About This Orbit: Billy Wilson
Billy Wilson was an American director, choreographer, dancer, and artist. Growing up in Philadelphia, Wilson found a love for ballet early in life. At age 19, he made his Broadway debut before traveling to Europe, where he performed as a soloist for the Dutch National Ballet. Returning to the United States, Wilson continued his career choreographing ballets, television shows, and Broadway shows, as well as teaching students at Carnegie Mellon University. He received numerous awards for his work, including but not limited to an Emmy Award, a Charlie Award, and three Tony nominations. Described by his family and friends as the embodiment of excellence and elegance, Wilson was one of the greatest directors and artists of his time, revolutionizing black musical theater and ballet. His ability to straddle the ballet, academia, and musical theater worlds was unparalleled. Wilson’s legacy lives on in his incredible choreography, still performed by top ballet companies today, and the minds of those who had the pleasure of knowing or watching him.
Sources:
ROLL CALL PAGES: Billy Wilson, MobBallet
A Celebration of the Life of Billy Wilson, dancer, choreographer, director, educator, Facebook
Billy Wilson and The Sydney Marion School of Dance
The Sydney-Marion School of Dance was founded in 1946 by Sydney King and Marion Cuyjet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Despite the company lasting less than two years, ending in 1948, King and Cuyjet marked the start of a lineage of Black ballet dancers in Philadelphia, one of whom, receiving national and international recognition, was Billy Wilson. When the pair split in 1948, Wilson left with King to continue training.
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About This Orbit: Sydney King, MOBBallet
Billy Wilson and Sydney King
Sydney King immigrated to Philadelphia from Jamaica with her family when she was six years old. After beginning her training with dance pioneer Essie Marie Dorsey, King danced until she married in 1936 at age 19. In 1946 she opened the Sydney Marion School of Dance with Marion Cuyjet, training hundreds of Black dancers in the art of ballet. Billy Wilson studied under both King and Cuyjet, and stayed with King after the pair split in 1948.
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About This Orbit: Sydney King, MOBBallet
Billy Wilson and Marion Cuyjet
Marion Cuyjet was born in Delaware and began her dance career in Philadelphia under the training of Essie Marie Dorsey in the 1930s. In 1946 she opened the Sydney-Marion School of Dance with Sydney King. There, she taught Billy Wilson until the pair separated in 1948. Upon the split, she formed a new school on her own the same year called The Judimar School of Dance named after herself and her daughter, Judy.
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About This Orbit: Marion Cuyjet, MOBBallet
Billy Wilson and Joan Myers Brown
Billy Wilson’s lifelong friend and colleague Joan Myers Brown was trained first by Essie Marie Dorsey, and later was a student at the Sydney Marion School of Dance of Sydney King and Marion Cuyjet. After the separation and disbanding of the dance company, Myers Brown remained with King alongside a few peers, one of whom was Billy Wilson. Brown and Wilson, meeting when Wilson was 14 or 15 and separating when Wilson made his Broadway debut at 19, danced together for around 5 years. Wilson was able to get classes with Anthony Tudor despite the school only allowing one Black dancer, who was Joan Myers Brown at the time. Myers Brown went on to found Philadanco in 1970, a Philadelphia based dance school that is the United States’ largest predominantly African American modern dance company. After returning from Europe, Wilson choreographed many ballets specifically for Philadanco, and remained Brown’s close friend. She describes him as an old soul with a magnetic smile. He became “everyone’s little brother… everyone’s date for the prom.”
Sources:
Joan Myers Brown, MOBBallet
Brown, MOBBallet
Billy Wilson and Philadelphia Guild Ballet School
When Billy Wilson was 15, he was offered a scholarship to study at the School under Tudor, and stayed with the company for two years before leaving to make his debut on Broadway. Established in the mid 1950s by Antony Tudor, the Philadelphia Ballet Guild offered a place for few black students to learn ballet amid the bustling artistry of Philadelphia. The company was considered a “forerunner” to the Pennsylvania Ballet (now called Philadelphia Ballet) and “experimental,” performing pieces with political themes.
Sources:
Great Performances: Free To Dance – Biographies – William Adolphus Wilson, Thirteen: Media with Impact
Marion Cuyjet & Betty Nichols’ Orbit: Antony Tudor, MOBBallet
Billy Wilson and Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was a prominent influence in Billy Wilson’s early life, when Wilson studied under him for 2 years before making his Broadway debut. Joan Myers Brown, Wilson’s lifelong friend, was taking classes with Tudor at a white school and at that point, the school would only teach one Black student. Wilson was able to gain admittance and work with Tudor for two years. Furthermore, Tudor told Wilson that if he were serious about his career as a dancer, he should go to NYC. It was his words that inspired Wilson to audition for Broadway and jumpstart the rest of his career.
