093_HR0297

 
                                     LRB093 11795 HSS 15814 r

 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members of the House of  Representatives  of
 3    the  State  of  Illinois wish to offer congratulations to the
 4    Sammy Dyer School of the Theater on the occasion of its  70th
 5    anniversary; and

 6        WHEREAS, The Sammy Dyer School of Dancing was established
 7    in  May of 1931 by the late Sammy Vashon Dyer; the school was
 8    Chicago's first  of  its  kind,  for  both  African  American
 9    children  and white children to be trained in dance; in 1951,
10    Mr. Dyer created a line of girls known as the Dyerettes;  the
11    Dyerettes toured the east coast and other parts of the world;
12    and

13        WHEREAS,  After a lingering illness, Mr. Dyer passed away
14    in August of 1960; the school was then  directed  by  Shirley
15    Hall; she established the Sammy Dyer School of the Theater as
16    a  memorial  to  the  late  Mr. Dyer; she developed a line of
17    dancers known as "The Vashonettes",  who  toured  with  Sammy
18    Davis  Jr.; she went on to form an extended line known as the
19    "Junior Vashonettes"; students of hers have credits in stage,
20    film, and television, including the television  series  "Star
21    Trek";  "Coco";  Pearl Bailey's "Hello Dolly!"; "Don't Bother
22    Me, I Can't Cope"; "The Nutcracker"; "Porgy  and  Bess";  the
23    movie  "Piece  of  the  Action";  Playboy  Casinos in Nassau,
24    Bahamas, and Las Vegas, Nevada; and the Broadway shows "Black
25    and Blue" and "Jelly's Last Jam"; and

26        WHEREAS, Miss Hall married music entrepreneur Ralph  Bass
27    and  continued  teaching  in  Chicago  for 36 years after Mr.
28    Dyer's death;  she  promoted  the  foreign  exchange  culture
29    programs to Nassau, Bahamas and Paris, France, enabling young
30    persons  to acquire an understanding of people and culture of
31    other countries; and

32        WHEREAS, Mrs. Hall-Bass passed away in 1998 and the Sammy
 
                            -2-      LRB093 11795 HSS 15814 r
 1    Dyer School of the Theater Board  of  Directors  assumed  the
 2    administrative  duties  of  the  school; they have pledged to
 3    continue the goals and objectives established by Mr. Dyer and
 4    Mrs.  Hall-Bass  and  to  pursue  contemporary  endeavors  to
 5    prepare young people for the  arts  of  the  new  millennium;
 6    therefore, be it

 7        RESOLVED,   BY   THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE
 8    NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,  that
 9    we  congratulate  the Sammy Dyer School of the Theater on the
10    occasion of its 70th anniversary; and be it further

11        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
12    presented  to the Board of Directors of the Sammy Dyer School
13    of the Theater as an expression of our respect and esteem for
14    the work the school does to further the arts in the lives  of
15    young people.