Aat Veldhoen (1934-2018). Two drawings of the dancer Billy Wilson. 1964. Het Rembdrandtmuseum.
Billy Wilson (1935-1994) was an American black dancer, choreographer and director who was associated with the Netherlands Ballet from 1959/61 and then danced with the Dutch National Ballet as a soloist through 1964. Billy Wilson died in New York on August 15, 1994, as a result of AIDS.
He was working in Broadway shows when he was brought to the Netherlands in 1959 by Sonia Gaskell to dance with the Netherlands Ballet and the Dutch National Ballet. After that, he was involved as choreographer and director in numerous musicals, including the successful 1976 Broadway production Bubbling Brown Sugar. Since then, Wilson has worked alternately in New York and the Netherlands. For Alvin Aily American Dance Theatre, his productions included the production Winter of Lisbon (1993). In the Netherlands he directed performances of Opus One in 1990 and 1993.
See more about Billy Wilson:
https://www.dancerswelost.org/billy-wilson/