Sources:
Antony Tudor Ballet Trust, About Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor, The Sarasota Ballet
Billy Wilson and Delores Browne
Delores Browne was one of Philadelphia’s first professional Black ballerinas. Billy Wilson and Browne were casted in the first performance of Antony Tudor’s Offenback in the Underworld in 1954. The ballet was described as a “humorous story about the flirtatious interactions among celebrities at a 1870s French cafe, [and] is filled with colorful characters and costumes. It culminates with a sultry and exhilarating chorus line of high kicking known as the ‘can-can’.” Since its opening night, Tudor’s ballet has been performed by American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, Ballet West, and National Ballet of Canada.
Sources:
Arthur Mitchell: Harlem’s Ballet Trailblazer, Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibitions
Delores Browne, MOBBallet
Delores Browne, John Jones, and Billy Wilson perform in Antony Tudor’s Offenbach in the Underworld, MOBBallet
Billy Wilson and Jamaica
Jamaica is a Broadway original which was performed by Billy Wilson alongside Alvin Ailey as an Islander. It was performed at the Imperial Theater in New York City. Set on tropical paradise Pigeon’s Island, Jamaica centers around Savannah, a young woman who dreams of leading a life of modernity in New York City. Two suitors vie for her attention: Koli, a handsome but poor fisherman, and Joe Nashua, a Big Apple businessman who has come to the remote island to dive for pearls. Although Savannah is enticed by Joe’s promises that the pair could exchange life on the island for that in the city, she ultimately decides to remain with Koli, after he saves her younger brother during a hurricane.
Sources:
From Broadway to Ballet and Back, MOBBallet
Ricardo Montalban, Lena Horne, Adelaide Hall, Augustine “Augie” Rios, Ossie Davis and ensemble in the 1957 stage production Jamaica, NYPL Digital Collections
Billy Wilson and Bells Are Ringing
Billy Wilson performed Bells Are Ringing after his debut performance in Carmen Jones. Bells Are Ringing was a Broadway musical opened at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre on November 29, 1956. Billy was the only Black dancer in the entire cast.
Sources:
Bells Are Ringing (Broadway, Sam S. Shubert Theatre, 1956), Playbill
Billy Wilson, ALEXIS WILSON
Billy Wilson, MOBBallet.org
Billy Wilson and Karel Shook
Billy Wilson was a student of Karel Shook before he went to Europe. In 1959, he started teaching at the Dutch National Ballet; he later became ballet master for the company where he invited Wilson as a soloist. The two remained lifelong friends, and Shook was the godfather of Wilson’s daughter, Alexis.
Sources:
BILLY WILSON, A CAPITOL ASSET, The Washington Post
Acclaimed Dance Theatre of Harlem founded during racial strife, Charleston Scene
Billy Wilson and Alvin Ailey
Billy Wilson and Alvin Ailey first met on the set of Jamaica, where Ailey was a featured dancer. Born in Texas in 1931, Alvin Ailey, like Wilson, was a prominent black dancer and choreographer. In addition to his career on Broadway, Ailey created his own dance company in 1958 called the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. Later in his life, Wilson and Ailey remained close friends, and Wilson choreographed many ballets for the company, including The Winter in Lisbon, the last ballet he choreographed before his death.
Sources:
Alvin Ailey – Dance, Revelations & Facts, Biography.com
Alvin Ailey. A Film Gives Voice to the Choreographer, Thirteen: Media with Impact
BILLY WILSON, A CAPITOL ASSET, The Washington Post
Billy Wilson and West Side Story (London)
After studying under Antony Tudor and then making his Broadway debut, Billy Wilson was in the original London cast of West Side Story cast as Juano. During one of his performances, Wilson was scouted by the Dutch National Ballet director, Sonia Gaskill, who then invited him to join the Dutch National Ballet as a soloist. Wilson remained in Europe for 10 years.
Sources:
Billy Wilson, 59, Director and Choreographer, The New York Times
West Side Story Original West End Musical Cast 1958, Broadway World
A Celebration of the Life of Billy Wilson, dancer, choreographer, director, educator, Facebook
Billy Wilson and 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. Billy Wilson left the company in 1965.
