Patrick Bissell

Infobox Person

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image_size =
name = Patrick Bissell
birth_name = Walter Patrick Bissell
caption = Patrick Bissell and Galina Samsova dancing the lead roles at the premiere of "Cheri" at the 1980 Edinburgh Festival.
birth_date = birth date|1957|12|01
birth_place = Corpus Christi, Texas, United States of America
death_date = death date and age|1987|12|29|1957|12|01
death_place = Hoboken, New Jersey, United States of America
occupation = Ballet dancer
height = 6' 2" (1.88 m)
spouse = Jolinda Menendez (1982-1983)
parents = Donald and Patricia Bissell
children =

Patrick Bissell (1 December 1957 – 29 December 1987) was an American ballet dancer. He was a leading principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater. On his death at the age of 30 from a drug overdose , he was described by the artistic director of the American Ballet Theater Mikhail Baryshnikov as "without a doubt one of the brightest lights in American Ballet Theater's history, or, for that matter, in the entire ballet world". His death prompted investigations into the alledged widespread drug use within the American Ballet Theater.

Early years

Bissell was born on 1 December 1957 in Corpus Christi, Texas. He was one of the five children of Donald and Patricia Bissell which included his twin brother William, two sisters Susan and Barbara, and a brother Donald. His father was a computer-systems designer with Hiram Walker Inc.cite news|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400EFDA153BF934A15755C0A964948260&scp=72&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Jolinda Menendez Becomes a Bride|date = 27 June 1982|accessdate = 2008-07-18|publisher = "New York Times"] Bissell was a gifted athlete who enjoyed performing feats of daring, notably at the age of 8 he jumped off a convert|30|ft|m|sing=on-high diving board, even though he did not know how to swim. Throughout his youth, he dabbled in every sport--basketball, baseball, swimming, running track and the like. Sports were a necissary part of is life. He was introduced to ballet by his sister Susan who paid him to be her ballet partner; thus he was first paid to dance. He began training in ballet and jazz dance and was soon accepted into a company in Toledo, Ohio.

While Bissell showed early promise as a dancer, he also showed signs of being a troubled young man and began taking drugs at the age of 14. He was expelled from his first school. He was noticed by the famous American ballet dancer Edward Villella who encouraged his parents to send him to a performing arts boarding school. In 1972 he joined the National Academy of Dance in Champaign, Illinois from which he was dismissed for behavior problems. Bissell then spent a year at the North Carolina School of the Arts which he left when he was informed that he should pay more attention to his academic studies. He then won a scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet, where he was encouraged by Lincoln Kirstein and Stanley Williams. He danced the lead roles in three of the four ballets performed by the school in its annual workshop and graduated in 1977.

Career

He joined the "corps de ballet" of the American Ballet Theater in 1977 and, after three months there, he danced the lead male role in "La Bayadere". He moved to the Boston Ballet but returned the following year. In 1978 he was promoted to soloist and to principal dancer in 1979 at the American Ballet Theater. For much of his career, however, Bissell was plagued with injuries, and there were reports of drug and alcohol problems.cite news|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5D8173AF933A05751C1A961948260|title = Patrick Bissell, Dancer, Is Dead; A Principal With Ballet Theater |publisher = "New York Times"|last = Dunning|first = Jennifer|date = 30 December 1987|accessdate = 2008-06-13] Bissell and Gelsey Kirkland were dismissed from the American Ballet Theater in 1980 and 1981 on the grounds of chronic lateness and missed rehearsals—in particular for failing to attend a dress rehearsal on the eve of the company's opening at the Kennedy Center in Washington on 9 December 1980. [cite news|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00E2DE1139F935A35757C0A967948260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/A/Appointments%20and%20Executive%20Changes&scp=10&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Miss Kirkland and Bissell May Rejoin Ballet Theater |date = 6 April 1981|accessdate = 2008-07-18|publisher = "New York Times"] Bissell and Kirkland then appeared as guest artists with the Eglevsky Ballet in its production of Act II of "Giselle" in 1982 at the Hofstra Playhouse in Hempstead, Long Island, New York. [cite news|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803EED71138F934A1575AC0A964948260&sec=&spon=&scp=73&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Ballet: Eglevsky Opener honors the Romantics|date = 27 September 1982|last = Kisselgoff|first = Anna|publisher = "New York Times"|accessdate = 2008-07-18] Subsequently Bissell rejoined the American Ballet Theater.

