Joffrey Ballet Dancer Christian Holder Dies at 75

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that Christian Holder, noted as a dancer, choreographer, actor, teacher, costume designer, writer, painter and singer, has died at age 75. Holder has been described as "one of the most iconic dancers of the Joffrey company in the 1970s, perhaps in its history."

Read our interview with Holder in 2019 here.

After taking private ballet classes as a child and studying at the Corona Academy Stage School, Holder moved from London to New York City when he was 15 years old. He became a scholarship student at the Martha Graham School and attended the High School of Performing Arts before being offered an apprenticeship by Robert Joffrey.

Holder joined the Joffrey Ballet in 1966 and danced with the company for 13 years, later becoming a principal dancer. Later, Holder became a solo guest artist with the San Francisco Opera for three years, where he choreographed productions of The Merry Widow and Aida. He also created Weren’t We Fools? for American Ballet Theatre, Transcendence for Atlanta Ballet, and for the Joffrey.

Holder has taught ballet for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Steps on Broadway, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, Peridance, and Cedar Lake Dance.

He is also known for his talents outside of dancing, including as a costume designer. Holder created for Tina Turner (from 1973-1984), Ann Reinking, and Margo Sappington’s Toulouse-Lautrec (2000) for Ballet du Capitole (in Toulouse, France) as well as costumes for ballets he choreographed.

Holder wrote and directed a play entitled Ida Rubinstein: The Final Act and wrote the book and lyrics for Verse of Fortune with Noa Ain, inspired by the life of Baudelaire.

His television and movie credits include The Avengers (1961), A Schoolboy’s Hero (1961), Ghost Squad (1963-1964), Story Parade (1964), and Great Performances: Dance in America (for PBS, as the Blackamoor in Petrouchka). He also appeared in the movies Hair (1979) and Magic Sticks (1987).

Also a known painter, Christian and Boscoe Holder’s paintings were exhibited in London in 2010. The Victoria & Albert Museum in London hosted an event entitled Christian Holder: A Life in Performance, New York and London in August 2016. Most recently, his paintings and his father’s were shown together once again at Campbell’s of London gallery in 2020.