Originally from Mississippi, William Byram (he/they) is a director & choreographer currently based in London, UK. William’s work seeks to celebrate yet challenge the classical canon through telling stories of queer resilience.

He has most recently directed Portrait of a Prima Donna and Die Fledermaus for Salon Opera and the first UK revival since its premiere in 1898 of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Dream Lovers, funded by Arts Council England, The British Library and Stanley Arts. His production of Dido & Aeneas (choreographer) won 2nd place for Best Production from the USA National Opera Association. He has been featured in One Dance UK and Dance Arts Journal, with reviews in The Dance Enthusiast, Opera Magazine, The Reviews Hub, The Stage and others.

He has worked as an assistant director & movement director for English Touring Opera, Opera Holland Park, The Grange Festival, Dorset Opera, Purchase Opera, Trinity Laban Opera, Instant Opera, Opéra de Baugé, St Pauls Opera and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He has worked with directors such as Cecilia Stinton, Robin Norton - Hale, Martin Constantine, Paul Curran, Oliver Platt, John Ramster, Martin Lloyd Evans and others. William’s choreography has been commissioned by Battery Dance Festival (NYC), JCE Jazz Dance Project, Trinity Laban, Dancers Responding to AIDS, and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. As a dancer, he has performed the works of George Balanchine, Merce Cunningham and Wayne McGregor and has worked with Ohad Naharin, Maxine Doyle, Kinsun Chan, and Maya Taylor.

After studying at the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, SUNY, he received the Bert Terborgh Award for creativity, leadership & vision. Later in 2021-2022, he was the US-UK Fulbright Postgraduate Scholar in Dance at Trinity Laban and completed a fellowship in opera direction at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

William also teaches dance and movement for singers at the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity Laban and will be published in the upcoming Oxford Handbook of Ballet Pedagogy.