George Willis, MA, MFA, Professor Emeritus, SDSU School of Music and Dance, is a founding member and President of the Board of Directors of Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater. Mr. Willis has performed with the Charles Weidman Dance Theatre, San Diego Dance Theatre, San Diego Ballet, the Harry Partch Ensemble, Starlight, Fantasia Espanola (Flamenco), and 3's Company & Dancers. He is a past President of the San Diego Dance Alliance, (SDDA). In 1998 he received the Tommy Life Time Achievement Award from SDDA. In 1999 at the Cultural Center Theatre (CECUT) in Tijuana George Willis received the first Felipe Segura y Margarita Robles Art of Dance medal and certificate were awarded to George Willis.
As director of the San Diego State University Studio Theatre, he has presented over 500 concerts of student and professional dance. In 2007 he received the Outstanding Faculty Award in the Dance Division of the School of Music and Dance.
A California native, inveterate hiker, camper, and all-around outdoor enthusiast, George spent hundreds of patient hours introducing Peter Terezakis to the landscape of the desert southwest. Together they have created light installations and events with attendees ranging from none to a thousand; from the burning summer sands of the Imperial Dunes to the even hotter mid-summer burning rocks of Joshua Tree National Park. They have discovered rattle snakes, windcaves, unmarked desert graves, Native American artifacts, the efficacy of pepper spray, and pounded more steel stakes in to the earth than either care to count.
George has been an invaluable creative partner and close friend since 2001. |
