James Thurston was a professional dancer, who performed with the
NYC-based George Faison's Universal Dance Experience from 1971-75. I
seek his birhdate & yr. I can pay $4.00

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Request for Question Clarification by aditya2k-ga on 24 Nov 2002 03:37 PST

Hi bluestreak,

   Is this the same James Thurston you're referring to?
http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=93664

Cheers,
aditya2k

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Clarification of Question by bluestreak-ga on 24 Nov 2002 07:13 PST

Yes, adiya2k,                                                         
         He is one and the same. He is also black. When I saw him
performing, he wore a short beard. And he gave ballet classes to the
company members. Man, waw he good.

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Request for Question Clarification by luciaphile-ga on 07 Dec 2002 14:57 PST

Hi bluestreak,

I was actually working on this question today. Can you share where
you've looked already? I may have a lead on him, but not sure it's the
right guy. Thanks!

Regards,
luciaphile-ga

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Clarification of Question by bluestreak-ga on 07 Dec 2002 15:39 PST

Luciaphile,                                                           
         Here is what I have on James Thurston. He was a black,
muscular modern jazz dancer, who performed with the George Faison
Universal Dance Experience from 1971-75. He gave the company members
ballet classes. His ballet is what made his modern jazz amazing. He
was considered a "modern" dancer in the same sense as the Alvin Aily
dancers. As aditya2d contributed in his link, James performed in the
Broadway show Treemonisha from Oct.-Dec.,'75. He served as assistant
choreographer as well as a dancer. When I saw him dance in the George
Faison group around 1974, he was around 27 I would say. I often find
birthdates through Anybirthday.com.  But I haven't found Thurston yet.
Bluestreak

Bluestreak:

I found a James Thurston referenced on the web site
http://www.smartedu.net/mcf/content_Detail.cfm?ID=46 which is a page
listing books that deal with theater.  Then I searched that name in
the Library of Congress and discovered the referenced book and others
by him.  However, this may not be the same James Thurston as you seek.
 Do you know if he has an interest in theater props?  The book
listings are at http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=James+Thurston&Search_Code=NAME_&PID=4925&CNT=25&BROWSE=1&HC=6&SID=1

I searched

"James Thurston" dancer

and the results page is located at
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22James+Thurston%22+dancer

Hope this helps.  When searching names, place quotation marks around
the name and then add a keyword after.  This always helps me greatly
in searches I do to pin down the exact name.  You don't have to wade
through tons of unrelated results.

On a hunch, I also searched "Jim Thurston" + dancer but it only
returned one link.  Again, it might not be the same person.

Hi Journalist,                                                        
         I've seen those references long ago. While it is possible
that he left dancing in his late 20's and became a professor, I doubt
it. Was he the same guy who was into staging & props?  Anything's
possible.  But I'd like to see some linkage first before I assume it's
the same guy. Concerning searching, I almost always use the advance
search. I then use the exact phrase as my main subject, and THEN use
the quotation marks for the "all of these words" window. And I also
use the "without the words" to exclude close misses.

I'm not a 100% sure on this, but it seems quite possible that your
James Thurston died between 1990 and 1999. I came across several
articles in the Washington Post that mention Thurston in connection
with dance and choreography. There are no mentions past 1990. Then in
1999, there are two short pieces about a memorial for artists who
suffered from AIDS, and a dancer James Thurston named is listed as one
of the deceased.

"Here & Now." Washington Post. December 5, 1999.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/archives/advanced.htm

If indeed this is the same James Thurston you're looking for, then
that gives us a 9 year span to try and pinpoint his death which isn't
going to be easy. I haven't been able to find an obit, but maybe
another researcher would have better luck.

Regards,
luciaphile-ga

luciaphile,                                                           
         I understand. Thank you for looking at him. I'm aware that
I'm giving you guys so very little to go on in some of these cases.
But for the future visitors to my database, I have to say I made every
effort. I knew I couldn't find these subjects without help. So I feel
that life sent me you guys, a tiny band of super-sleuths, with
wondrous, legendary abilities, almost like the Justice League of
America, who can restore these other legendary heroes (my subjects) to
their rightful place of honor. You're helping rescue them from their
unfair sentence of obscurity to their original state of recognition.
And for that I am beyond grateful.