Juneteenth

Black Excellence in Dance

The Artistic Leaders of Tony Williams Dance Center & City Ballet of Boston

Tony Williams

Artistic Director & Founder of Tony Williams Dance Center, City Ballet of Boston, and the Urban Nutcracker
Incredible international career, rising to the level of Principal Dancer with Boston Ballet and Royal Winnipeg Ballet
Recipient of the Dance Teacher Magazine Award, the Wheelock Family Theater’s Wheel Award, and the Dr. Michael Shannon Dance Champion Award
Jamaica Plain native!

At age 16, after experiencing trouble as a street gang member, he discovered a pathway to international success through ballet. His strong athletic abilities in track, baseball and gymnastics accelerated his dance training. Mr. Williams began his early training with the Lithuanian ballerina, Tatiana Babushkina. Afterwards, Mr. Williams received a scholarship from the Boston School of Ballet, training with E. Virginia Williams (founder of the Boston Ballet) and Sydney Leonard. Along with Mr. Williams’ first teachers, he also attributes his success to Sam Kurkjian, Hector Zaraspe, Perry Brunson and Frank Bourman. Mr. Williams also owes a great debt to Arnold Spohr, former long-time Artistic Director of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Robert Joffrey, founder of the Joffrey Ballet. These individuals offered invaluable artistic direction which Mr. Williams is totally committed to passing on to future generations of dancers. Mr. Williams joined the Boston Ballet in 1964 and after dancing for only three years, Mr. Williams worked his way up from Corps-de-Ballet to Principal Dancer. He then danced soloist roles with the Joffrey Ballet and was a Principal Dancer with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Gulbenkian Ballet of Portugal, and the Norwegian National Ballet.

Mr. Williams has been teaching in the New England area for over forty years. With this background and as a father of three sons and a grandson, Mr. Williams is very sensitive to the needs of children from all backgrounds. Widely respected as a progressive dance educator, Williams has won the Dance Teacher Magazine Award and Wheelock Family Theater’s Wheel Award, as well as the Dr. Michael Shannon Dance Champion Award from the Boston Dance Alliance. In 2014, he founded the Tony Williams Dance Center in 2000. He created Anthony Williams’ Urban Nutcracker in 2001. Mr. Williams founded City Ballet of Boston in 2018 and Boston City Youth Ballet in 2019. He also founded BalletRox in 1996, American Concert Ballet in 1992, and co -founded Ballet Theatre of Boston in 1986. Currently Mr. Williams is a Trustee of the Walnut Hill School of the Arts and a board member of the Umbrella for the Arts in Concord, MA.

Williams trained at the Boston School of Ballet, where he received a scholarship, and later danced in the Boston Ballet. At that time, a friend and fellow dancer encouraged him to try and pass as white. ‘He said, ‘Tony, you know, to get ahead, you really need to say that you’re white and you’re not Black; you need to pass for something else to get by in this white world.’… And now with my work, working with kids, I’m always talking about diversity and I talk about my story, about inclusion. And it’s not just racially, it’s inclusion of everyone. We’re not all on the same spectrum. Everyone’s someplace, and we all need to accept each other.”
-Tony Williams, in “The Art of Representation,” Winnipeg Free Press

Erika Lambe

Joined Dance Theatre of Harlem at age 16
Remarkable career with Dance Theatre of Harlem, Miami City Ballet and Boston Ballet
Made history as Boston Ballet’s first Black Sugar Plum Fairy
Granddaughter of Roland Hayes, the first Black classical singer to perform at Symphony Hall
Featured in a PBS special, “I’ll Make Me A World”, which chronicled the lives of African Americans in dance.
Boston City Youth Ballet Principal Instructor & Urban Nutcracker Children’s Repertoire Director
Sought after teacher, coach, and ballet mistress

Erika Lambe is a ballet dancer, teacher, and choreographer from Brookline, Massachusetts. She is the granddaughter of Roland Hayes, the renowned tenor who broke barriers as the first Black classical singer to perform at Boston’s Symphony Hall.

Ms. Lambe received her training at Boston Ballet School, the School of American Ballet, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem School. As a student, she performed in numerous Boston Ballet productions, including The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, and was frequently chosen to perform with the Boston Opera Company. At age 15, she was featured in a Chronicle Channel 5 special highlighting the life of a young dancer.

She began her professional career with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, performing in works such as Creole Giselle, The Fall River Legend, Dougla, Banda, Firebird, Les Biches, Les Noces, Holberg Suite, and Voluntaries, as well as Balanchine ballets including Allegro Brillante, Concerto Barocco, Bugaku, Serenade, Stars and Stripes, The Four Temperaments, and Rubies. She danced her first principal role at just 19.

