{{Short description|German dancer, ballet master, and teacher (1939–2020)}} {{Infobox person | name = Wilhelm Burmann | image = Wilhelm Burmann.jpeg | alt = Burmann, standing in a ballet position with an outstretched arm | caption = Burmann teaching in 2006 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1939|04|03}} | birth_place = Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany | death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|03|30|1939|04|03}} | death_place = New York City, New York, United States | other_names = | occupation = Ballet master, ballet dancer, teacher | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | partner = Alfonso Catá }}
'''Wilhelm "Willy" Burmann''' (April 3, 1939 – March 30, 2020) was a German dancer, ballet master, and teacher.
== Early life == Burmann was born on April 3, 1939, in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, where he grew up on a farm.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/pageoneplus/corrections-april-17-2020.html|title=Corrections: April 17, 2020|work=The New York Times|date=17 April 2020 |access-date=May 25, 2020}}</ref> He had one sister, Christel Weideman.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Chang|first=Richard|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-wilhelm-burmann-idUSKBN21J6B1|title=Wilhelm Burmann, master teacher to ballet stars, dies at 80; tested positive for coronavirus|date=April 1, 2020|work=Reuters|access-date=April 5, 2020|language=en}}</ref> He began training as a dancer when he was fifteen years old.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Kourlas|first=Gia|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/arts/dance/wilhelm-burmann-dead.html|title=Wilhelm Burmann, Teacher of Ballet's Brightest, Dies at 80|date=April 4, 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 5, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
== Career == Burmann was a principal dancer for companies including Frankfurt Ballet, Grand Théâtre du Genève, and Stuttgart Ballet. He also danced with companies including New York City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, and New Jersey Ballet.<ref name=":0" /> Burmann retired from dancing in 1977.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.dance-teacher.com/face-to-face-wilhelm-burmann-2392284829.html |title=Face to Face: Wilhelm Burmann |first=Harris |last=Green |magazine=Dance Teacher |date=February 2009 |access-date=April 10, 2020}}</ref>
Burmann was a ballet master at the Washington Ballet and the Ballet du Nord.<ref name=":0" /> He was also known for his professional dance classes at Steps on Broadway in Manhattan, which he taught from 1984 until March 20, 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic required classes to be suspended.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2"/> He had also taught at the Melissa Hayden School of Ballet, Harkness Ballet School, and Ballet Arts, and had been a guest member of faculty at companies including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, La Scala, Ballet Nacional Sodre, and The Australian Ballet.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stepsnyc.com/faculty/bio/Wilhelm-Burmann/|title=Wilhelm Burmann|date=March 31, 2020|website=Steps on Broadway|access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref> His teaching style, which was fast-paced and demanding,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dancemagazine.com/wilhelm-burmann-2645612177.html|title=Remembering Iconic Steps Teacher Wilhelm "Willy" Burmann|last=Stafford|first=Abi|date=April 1, 2020|website=Dance Magazine|language=en|access-date=April 5, 2020}}</ref> has been compared to that of George Balanchine, for whom Burmann danced for four years. Burmann was described by ''The New York Times'' in 2004 as "easily the most revered New York ballet teacher of his era".<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Kourlas|first=Gia|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/30/arts/dance-the-drill-sergeant-of-dance.html|title=DANCE; The Drill Sergeant of Dance|date=May 30, 2004|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 5, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Some of Burmann's students included Alessandra Ferri, Julio Bocca, Maria Kowroski, Wendy Whelan, Alexandra Ansanelli, Ángel Corella, and Michele Wiles.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
== Personal life and death == Burmann's longtime partner was Alfonso Catá, who was also a dancer and had been the artistic director of Ballet du Nord. Catá died in 1990 of a brain tumor.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/22/obituaries/alfonso-cata-53-a-dancer-teacher-and-ballet-director.html|title=Alfonso Cata, 53, A Dancer, Teacher And Ballet Director|date=September 22, 1990|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 6, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Burmann began to grow ill in 2018, though he did not ease his teaching schedule. He died on March 30, 2020, in Mount Sinai West hospital from renal failure, after COVID-19 complicated his treatment.<ref name=":0" />
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Burmann, Wilhelm}} Category:1939 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Ballet masters Category:Deaths from kidney failure in New York (state) Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state) Category:German expatriates in the United States Category:Gay dancers Category:New York City Ballet dancers Category:People from Südliche Weinstraße Category:Principal dancers Category:German LGBTQ dancers Category:German gay entertainers Category:German gay artists Category:20th-century German ballet dancers