Billy Wilson and Sylvester Campbell

Sylvester Campbell joined the Dutch National Ballet in 1960 and Billy Wilson joined a year later in 1961. They were the only two Black American dancers, and along with 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. When Billy joined, Campbell assumed they would bond over being the only Black Americans in the company. However, because they were the only Black Americans in an environment that still placed whiteness on a pedestal, they ended up competing for many roles. Campbell especially recounts being pushed out of many roles when Wilson married Sonja van Beers, the prima ballerina of the company. 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

 

More about Sylvester Campbell

Born in Oklahoma in 1938, Sylvester Campbell trained at Jones-Haywood in Washington DC and School of American Ballet in New York. He became a member of New York Negro Ballet in 1957 and after the company folded, the Het Netherlands Ballet (now Dutch National Ballet) in 1960. Campbell was a principal dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet from 1972-1975. Campbell returned to the United States because he missed his home. In 1977, he won a prize at Moscow’s International Ballet Competition. He was the director of the dance Department of the Baltimore School for the Arts for 15 years after his dance career. He died in Baltimore in 1997 from respiratory failure. See more

Sources:

Sylvester Campbell, 59, a Pioneer Among Black Classical Dancers, The New York Times
Sylvester Campbell, acclaimed ballet dancer, 59, The Baltimore Sun

 

 

Elaine Yu