His repertory of lead roles was wide and varied, including Don Jose in Roland Petit's "Carmen," Franz in "Coppélia," Basil and Espada in "Don Quixote," Albrecht in "Giselle," Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet," Prince Siegfried in "Swan Lake," James in "La Sylphide," Prince Desire in Sir Kenneth MacMillan's "Sleeping Beauty" and lead roles in George Balanchine's "Stravinsky Violin Concerto," "Symphonie Concertante" and "Theme and Variations." He created the role of the Prince in Mikhail Baryshnikov's production of "Cinderella," the leading male role in Anthony Tudor's "The Tiller in the Fields" (1978), Glen Tetley's "Contredances" (1979) [cite web|url = http://www.answers.com/topic/patrick-bissell?cat=entertainment|title = Patrick Bissell|publisher = Dictionary of Dance|accessdate = 2008-07-11] , the title role of Peter Darrell's Chéri (1980) [cite web |url = http://www.davidearl-pianist.net/composer.html|title = David Earl as composer|accessdate = 2008-07-18] and the lead role in Lynne Taylor-Corbett's "Estuary" (1983). [cite news|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DE4DC1138F93BA25756C0A965948260&scp=19&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Ballet: A New Work by Miss Taylor-Corbett|first = Anna|last = Kisselgoff|date = 18 May 1983|publisher = "New York Times"|accessdate = 2008-07-18] In 1984, Bissell starred as a guest artist with the Universal Ballet Company in its first production, Adrienne Dellas's "Cinderella". He was partnered by its leading ballerina and general director, Julia Moon. [cite news|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E5D7113DF937A25757C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1|title = A Korean Dance Troupe With a Russian Look|last = Dunning|first = Jennifer|date = 14 April 1998|publisher = "New York Times"|accessdate = 2008-07-18]

Drug use and death

He was arrested in 1981 in Bloomington, Indiana, and charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct and pushing a policeman. He was given a 30-day jail sentence, however a plea bargain was made whereby the judge ordered him to arrange to give a performance at Indiana University with the proceeds to be given to charity.cite news|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02EED71238F93BA35755C0A967948260&scp=20&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Notes On People; Ballet Dancer to Trade Talent for Jail Sentence |publisher = "New York Times"|last = Krebs|first = Albin|coauthors = Thomas, Robert|accessdate = 2008-07-18|date = 8 June 1981] Bissell was also given a $100 fine.

Bissell married Jolinda Menendez, a principal ballerina with the Pennsylvania Ballet, on 26 June 1982 at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. However the marriage ended after a year due to Bissell's many infidelities. In 1984, company officials from the American Ballet Theater consulted with experts on drug addiction and found a therapist for him. The following year, a condition of his continued employment by the company was that he undergo regular urine tests. The tests were held weekly with results 95 percent negative, however lapses were penalized with fines. In 1987, he spent five weeks at the Betty Ford Clinic in California for intensive therapy, completing the treatment in August. Prior to entering the clinic he had injured his foot and was thus prevented from going on the American Ballet Theater's fall tour. His family blamed his drug use on the "highly competitive dance world in New York City".

He was found dead in his apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey on 29 December 1987. At the time of his death in 1987, he was engaged to fellow dancer at the American Ballet Theater, Amy Rose, and had planned to rejoin the company in January of the following year. The results of an autopsy showed that he died from an overdose of cocaine, codeine, methadone and other drugs. cite news|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4DD1231F93BA25751C0A96E948260|title = Cause of Bissell's Death Ruled a Drug Overdose |publisher = "New York Times"|date = 18 February 1988|accessdate = 2008-06-13] His death prompted charges of extensive drug use in the dance world by Bissell's parents and fellow-dancer Gelsey Kirkland.cite news|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFD71F3DF932A25752C0A96E948260 |publisher = "New York Times"| last = Dunning|first = Jennifer| date = 11 January 1988|accessdate = 2008-07-11| title = For Bissell, All Was Too Much] Kirkland's autobiography "Dancing on My Grave" mentioned Bissell's use of cocaine. Attention was also drawn to the drug therapy program offered by the American Ballet Theater. According to the company's executive director, Charles Dillingham, Bissell had been participating in the therapy program instituted by the company and that "he appeared to have been making progress"cite news|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDC1430F932A35752C0A96E948260&scp=6&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Dance World In Dispute On Drug Use|first = Jack|last = Anderson|date = 1 January 1988|accessdate = 2008-07-18|publisher = "New York Times"] prior to his death. Gelsey Kirkland alleged that Bissell's untimely death was "an unavoidable tragedy caused at least in part by the failure of the ballet world and American Ballet Theater in particular to acknowledge and deal openly with the drug problem", which contrasted Dillingham's statement that "his death came as an utterly horrible surprise". Baryshnikov refused to comment in person, but sent out a statement saying, "We didn't need Gelsey Kirland to tell us about Patrick's addiction. We provided him with a stay at the Betty Ford Clinic for years. The 1988 production of "La Bayadere" by the American Ballet Theatre was dedicated to Bissell who had been notable in the role of Solor. [cite news|url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDA133FF933A15756C0A96E948260&scp=51&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Review/Dance; Season's First 'Bayadere' |last = Dunning|first = Jennifer|date = 20 May 1988|accessdate = 2008-07-18|publisher = "New York Times"]

References

External links

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Persondata
NAME= Bissell, Patrick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Bissell, Walter Patrick
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Ballet dancer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1 December 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH= Corpus Christi, Texas, United States of America
DATE OF DEATH= 29 December 1987
PLACE OF DEATH= Hoboken, New Jersey, United States of America