George Faison

George W. Faison (born December 21, 1945) is an American dancer, choreographer, teacher, and theater producer, and winner of a 1975 Tony, a Drama Desk Award, and a 1991 nominee for the Emmy Award for choreography. He was a featured dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, founder of the George Faison Universal Dance Experience, and co-founder/Producing Artistic Director of the Faison Firehouse Theater.

Faison was born December 21, 1945 in Washington, D.C. and attended Dunbar High School. As a young student he performed with the American Light Opera Company in Showboat, and studied with the Jones-Haywood Capitol Ballet and with Carolyn Tate of Howard University, where he matriculated in 1964 .

While at Howard, Faison (who initially planned on pursuing dentistry) worked with director Owen Dodson and saw a production of the Alvin Ailey Company, which helped him make the decision to move to New York City and become a dancer. In New York, he took classes with James Truitte, Dudley Williams, Arthur Mitchell, June Taylor, Claude Thompson, and Charles Moore at the School of American Ballet.

From 1967 to 1969, Faison danced with the Ailey, leaving in 1970. He danced in the original 1970 Broadway production of Purlie and founded the George Faison Universal Dance Experience with a budget of six hundred dollars in 1971. The group’s dancers included Faison (who also choreographed and served as Artistic Director), Renee Rose, Al Perryman, Gary DeLoatch and Debbie Allen.

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