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By ROBERT BAXTER Camden, N.J., Courier-Post PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The first time he saw the Phila delphia Dance Company, Cor bett McNeil made a vow. McNeil, then a seventh-grader at a Camden, N.J. school, said to himself, ‘I’m going to dance with this company. McNeil had never taken a dance class. In fact, he had never been to a dance perform ance before. But, somehow, the thrilling first encounter with PHILADANCO made him want to become a dancer. When PHILADANCO took to the stage of the Annenberg Center recently for the first performance in its spring con cert series, McNeil was dancing with the company. In fact, he was dancing his first solo with the company, a solo created by Louis Johnson, who choreographed the film “The Wiz’ and Broadway's “Purlie.” McNeil, 18, still remembers the feeling of exhilaration that swept through his body when he was accepted in his second audition for PHILADANCO. “It was amazing,” recalls the dancer exuberantly. ‘It swept me off my feet. I had dreamed so long about that happening.” Born in Philadelphia, McNeil moved across the river to Cam den at the age of 10 with his parents, Corbett and Gretta sene, and his two older sisters, Coras and Jeneice. He says his family supports his dreams for a career in dance but adds that dancing is not a talent shared by his parents or his sisters. The crucial person in Cor bett’s quest for a dance career turned out to be Benjamin White Jr., the teacher in charge of the dance club at Camden’s Hatch Middle School. White took Corbett to the PHILADANCO performance and carefully nurtured his enthusiasm. “Ben saw that I had some thing,’”’ explains Corbett. ‘‘One day he asked me if I had given my serious thought to becoming a dancer...At that time, I didn’t realize it was as difficult as it is.” He failed in his first audition for the company when he was 14. A year later he went back and won a place in the company’s school as a scholarship student. He spent a year in the non performing company taking company classes and learning the choreography. Then, in June 1981, he appeared on stage with Spyenews in ‘Divided We Fall.”* Less than a year later, Corbett is dancing his first extended solo in ‘Forces of Rhythm.” His appearance in the ballet also marks the first time a cho reographer has utilized his tal ents to create a new work. “I get all sorts of tension, nervousness from working with Louis Johnson,” admits the young dancer.
Newspaper Details
Greenville Record Argus
Greenville, Pennsylvania, US
Thu, May 27, 1982
Page 6
Full Page
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USA 11 Dec 2025
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