William Chappell (dancer)

William Chappell
Born
William Evelyn Chappell

(1907-09-27)27 September 1907
Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England
Died1 January 1994(1994-01-01) (aged 86)
Rye, East Sussex, England
Other namesBilly Chappell
OccupationsDancer, ballet designer and director
Years activeLate 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 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.

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 summed up Chappell's dancing career with the words:

'He was a creative spirit which helped to found the national ballet we have today.'

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