John Bailey

JOHN BAILEY – Visual Artist, Choreographer, Dancer

Put on the Music …. Let’s Dance.  Brook Andrews & John Bailey

John Bailey  Yesterday’s Garlands – Yesterday’s Kisses

John Bailey:  Founding Member, MWDCCo, Gifted Dancer, Choreographic Collaborator, Visual Artist, Designer (posters, palm cards), and Costume Designer. John was born in Virginia, January 19, 1941.  His brothers were Jesse (Art) and  and spent time in New Mexico.  He had two brothers, James (Art) and Jesse.  John received his BA in Art Education (interrupted by an active duty for 6 years in the Coast Guard Reserve.  He taught high school art for 8 years.  His first wife Mary and he divorced.  John attended George Washington University and graduated with a Master of Science in Dance.  His dancing was uniquely witty, fluid, casual, and a powerful force of beauty and dramatic intensity.  John was a founding member of Maida Withers and the Dance Construction Company and performed, starting in 1974, with a huge following, for many years.  His contributions to the Company were profoundly unique and unforgettable.

John was a well respected visual artist, noted for his amazing pencil drawings of nude men and women.  He worked with silk and created  layered installations.  He joined with others to curate exhibitions in Richmond, Virginia. He married Frances Wessells, VCU Professor, dance writer, and performing artist. They lived and worked in Richmond, Virginia.

John was an inspiration to all who knew him as a generous human being and a brilliant visual and performing/creative artist, humble and profound!  Maida Withers

John Bailey: Visual Artist: Murals, Drawing, Painting, Multimedia, Hand Painted Dance Costumes, more.

Performance / Creation: Families Are Forever; Put on the Music Let’s Dance; Time Dance; Yesterday’s Garlands and Yesterday’s Kisses; Put on the Music … Let’s Dance; Sound/Dance Events (see long list on the Collaborators John Bailey page).

Hand Painted Costumes: https://maidadance.com/works/catching-butterflies-and-other-things-that-move/


Families Are Forever  John Bailey and Dale Crittenberger
Families Are Forever   John Bailey


Solo / Time Dance      John Bailey


John Bailey drawing & gift to Maida – Original dance company (MWDCCo) & musicians

Click on over 20 dances listed to the right to view John Bailey in performance.

Marilyn Monroe Mural by John Bailey
Dancer and Visual Artist, Washington, DC

In 2001, the Woodley Park Neighborhood Association donated funds and brought Bailey back  to DC to restore the mural to its original vibrancy, as it had faded greatly.[3] New lights, donated by Starwood Urban, were installed to illuminate the mural at night. The Chipotle Mexican Grill on the corner of Connecticut Ave. and Calvert St., located below the mural, pays for the ongoing electrical costs for the lighting.[3]
The mural has gained widespread fame as a Washington D.C landmark. It is a stop on the Old Towne Trolley tourist bus, and is consistently reproduced in paintings, T-shirts, calendars and postcards.[4] It was voted as the first runner-up in the Washington City Paper‘s Reader’s Poll: Best Mural of D.C 2014.[5]

 

Collaborations