Billy James Hawkains III, was first introduced to dance from the pews of his hometown Baptist church in Detroit, MI. Despite his lack of formal coaching, the fourteen-year-old, soon-to-be dancer began taking classes at Lewis Cass Technical High School where ballet was his first genre of study. Learning at fourteen years of age what others learned at four didn’t come easy, but Billy held tight to the budding passion inside of him.
Now a multidisciplinary dancer, choreographer, writer, and filmmaker; Billy James Hawkains recently made history as the first African American male in over fifteen years to hold an MFA in dance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Hawkains also holds a BFA in dance performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.