Ms. Lambe later joined Miami City Ballet, expanding her repertoire to include Square Dance, Emeralds, Diamonds, Swan Lake, Valse Fantaisie, Raymonda Variations, Scotch Symphony, Movanissimanoble, Flower Festival at Genzano, and The Nutcracker, among others.

While visiting family in Boston, she was invited to join Boston Ballet, where she performed a wide range of classical and contemporary works. Her repertoire included Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, Carmen, Firebird, La Bayadère, The Nutcracker, Rodeo (with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops), and more. Her Balanchine roles included Serenade, Allegro Brillante, Rubies, The Four Temperaments, Symphony in C, Theme and Variations, and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 3. She also performed works by Mark Morris and Lila York.

Throughout her career, Ms. Lambe performed numerous solo roles and, in 2001, made history as the first Black Sugar Plum Fairy at Boston Ballet. She was also featured in the PBS special I’ll Make Me a World, a documentary highlighting African American contributions to the arts.

Since retiring from the stage, Ms. Lambe has dedicated herself to teaching and choreography, holding positions at Boston Ballet School, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Boston Arts Academy, Charlotte Ballet Summer Intensive, Charles River Ballet Academy, and Acton School of Ballet. She currently teaches at the Tony Williams Dance Center and the Conservatory at Northeast School of Ballet. She also serves as Principal Ballet Instructor for Boston City Youth Ballet and as Children’s Repertoire Director for City Ballet of Boston and the Urban Nutcracker.

In addition to her teaching, Ms. Lambe creates handmade jewelry and designs headpieces for City Ballet of Boston productions. She continues to perform as a guest artist, most recently portraying the Mother in The Urban Nutcracker.

“While she says that doors are more open to performers of color than in her grandfather’s day, Erika is well aware that she’s one of very few African-American ballerinas in the United States. ‘My Grandfather came from nothing and worked his way to international stardom,’ Erika says. ‘When I get discouraged, I remember that, like him, I’m doing something not many others have been able to do.'”
Erika Lambe, quoted in Boston Ballet’s Sightlines Magazine

Ilanga

Co-founder of the doo-wop group The G-Clefs, which performed at the Apollo Theater and on The Ed Sullivan Show
Had two Top 40 hits: “Ka-Ding-Dong” (1956) and “I Understand (Just How You Feel)” (1961)
Participated in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March and the 1995 Million Man March
Helped launch the Roxbury Homecoming Committee, now known for organizing Roxbury’s Juneteenth celebration
Founded and directed dance schools in Boston, Holland and Greece
Beloved mentor for dancers of Tony Williams Dance Center and the Urban Nutcracker

Ilanga was an artist, poet, dancer, musician, and community activist who left a lasting imprint on Boston’s cultural and social landscape. Raised in Roxbury in a highly musical family, Ilanga was deeply shaped by his early exposure to music, art, and activism.

As a young man, he co-founded the doo-wop and R&B group The G-Clefs alongside his brother Chris and several cousins. The group became a local sensation, performing at venues such as the Strand Theatre and the Wonderland Ballroom, before going on to national acclaim with appearances at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and on The Ed Sullivan Show. They achieved two Top 40 hits with “Ka-Ding-Dong” (1956) and “I Understand (Just How You Feel)” (1961), establishing their place in American music history.

Ilanga’s commitment to social justice was evident from a young age. At 15, he founded The Band of Angels, one of the first integrated, co-ed social clubs in Boston, focused on community service and youth development. He later joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), participated in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march, and attended the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, D.C. In the 1990s, he was instrumental in establishing what is now known as Roxbury’s annual Juneteenth celebration, originally part of the Roxbury Homecoming Committee.

In the 1970s, he adopted the name Ilanga, meaning “The Sun” in Zulu, marking a new chapter in his artistic evolution. He moved to Europe to further his dance career, forming an Afro-jazz dance company in Amsterdam, and later settling in Greece, where he taught and performed for over 20 years. His work blended African diasporic traditions with contemporary forms, inspiring students and audiences across continents.

Returning to Boston in the 1990s, Ilanga joined the Tony Williams Dance Center in Jamaica Plain as Director of Outreach, mentoring countless young dancers. He also became a beloved figure in the Center’s signature production, The Urban Nutcracker, where he portrayed the Grandfather character and performed with the G-Clefs.

Outside of his artistic endeavors, Ilanga was a spiritual seeker and longtime member of the Self-Realization Fellowship, a global spiritual organization. He taught and practiced hatha yoga, and infused his life with mindfulness and joy. As an author and poet, Ilanga published two books: Cycles: A Memoir, and The 2020 Birthday Book of Message: An Inspirational Thought For Each Day. Through both his written and lived work, he left a message of love, peace, and unity.

Ilanga’s legacy is carried on through the many lives he touched as a mentor, friend, family member, and artist. Described by those close to him as warm, generous, and magnetic, he exemplified a life of purpose, passion, and compassion.