Sources:
Sonia Gaskell, Wikipedia
Dutch National Ballet, Wikipedia
Dutch National Ballet Has Come of Age Fast, New York Times
Billy Wilson and Serge Lifar
Serge Lifar, legendary ballet choreographer, sought out Wilson while at the Dutch National Ballet and created Othello for him, a ballet that skyrocketed him to stardom. Wilson was able to perform in major ballets frequently, an opportunity he says would not have been available to him in the US.
Sources:
BILLY WILSON, A CAPITOL ASSET
Serge Lifar (1905-1986), Opera de Paris)
Billy Wilson and Sylvester Campbell
Sylvester Campbell joined the Dutch National Ballet in 1960 and Billy Wilson joined a year later in 1961. Between the two of them and Benjamin Feliksdal, they were the only Black men of 120 dancers in the entire company. Campbell and Wilson both toured Europe together with the Dutch National Ballet and endured a lot of racism and maltreatment within the company. Campbell especially recounts being pushed out of many roles when Wilson married a ballerina in the company, Sonja van Beers. Wilson danced with the company for four years until 1965, and Campbell stayed with the company until 1970.
Sources:
Sylvester Campbell, MoBBallet
A Conversation with Sylvester Campbell Ballet Review Fall 2014
Sylvester Campbell – LINESConnected
Billy Wilson and Sonja van Beers
While dancing with the Dutch National Ballet, Wilson met and went on to marry Sonja van Beers. Upon returning to the United States, Sonja and Billy created their own dance company in Boston, which was short-lived. They had two children, Alexis and Parker. Their relationship did not last, and Billy took on a new lover, Chip Garnett, with whom he would raise his children.
Sources:
Arthur Mitchell & Sydney King’s Orbits: Billy Wilson, MOBBallet
Family, ALEXIS WILSON
De geschiedenis van Het Nationale Ballet, Het Nationale Ballet
Billy Wilson and Zoom!
After his return from Europe Billy worked as a choreographer for Zoom for PBS which aired 1976-1981. Zoom is a twice Emmy Award-winning television show that Billy Wilson choreographed. Zoom is a half-hour educational television program aired on PBS focused on children’s voices without adults. Each show would end with a choreographed song performed by the cast and choreographed by Billy Wilson during the first four seasons.
Source:
Zoom (1972 TV series), Wikipedia
Billy Wilson and Bubbling Brown Sugar
Bubbling Brown Sugar is widely regarded to be one of Billy Wilson’s most successful Broadway shows, providing him with his first of three Tony nominations. The show premiered in 1976, and was a timeline from the present to the past, celebrating the history of the Harlem Renaissance. On his return from Europe, Wilson came up with the idea of wanting to “celebrate the positive aspects of being a Black American,” which inspired the production of Bubbling Brown Sugar. Vivian Reed, the star of the original cast, said about Billy Wilson, “[He was] talented, fun to be around, giving. I miss you, Billy. The world needs a Billy Wilson.” The show influenced Wilson’s life in more ways than one. It was at auditions for Bubbling Brown Sugar that Wilson met Chip Garnett, who would become his partner and lover, an 18 year love story that would end only with death.
Sources:
Bubbling Brown Sugar (Broadway, August Wilson Theatre, 1976), Playbill
A Celebration of the Life of Billy Wilson, dancer, choreographer, director, educator, Facebook
Billy Wilson and Chip Garnett
Billy Wilson and Chip Garnett met when Billy was conducting auditions for Bubbling Brown Sugar. Garnett had a “voice to make everyone swoon,” and was then cast as Jim / Nightclub singer. From here, Garnett and Wilson had an 18 year relationship, ending only when they died 6 months apart, both from AIDS.
Sources:
Bubbling Brown Sugar, Wikipedia
A Celebration of the Life of Billy Wilson, dancer, choreographer, director, educator, Facebook
5/8: HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIP GARNETT… – Theatre World Awards, Facebook
Billy Wilson and the All-Black Revival of Guys and Dolls
After choreographing Bubbling Brown Sugar, Wilson’s next Broadway show was an all-black revival of Guys and Dolls. Wilson both directed and choreographed the show, which premiered in 1976. This show gave Wilson his second Tony nomination, and the show as a whole was also given the Tony nomination of the Most Innovative Production of a Revival. When talking about his revival, Wilson said, “It’s not so much the changing of words that makes the difference. It’s the delivery. We have such rich attitudes among blacks. It’s something that’s intrinsic with us. It isn’t what you say, it’s how you say it, which is beautiful to me.” Ken Page, who starred in the revival as Nicely, Nicely Johnson, said about Wilson, “I had never met anyone who was African American and had that level of control and power in a work situation… [he] was mesmerizing and absolutely instructional.” Furthermore, the show brought many black dancers and performers to prominence, further cementing Wilson’s contribution to black musical theater.
Sources:
A Celebration of the Life of Billy Wilson, dancer, choreographer, director, educator, Facebook
Look Back at the All-Black 1976 Revival of Guys and Dolls On Broadway, Playbill
Billy Wilson and Dance Theater of Harlem
Upon returning from Europe and dancing with the Dutch National Ballet, Billy Wilson was hired by Arthur Mitchell, a proponent of Black choreographers, to create pieces for the Dance Theatre of Harlem. He eventually choreographed several ballets for DTH, including Mirage (1979); Concerto in F (1986), which was first set on Alvin Ailey; and Ginastera (1991) as well as collaborating with Mitchell on Phoenix Rising (Work in Progress) in 1987.
Sources:
REPERTORY LIST WORKS PRODUCED BY THE DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM 1969-2004, Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibition
Before Dance Theater of Harlem, Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibitions
Dance Theater of Harlem: Arthur Mitchell’s Dream at 50, New York Times
Dancing, ALEXIS WILSON
Billy Wilson and Capitol Ballet
Billy Wilson was sought out by Doris Jones as guest artistic director of the Capitol Ballet Company in University of the District of Columbia in 1988. Of five program’s debuted, three of them were created by Billy Wilson. Billy also helped with recruitment and rehearsal and stage the performances. This is where he worked with Claire Haywood. After Billy’s trip to Canada he returned to Capitol Ballet and remained in the DC area. See More
Sources:
Capitol Ballet Capital Night, The Washington Post
CAPITOL BALLET CAPITAL NIGHT – The Washington Post
Billy Wilson and A Night at the Cotton Club
Billy Wilson was a director for a musical titled A Night at the Cotton Club, a hit show in Amsterdam with three of his dancers. He later hired his daughter, Alexis Wilson as a featured dancer in that show and she later took over as dance captain.” A Night At The Cotton Club tells the story of these black artists who are not forgotten in the memory and who will be resurrected on stage tonight. The music of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller to name a few, the showgirls and the ‘Harlem Orchestra’ welcome you tonight at the Cotton Club, once Harlem’s most exciting address and now its hottest new musical show [ …].”- (Summary from the program booklet of the German premiere)
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Dancing, ALEXIS WILSON
Billy Wilson, ALEXIS WILSON
A Night At The Cotton Club (1989, CD), Discogs
Production of The Cotton Club, Theatricalia
Stardust Productions, Theatricalia
Billy Wilson and The Winter in Lisbon
The Winter in Lisbon was Billy Wilson’s last choreographed ballet. Created in 1992, the ballet pays tribute to four decades worth of music created by Dizzy Gillespie, an American jazz musician and composer. Notably, Billy Wilson’s personal life was incredibly turbulent at the time. The success and talent showcased in the ballet demonstrates his strength and commitment to excellence despite life’s challenges. Judith Jamison named the ballet to be included in her favorite ballets when she was honored at the New York City Center.
Sources:
The Winter in Lisbon, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Winter in Lisbon (1922 / New Production – 2016)
Billy Wilson and Judith Jamison
Like Billy Wilson, Judith Jamison grew up in Philadelphia and, also like Wilson, was taught to dance by Marion Cuyjet and Antony Tudor. Wilson and Jamison’s paths first met when Wilson was a choreographer at the Philadelphia Cotillion, where Jamison danced when she was 11. Their paths crossed again when Jamison was 34, and the star of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. At this time, Billy Wilson invited Jamison to make her Broadway debut in his The Only World in Town, an all-Black show. Robert Colby, one of the songwriters for the performance, said about Jamison, “There is no one in dance like Judy, and she will have a chance to showcase her other talents.” On her end, Jamison said about Wilson, “Billy said all the right things to me. He said sing, he said dance, he said comedy, he said acting. He said the things [I] wanted to hear, and so far I still like hearing them.”
Sources:
Broadway, The New York Times
Judith Jamison Takes Us Through 60 Years of Alvin Ailey’s Brilliance, Shondaland
“Revelations”: Judith Jamison, National Museum of African American History and Culture
Billy Wilson and Philadanco
Philadanco was founded by Joan Myers Brown in 1970 and became a feeder company for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. It is still open today, operating as one of the United States’ largest predominantly African American modern dance companies. Notably, Philadanco’s repertoire today includes Billy Wilson’s ballets, allowing his legacy to live on.
Sources:
Brown, MOBBallet
About, Philadanco
Billy Wilson, Not so Black and White
Anna Owens, Elaine Yu, Ethan Richmond, Daisy Rosalez
