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
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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.