Billy Wilson and The Dutch National Ballet

Sonia Gaskell hired Black American dancers Billy Wilson and Sylvester Campbell in 1960 at the inception of the Dutch National Ballet, a noteworthy act in an era when directors were more hesitant to hire Black dancers. Along with Benjamin Feliksdal, they were the only Black men in the company of 30 at the time and struggled with competing for roles from each other. Wilson danced in numerous ballets choreographed by the top people in the industry including in Karel Shook’s Jazz Nocturne (1960), Serge Lifar’s Othello (1960), George Balanchine’s Four Temperaments (1961), and Rudi van Dantzig’s Jungle (1962). Billy Wilson left the company in 1965 to return to the United States.

 

Sources:

Sylvester Campbell, MoBBallet
A Conversation with Sylvester Campbell Ballet Review Fall 2014
Billy Wilson, Theater Encyclopedie

 

 

More about the Dutch National Ballet

Established by merging the Amsterdam Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet, the Dutch National Ballet, located in Amsterdam, has been in operation since 1961. Sonia Gaskell, who began the Nederlands Ballet in 1953, was founding director of the company and retired in 1969. A 1977 New York Times article notes that the company’s dancers are not homogeneously Dutch, but rather from “around the world.” The company also hired many Black dancers from the U.S. when companies there would discriminate against them. Today, the Dutch National Ballet continues to bring in Black ballet dancers from around the world including Michaela DePrince who became a soloist for the company. The company is now widely-regarded as one of the top in the world, and its impact on dancers of color is insurmountable. See more

 

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI7f6rb0WME[/embedyt]

 

Sources:

Sonia Gaskell, Wikipedia
Dutch National Ballet, Wikipedia
Dutch National Ballet Has Come of Age Fast, The New York Times

 

 

Elaine Yu