NILES FORD (1959–2012)

Jennifer Dunning reports for the New York Times that Niles Ford, performer and choreographer, has died. He was fifty-two. Ford was an important member of the downtown New York performance scene of the 1980s. Ford’s practice was rooted in ballet, jazz, and modern dance, but often times focused on political and cultural themes. He received a BFA from University of the Arts in Philadelphia and a master’s from Tisch School of Arts at New York University. He also trained in ballet with Walter Raines and Lupe Serrano, and studied choreography with Bessie Schonberg. He received a Bessie Award in 1993 for his dancing in Merián Soto’s Historias_.