Karen Williamson
September 3, 1941-April 22, 2007
Karen Williamson, a ballet instructor in several Denver-area dance schools, passed away on April 22. Williamson was a Denver native who was born into an artistic family and naturally began her ballet studies under her mother, Maxine Williamson. She also trained with Lillian Cushing in Denver, and danced as a soloist with the Denver Civic Ballet, as well as performing with Bill McHale's Highlights of Broadway. She traveled to New York in her late teens where she continued to train under Robert Joffrey, Perry Brunson, Meredith Bayliss and Lillian Moore. At the School of American Ballet, Williamson studied with Pierre Vlademiroff, Muriel Stuart, Stanley Williams, Elena Dudinskaya, Felia Doubrowska and Hector Zaraspe, personal coach to Margot Fontyn and Rudolf Nureyev.
Williamson was a member of the Chicago Opera Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and American Ballet Theatre (ABT), and throughout her career toured the United States and abroad with those companies. She appeared in New York seasons at City Center Theatre and The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, and danced with ABT at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. when the company became resident there. With ABT, she also toured Japan and appeared in the full-length feature film "Giselle," shot in Spain, starring Carla Fracci and Erik Bruhn, shot in Spain.
Williamson served on the dance faculties of Smith College, Tufts University, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and California State University at Fresno. She was associate artistic director of Dayton Ballet, in Dayton, Ohio and artistic director of Dayton Ballet II. She has choreographed many works, both classical and contemporary, and is well-known for her floor barre, which focuses on the muscles needed for proper turnout and strength. The Karen Williamson floor barre continues to be offered at Off-Broadway Academy of Dance, and her legacy is carried on by the many students she touched throughout her short life.