Fernand Nault, OC, CQ (27 December 1920 – 26 December 2006) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

dancer and choreographer.

Early life and career

He was born Fernand-Noël Boissonneault in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. After he abandoned his original career intent of becoming a priest, he studied dance with Maurice Morenoff in Montreal and later with prominent teachers in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. In 1944, Nault was hired by the American Ballet Theatre at an audition in Montreal to replace an injured dancer. He went on to become a distinguished character dancer, ballet master with the company, and later director of the company's school. After twenty-one years with the company, he returned to Montreal in 1965 and accepted the invitation of

Ludmilla Chiriaeff Ludmilla Chiriaeff (January 10, 1924 – September 22, 1996) was a Latvian-Canadian ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, and company director. Biography Ludmilla Alexandrovna Otsup was born in Riga to a Russian-Jewish father Alexandr Otsup ...

to become co-artistic director and resident choreographer of

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (GBCM) is a ballet company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A creative and repertory company, it performs works that reflect the diverse trends of contemporary ballet. History Les Grands Ballets Canadien ...

Working in Canada

Nault's best-known work is probably his spectacular production of ''Casse-Noisette'' (''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...

''), which has been performed annually during the Christmas season in Montreal for many years. Other major works include ''Carmina Burana'', created in 1962 and given a new production in 1966 by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens for the company's season during

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

, and the hugely successful rock ballet ''Tommy'', created in 1970 and based on the

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

by The Who. Nault was also choreographer and ballet master for the École Supérieure de Danse du Québec, the school established by Madame Chiriaeff in 1966. He remained active with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens for many years and in 1990 was named choreographer emeritus, a title he held until his death.

Working in the United States

Besides his work for Canadian companies, he was also guest choreographer for several troupes in the United States, including the Denver Civic Ballet, the Atlanta Ballet, and the

Colorado Ballet Colorado Ballet encompasses a 31-member professional performing ballet company, a studio company for advanced dance students, an Academy, and an education and outreach department. Based in downtown Denver, Colorado, Colorado Ballet serves more tha ...

, for which he also served for a time as artistic director.

Honors and death

Nault was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in 1977 and a Chevalier de l' Ordre National du Québec in 1990. In 2000, Nault received a

Governor General's Performing Arts Award A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's foremost honour in the performing arts. He died in Montreal the day before his 86th birthday after a long battle with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

References

External links

Fernand Nault page at Canadian Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nault, Fernand 1920 births 2006 deaths Canadian choreographers Canadian male ballet dancers Knights of the National Order of Quebec Officers of the Order of Canada Neurological disease deaths in Quebec Deaths from Parkinson's disease Entertainers from Montreal Prix Denise-Pelletier winners Governor General's Performing Arts Award winners LGBT dancers Canadian expatriates in the United States 20th-century LGBT people