Farewell Bill Akers 1929 – 2010

One of Australia’s most respected dance figures, Mr William ‘Bill’ Akers AM, passed away this week on Monday 22 November 2010 from cancer. He was 81.

Bill’s achievements in the world of ballet are vast. He was an inaugural member of The Australian Ballet and had a 32-year association with the company, as well as a theatre career spanning over six decades. The Australian Ballet’s Artistic Director David McAllister remembered Bill as a fiercely creative and talented colleague. “Bill was part of the early artistic team that shaped our company working closely with Dame Peggy Van Praagh and her successors. As director of productions, he not only illuminated most of the company’s work, he brought his flair and elegance to so many of the ballets that were staged during his long association with our company. He became a great friend of the many stars who graced our shores, and was a true man of the theatre,” McAllister said.

Born in Sydney in 1929, Bill began his career in the arts as an actor, before moving to the other side of the curtain. In the 1950s he worked as stage director for the Borovansky Ballet, before joining The Australian Ballet in its first season in 1962 as technical director.

Over the next three decades, Bill’s association with The Australian Ballet continued, pausing for an eight-year period when he worked for the Victorian Arts Centre. He then rejoined the company in 1983 to become director of productions, where he designed the lighting for all major ballets. He retired from The Australian Ballet in 1994.

In June of this year, he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Australian Dance Awards, held in Melbourne.

Bill is remembered as a very special member of The Australian Ballet and the Australian arts community.