ABSTRACT

In Salt Lake City, Willam balanced his desire to promote the Utah Civic Ballet in the community with respect for the university structure in which he still functioned. On campus, ballet classes and rehearsals were carefully scheduled in such a way that students could reasonably complete the requirements for a baccalaureate. Dancers attended other courses before daily company class at 11:00 a.m. and had afternoon time for academic work before returning to the studio for rehearsals. 1 For the first two years, any out-of-town appearances took the form of brief tours for which dancers were officially excused from other classes. Willam’s setup actually contained significant parallels to his brothers’ situation in San Francisco. As Lew benefited from the students taught by Harold at the SFB School, Willam depended on the regular influx of new freshmen who came prepared with solid training from the ballet program he had established through the Division of Continuing Education. The university also provided Willam a corollary to SFB’s “Ballet ‘60s” series for experimental choreography; works created by M.A. students were performed by company members and presented annually in Kingsbury Hall on a “Choreographer’s Showcase” program. 2 The most successful of the Master’s projects entered the company’s repertory and were taken on tour.