 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
William Adolphus Wilson
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Born: April 21, 1935
Died: August 14, 1994
Occupation: dancer
|
|
Born in Philadelphia, one of four children, Billy Wilson began dance
training in the public school system. At 16, he was awarded a
scholarship to study ballet with Anthony Tudor at the Philadelphia Ballet
Guild, and within two years he performed with its associated company. He
moved to New York in 1956 and danced in "Carmen Jones, Bells Are
Ringing," and "Jamaica" on Broadway; in 1958 he went to London to
perform in "West Side Story." At the invitation of artistic director
Sonia Gaskell, Wilson joined the National Ballet of Holland, where he
created the title role in Serge Lifar's "Othello" (1960). In 1965
Wilson married Sonja van Beers, prima ballerina of the National Ballet of
Holland, and the couple returned to the United States, where he taught at
Brandeis University, in Waltham, Massachusetts; staged several seasons of the
"Hasty Pudding Show" at Harvard University; and directed the dance
company of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Boston. Wilson
choreographed several Broadway productions, including "Bubbling Brown
Sugar" (1976); an all-black revival of "Guys and Dolls" (1976);
"Eubie" (1978); and the children's television program ZOOM
(1976-1981), for which he received an Emmy Award. Many of his immensely
popular concert dances have been performed by the Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater, Dance Theater of Harlem, Dayton Contemporary Dance
Ensemble, and Philadanco, including the frisky "Concerto in F"
(1981), set to the music of Gershwin; "Rosa" (1990), a moving dance
tribute to Rosa Parks; the atmospheric dance-drama "Ginastera"
(1991); and "The Winter in Lisbon" (1992), a boisterous celebration
of the music of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
-- Thomas F. DeFrantz
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Fanger, Iris M. "Billy Wilson--Curtain
Going Up." DANCE MAGAZINE (June 1976).
Kisselgoff, Anna. "Prep
Students Toe Mark--for Ballet." NEW YORK TIMES, June 5,
1969.
Source Citation: "William
Adolphus Wilson." ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE AND HISTORY. 5 vols. Macmillan, 1996. Reprinted by permission of Gale Group.
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
