James Saunders (dancer)
James Saunders (born July 14, 1946 in Wilmington / Delaware ; † August 24, 1996 in Cologne ) was an American dancer and choreographer .
Life
Saunders studied painting and sculpture at the Philadelphia College of Art and from 1968 ballet at the school of the Pennsylvania Ballet Company under Benjamin Harkavy, Edward Caton and Hector Zaraspe. He was later a student of Irene Bartos, Rosella Hightower and Anna Price.
Saunders was a member of the Pennsylvania Ballet, in Maurice Béjart's Ballet des XX. Century, in the Tanz-Forum Köln and most recently first soloist in the Frankfurt Ballet. He has danced leading roles in works by George Balanchine , Hans van Manen , Heinz Spoerli , Glen Tetley , Christopher Bruce and Talley Beatty.
After further educational training with Gabriela Taub Darvash in New York, James Saunders ended his solo career in 1980 and worked a. a. as a visiting professor at the Darvash School in New York. In the early 80s he became artistic director of the Deutsche Ballett-Bühne eV, the founding association of the Ballett International magazine . In 1984 he founded the dance projects Cologne with Christiane Ruff and Kajo Nelles - creativity through movement . He brought dancing amateurs with dancers and choreographers together on stage and realized his holistic approach to art (everyone is a dancer). From 1989 to 1994 he carried out the Creating Movement Projects in Johannesburg and Soweto. In 1996 he received the Cologne Dance Theater Prize for his life's work.
Saunders had a fatal accident on August 24, 1996 during an unsuccessful upswing on a banister as part of his performance Basstanz - Bilderwelten in the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. His estate is in the German Dance Archive in Cologne .
literature
- Kajo Nelles: James - the life, work and visions of the dancer, choreographer and movement teacher James Saunders . Königsförde 1999, ISBN 3-933939-10-0 .
Web links
- Biography and photos, from the German Dance Archive Cologne
- Literature by and about James Saunders in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fatal accident while performing . In: New Germany. August 26, 1996.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Saunders, James |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American ballet dancer and choreographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 14, 1946 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wilmington , Delaware |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 24, 1996 |
| Place of death | Cologne |