Press

Press & recognition

Selected reviews, features, and published work.

Vintage black-and-white performance photograph of three dancers in mid-movement, one leaping with arms flung wide
In performance.
“a flawless and emotionally riveting performance”
— Alexandra Tomalonis, The Washington Post
“Dignity, intensity and courage were the qualities projected in Willis's stirring performance.”
— Alan M. Kriegsman, The Washington Post
“…he appears as if he can float in space.”
— H.B. Kronen, Union News, Becket, MA
“…mesmerizing throughout.”
— M. Auton Michelotti, DanceView, Washington, DC
“they were truly dancing in the dark”
— Carmel Morgan, CriticalDance (2019)

Reviews & features

Reviewed Enter Race, his Kennedy Center–commissioned duet on the history of interracial relationships, under the headline “Willis Straddles Black, White.”

The Washington Post — Lisa Traiger, on Enter Race — Oct 24, 2003

“a sensorially rich and provocative experience”

On Mu, his avatar-driven motion-capture piece — the reviewer described entering the work like traveling through a video game toward his grandmother’s house, where Willis and his grandmother’s avatars dance in the driveway.

The Dance Enthusiast — Christine Jowers, on “Mothers, Myths, Monsters” at Theater Lab, NYC — 2021

“the evening's most mature and assured works”

Singled out his Cocteau Variations duet with Cynthia McLaughlin, calling the pairing intriguing and sensual and the piece a fine sketch of a relationship both formal and emotional.

DanceView Times — Lisa Traiger, on Black Expressions at the Lincoln Theatre — Jan 2004

Contributor of a personal narrative to Black Game Studies, edited by Lindsay Grace (2021).

Black Game Studies — Book contribution