About

Boris Willis

Boris Willis at the Watermill Center, 2018

In addition to my own dance company, I have performed with Jacob's Pillow's Men Dancers, STREB, Liz Lerman’s Dance Exchange, BodyCartography Project, and Edgeworks Dance Theater. Recently I have done several projects with Company E in Russia, Ukraine, the UK and the UAE. These projects have ranged from performance, video recording, coordinating projects, creating graphics and real-time animation in Unreal Engine, to creating a video game using motion capture.

I'm an Associate Professor of Computer Game Design at George Mason University, where I teach game design and motion capture animation. Dance and games aren’t separate practices for me. They run through my research, which I’ve presented at conferences including DiGRA/FDG, IndieCade, the Serious Play Conference, the East Coast Games Conference, and the National Dance Education Organization conference.

Two dancers in motion-capture suits with markers performing in a black studio
In the motion-capture studio with Company E.
Boris Willis with the Company E ensemble outdoors by the river
With the Company E ensemble.
Boris Willis with the BodyCartography Project
With the BodyCartography Project in Washington, DC.
Boris Willis with the dancers of Edgeworks Dance Theater
With Edgeworks Dance Theater.
Boris Willis with STREB
With STREB.
Boris Willis with Jacob's Pillow's Men Dancers on tour
With Jacob's Pillow's Men Dancers, on a tour that reached Russia, Holland, and Estonia.
Boris Willis with Liz Lerman's Dance Exchange ensemble
With Liz Lerman's Dance Exchange.
Boris Willis teaching game design in front of a projected Unreal Engine scene
Teaching game design.

Training

  • MFA, Dance and Technology — The Ohio State University (2007)
  • BFA, Dance — George Mason University
  • Diploma, Contemporary Dance — North Carolina School of the Arts

Writing

  • Personal narrative in Black Game Studies (ed. Lindsay Grace, 2021)
  • The Power of Play in Higher Education (co-author, 2019)

Selected recognition

  • Artist-in-Residence, Robert Wilson's Watermill Center (2018)
  • Presentation, Serious Play Conference, Fairfax, VA (2018)
  • Presentation, IndieCade, Los Angeles (2017)
  • Presentation, East Coast Games Conference, Raleigh, NC (2017)
  • Presentation, DiGRA/FDG, Dundee, Scotland (2016)
  • Presentation, National Dance Education Organization conference, Washington, DC (2016)
  • Fellowship in Choreography, Virginia Commission for the Arts (2004)
  • Local Dance Commission, The John F. Kennedy Center (2003)
  • Nominated, Metro DC Dance Award: Emerging Choreographer (2003)

Full CV (PDF)