Jalen Williams began dancing in his hometown of Saint Petersburg, Florida at the age of six. He was enrolled into Perkins Elementary School for the Magnet Arts. There, he was first introduced to dance by Rebecca Hobbs, and Sean Musselmen. He continued training in dance as a focus, throughout the Pinellas county schools, at John Hopkins Middle, and Gibbs High School. During his time in the schools, he received a scholarship from a small studio, The Academy of Ballet Arts, under the artistic leadership of Suzanne Pomerantzeff. After graduating from high school, he furthered his training, and was accepted into the Ballet Department at the University of Utah. Here, he was able to hone in on his technique, and get more of an understanding in the history of classical ballet. After graduating from Utah, he has had opportunities to dance professionally as a soloist for The Ballet Theatre of Maryland, BalletVirginia, and currently for The Dayton Ballet. Over the course of his training, Mr. Williams has been accepted into many prestigious summer programs, such as a scholarship student at The Boston Ballet, Next Generation Ballet, Ballet West, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, The Nutmeg Conservatory, The Rock School, and Oregon Ballet Theatre. Also, he has had the privilege to dance in works choreographed by Lloyd Whitmore, Talley Beatty, Patricia Paige Parks, Bliss Kohlmyer, Eloy Barragan, Ilya Kozadayev, Val Caniparoli, Matthew Neenan, Sir Brock Warren, Marquis Floyd, Dan Higgins, Lydia Roberts-Coco, Dwight Rhoden, Richard Wascko, and Jay Kim.

Source:

Jalen Williams, Dayton Dance Initiative

See also:

Ballet Program Students Present “grayspace”, The University of Utah School of Dance

Video links:

Mini-Documentary on Black Ballet Dancer