season of ''Drag Race''.

Music

In 2011, Davenport released her second single "Go Off". A remix EP was later released on January 31, 2012, and featured a remix by Manny Lehman. "Go Off" debuted at number fifty on the '' Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Songs, before peaking at number thirty five. The music video for "Go Off" features cameos by Drag Race contestants Manila Luzon and Jiggly Caliente.

Personal life and death

Davenport was born to Angela Ashley Reddish on December 17, 1984. Sahara Davenport resided in New York City with her boyfriend Karl Westerberg, a fellow drag queen who goes by the stage name Manila Luzon and who was a contestant on the third season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', as well as the first and fourth seasons of '' RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars''. During her time on RuPaul's Drag Race, Davenport discussed her use of "designer drugs", such as ketamine, and how her drag mother had to help her out of her addiction. Davenport died of heart failure at Johns Hopkins Hospital in

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on October 1, 2012, at age 27.

Discography

Singles

References

External links

*
Sahara Davenport
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Davenport, Sahara 1984 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people African-American dancers African-American drag queens African-American LGBTQ people African-American male dancers African-American male singers American drag queens American gay actors American gay musicians American LGBTQ singers American male dancers American male pop singers Drag performers from New York City LGBTQ people from Texas Male actors from Dallas Musicians from Dallas Nightlife in New York City Sahara Davenport Drag performers from Dallas Drag performers from Maryland