George Faison

George W. Faison (born December 21, 1945) is an American dancer, choreographer, teacher, and theater producer, and winner of a 1975 Tony (the first African-American to win a Tony), a Drama Desk Award, and a 1991 Emmy Award for choreography. He was a featured dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, founder of the George Faison Universal Dance Experience, and co-founder/Producing Artistic Director of the Faison Firehouse Theater.

Early life

Faison was born December 21, 1945 in Washington, D.C. and attended Dunbar High School. He studied with the Jones-Haywood Capitol Ballet and with Carolyn Tate of Howard University, where matriculated in 1964. As a young man, he performed with the American Light Opera Company.

While at Howard, Faison (who initially planned on pursuing dentistry) worked with director Owen Dodson and saw a production of the Alvin Ailey Company, which helped him make the decision to move to New York City and become a dance. In New York, he took classes with James Truitte, Dudley Williams, Arthur Mitchell, June Taylor, Claude Thompson, and Charles Moore at the School of American Ballet.

Career

From 1967 to 1969, Faison danced with the Ailey, leaving in 1970. He danced in the original 1970 Broadway production of Purlie and founded the George Faison Universal Dance Experience with a budget of six hundred dollars in 1971. The group’s dancers included Faison (who also choreographed and served as Artistic Director Renee Rose, Debbie Allen, Al Perryman and Gary DeLoatch.

During this period, he created several notable pieces, including "Suite Otis" (1971) (set to the music of Otis Redding) for five couples, combining elements of ballet and contemporary styles.

Faison's Broadway debut as choreographer occurred in 1972 with Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, followed by other shows, including Via Galactica, Tilt and The Wiz, where he worked with Stephanie Mills and Geoffrey Holder. Later in his career he worked as a choreographer for entertainers like Ashford and Simpson, Earth, Wind and Fire, Patti Labelle and Dionne Warwick.

He choreographed over two dozen musicals, the Broadway musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1967) with music by Leonard Bernstein; a Radio City Music Hall production of Porgy and Bess (1983); and Sing, Mahalia, Sing (1985) at the Shubert Theater in Philadelphia. He directed and choreographed the show The Apollo - Just Like Magic at the Warner Theater in Washington, which re-created the golden age of the Apollo Theater. In 1989 he conceived and produced the television special, Cosby Salutes Ailiey in celebration of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's thirtieth anniversary. He won an Emmy Award for his choreography in the HBO special The Josephine Baker Story in 1991. In 1997, Faison directed and choreographed King, a musical performed at President Clinton’s inauguration.