ARTIST

Headshot James Williams

James Williams

James began his dance training at age 8 with the Palm Beach Ballet Center under the direction of Joan Miller. He became well versed in tap dancing and Jazz, and eventually began dancing ballet when he was 12. At age 18 James attended the Theatre Dance Workshop in New York, where he worked with Broadway greats such as Buzz Miller, Bob Rizzo and Karen Baker. Ms. Baker was impressed with James and asked him to be in her production of 42nd Street at the Candlewood Playhouse in Milford, CN. That same year he moved to Houston, TX to continue his training on scholarship at the Houston Ballet Academy.

James has danced professionally with the Houston Ballet, St. Louis Ballet, Ballet Dallas, Ballet Oklahoma/Oklahoma City Ballet, and has completed three tours to Japan with Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Of the many ballets James has performed in, some of his principal roles include Brian Pitts' Three Musketeers, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, James Clouser’s Carmina Burana, Victor Gsovsky’s Grand Pas Classique, and George Balanchine’s Valse Fantasies. He has also been featured in, Bronislava Nijinska’s Les Beech, Brian Pitts' Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer's Night Dream, Gail Vartanian’s Exotic Birds and Night Dreams, and Amy Seiwert's Finding/Almost.

His theatre credits include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 42nd Street, Fiddler on the Roof, Club Stardust, and Guys and Dolls with Lyric Theatre in OKC, Music Man, Fiddler on the Roof, and My Fair Lady with Casa Manana Theatre in Ft. Worth, 42nd Street with Candlewood Playhouse in Milford, CN., My Fair Lady and The Mikado at the Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, FL.

James is an ABT NTC Fellow with certification in levels Primary- 5 of ABT’s National Training Curriculum. He also has training in the NDI method. James has been teaching for over 15 yrs. While in Dallas he taught for City Ballet of Dallas, and the Ballet Academy of Texas. He was the acting director for Academy of Dance Arts in Yukon, OK. Where he taught ballet, tap, jazz, modern, contemporary, and some hip hop. James was also the ballet instructor for Harding Fine Arts Academy for 3 years. This began as part of the Oklahoma City Ballets Ballet Reach Program. James has the privilege of being the founding teacher for the Oklahoma City Ballet’s Ballet Reach Program. Now in its 10th season, this program provides, ballet for Oklahoma A+ Schools in the Oklahoma City Metro, and many after school programs. James has been a proud teacher at The Yvonne Chouteau School for the last 7 years. He also is capable of teaching tumbling, juggling and voice.