Clement Andrew Crisp

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(21 September 1926 – 1 March 2022) was a British dance critic. He served as dance critic for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' from 1956 to 2020.

Life and career

Crisp was born in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, in 1926, although for many years he claimed that he was born in 1931. He first became interested in ballet after seeing a performance of ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'' as a child."Remembering Clement Crisp (1926-2022)", Royal Opera House
2 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022. After attending

Oxted School Oxted School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in the England, English town of Oxted, Surrey. It was opened in 1929 as the first mixed grammar school in Surrey and now has over 1,900 pupils aged 11–18 (Years 7-13). H ...

, he spent a year in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, before studying at

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

. For many years he taught French before becoming dance critic for the ''Financial Times'' in 1956. He also served as dance critic of ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' in the 1960s. His focus was on

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, having discovered it as a teenager during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when his parents took him to the

Sadler's Wells Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

, though he also wrote about other forms of dance and had wide-ranging interests. Crisp was the author or co-author of 17 books on dance and dance history, including ''Ballet: An Illustrated History'', co-written with Mary Clarke and published in 1973. In 2021 a collection of his reviews, entitled ''Six Decades of Dance'', was published. He was also librarian and archivist of the

Royal Academy of Dance The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is a UK-based examination board specialising in dance education and training, with an emphasis on classical ballet. The RAD was founded in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Teachers of Operatic Danci ...

for many years. Crisp died on 1 March 2022, at the age of 95.

Awards

Crisp was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award is an honour presented annually by the Royal Academy of Dance, to people who have made a significant contribution to the ballet and dance industry. The award was instituted by Dame Adeline Genee in 1953, ...

in 1992. In the same year he was made a Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

(

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

). In 2003,

Dance Research Dance research is the study of dance, including dance history, ethnochoreology, dance theory, dance anthropology, and dance science. Dance research as an academic discipline is relatively new. In 1967, the first volume of the ''CORD Dance Re ...

published a special Golden Jubilee edition of his work. In 2005, he was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are ...

"for services to ballet".

Books

Crisp's works included: *''Ballet: An Illustrated History'' (with M. