William Chappell (dancer)
William Chappell | |
|---|---|
 Chappell in the 1940s | |
| Born | William Evelyn Chappell 27 September 1907 Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England |
| Died | 1 January 1994 (aged 86) Rye, East Sussex, England |
| Other name | Billy Chappell |
| Occupations | Dancer, ballet designer, theatre and opera producer and director |
| Years active | Late 1920s – mid-1980s |
William Chappell (27 September 1907 – 1 January 1994) was a British dancer, ballet designer and director. He is noted for being a pioneering dancer within the companies that formed the basis of the modern British ballet, and was also a celebrated theatrical stage and costume designer for more than 40 ballets or revues, including many of the early works of Sir Frederick Ashton and Dame Ninette de Valois. He also developed a distinctive writing style displayed in voluminous correspondence and in books on ballet, theatre design and on the life of his long-time friend Edward Burra. He had a career in opera production, his works being described "milestones in the rediscovery of baroque opera".
The Oxford Dictionary of Dance described him as "an enormously versatile talent".
In a memorial tribute at the end of his life, the dance writer Peter Brinston described Chappell as the "...creative spirit which helped to found the national ballet we have today."
It has been written of Chappell that he showed "a precocious and bewildering ability to express himself at a high level in all his chosen activities throughout a long career ... Elegant and well read, he was involved in many successes in revue, musicals, ballet, straight plays and opera."