Holly Williams

Holly Williams, interim Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin, has performed nationally and internationally with the companies of Laura Dean, Jose Limon and with Mark Morris, where she was in residence for three years in Brussels, Belgium. In Morris’ company she performed in original casts of such works as The Hard Nut, L’Allegro il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Gloria, Love Song Waltzes, Going Away Party and numerous others. In recent years she has choreographed new works for the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive, State Street Ballet (Santa Barbara), Ballet Austin Senior Young Artists, and for numerous university programs as a guest artist. She recently completed a new work at the Taideakatemia Turun in Turku, Finland, and her recent work Futari Tomo (Two Together) was selected to perform at the National American College Dance Festival in New York. Ms. Williams’ choreography for the Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Austin Theatre Alliance, Dallas Theatre Center and the concert stage have also won her national acclaim. She has presented concerts of her own work in Austin and at the Cunningham Studio in New York, and her dance/video work “Bolero” made its international debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland and her signature work “Black Magic” was performed in St. Johann, Innsbruck, and Salzburg, Austria as part of the Tanzsommer festival in 2004. She has served on dance panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, Dance/USA and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and is currently on the Fulbright Senior Specialists roster. A writer and critic as well, she has contributed to The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Austin American-Statesman and other publications; she currently is President of both the American College Dance Festival Association and the Council of Dance Administrators. She has a BA from Barnard College and an MFA from Texas Woman’s University, from which she received the 2001 Distinguished Alumnae Award in Dance. Now based in Austin, Ms. Williams is an Associate Professor and directs the MFA/Dance program.