Peter Reed

Peter Reed, a dancer, dance-company director and film maker, died on Sunday, May 1, 1994 at his home in Manhattan from complications due to AIDS. He was 40. Reed was born in Cincinnati. He trained as a dancer at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where he became a principal performer and choreographer with the Pacific Ballet. He moved to New York in 1980 and founded the Contemporary Ballet Company. He performed at City Center, the Kitchen, the Band Shell in Central Park, and the Bette Stoler Art Gallery, among other places. Reed also wrote and directed short films. His first feature, "Under Heat," starring Lee Grant and Robert Knepper, had its posthumous world premiere on June 16, 1994 at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Reed's partner, sculptor and print maker, James Ford, died of AIDS on April 14, 1992 at the age of 45.