Sebastian, Stuart, 1950-1991

Stuart Sebastian was born July 26, 1950, in Dayton, Ohio. His parents were long-time Dayton Journal Herald staff member, Virginia Sebastian, who died in 1988, and William R. Sebastian,who died when Stuart was 3.

Stuart began studying dance in 1957 with Dayton Ballet founders Josephine and Hermene Schwarz at the Schwarz School of Dance,and joined the Dayton Civic Ballet as a trainee at age 12 in 1962. The next year, after auditioning for New York City Ballet founder and choreographer, George Balanchine, he was selected in a highly competitive national program for a Ford Foundation scholarship.

At 14, Sebastian choreographed his first ballet for the Dayton Civic Ballet, Birthday of the Infanta. The following year he had his first paid dancing position with the Cincinnati Summer Opera.After graduation from Colonel White High School, he joined the Harkness Youth Ballet in New York and toured Europe with the Harkness Ballet.

Sebastian then became a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Washington, D.C. where he partnered Margot Fonteyn when she performed as a guest artist with the company. He also attended American University and graduated with magna cum laude honors.

In 1974, he choreographed a work for the Dayton Ballet entitled Willoughby, which captured the attention of Joffrey Ballet director, Robert Joffrey and the Metropolitan Opera's, Anthony Bliss. Sebastian then embarked on a career as a free-lance choreographer, working in the U.S., England, and Germany.

In 1980, he returned to the Dayton Ballet as director and choreographer, quickly making his mark by bringing in new dancers,creating the company's first full-length ballet (Sleeping Beauty and leading the company to New York for a warmly received series) of performances there.

In 1990, he began a new association as house choreographer with the Royal Ballet of Flanders, where his Camelot was well received,and he announced he would be stepping down after 10 years with the Dayton Ballet.

Stuart Sebastian eventually choreographed over 25 ballets,including six full-length works. He died of AIDS on January 16,1991, at the age of 40.

From the guide to the Stuart Sebastian Papers, 1966-1991, (Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives)