Frances Wessells

Frances Wessells (born August 8, 1917) is an American dancer, choreographer, and Associate Professor Emerita and founder of the dance department at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). She helped form the department of dance at VCU and is still teaching and dancing professionally in her late nineties.

In her writing as a dance critic for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, she reviewed many dance troupes and star performers, such as Lorry May of the Sokolow Dance Foundation. For 25 years she was the dance critic for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Frances Wessells received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Denver and a Master of Arts from New York University. She taught at Sweet Briar College for three years. She was on the dance faculty at the University of Richmond for 25 years and at VCU for 30 years.

In 2003 Wessells and Robbie Kinter performed for students of geriatric medicine in the medical school of St. Louis University. Dancer Chris Burnside, who taught at University of California, Los Angeles and served as Chair of the Department of Dance and Choreography and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs in the VCU School of the Arts, began his career studying and dancing with Wessells at VCU.

In 2016, at its annual Artsie Awards gala at Virginia Repertory Theatre's November Theatre, with local acting/singing star Desirée Roots hosting, the Richmond Theater Critics Circle awarded Wessells the Liz Marks Memorial Award for Ongoing Contribution to Richmond Area Theater for her significant long-term contributions to the Richmond Art Community as a VCU professor of dance performance, choreography, and history. Wessells received the award along with Marie Goodman Hunter, an "African-American actor, singer and educator who helped break down racial barriers in teaching and performance in central Virginia."

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