Clifford Williams

CLIFFORD WILLIAMS (Company Repetiteur/Artist-in-Residence) attended The Ailey School and The School of American Ballet, both on scholarship. He was a first-level recipient of a National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts award in 1998, and attended The Juilliard School, where he danced works by many choreographers including Lar Lubovitch, Igal Perry Hans Van Manen, Jose Limon, and Mauricio Wainrot. In 2001, he was invited to join Dance Theatre of Harlem, where he danced until 2003.

In 2004, Mr. Williams joined Complexions Contemporary Ballet (New York, New York). He has danced works by Dwight Rhoden, William Forsythe, Nicolo Fonte, and Jae Man Joo. Since 2004, Mr. Williams has assisted Director/Choreographer Dwight Rhoden on numerous projects including ballets for North Carolina Dance Theater, Pittsburgh Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, The Diana Vishneva Project, Ballet San Jose, Israel Ballet, Teatro Dell’Opera Di Roma, as well as for the television show “So You Think You Can Dance.” He has also set Dwight Rhoden’s works on The Ailey School/ Fordam University, Boston Conservatory, Harvard University Marymount University, and NYU Tisch School for the Arts.

In addition to setting works for Dwight Rhoden, Williams is certified in teaching “Nique” the official Contemporary Ballet technique of Complexions Contemporary Ballet; he continues to be a part of educational outreach for Complexions. In 2008, he became a Principal dancer with Compañia Nacional De Danza under the direction of Nacho Duato. Mr. Williams rejoined Complexions in 2009, dancing as Principal until 2012 when he was appointed to artist-in-residence. In 2014 Williams was featured in Debbie Allen’s “The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker,” which aired on BET Network. He is was in the cast of the 2016 Golden Globe nominated Starz Network Mini-series “Flesh and Bone.” Most recently, Mr. Williams performed as featured principal character “Meyer Wolfsheim,” alongside soloists from the Mariinsky Ballet, in an international production of The Great Gatsby, choreographed and directed by Dwight Rhoden.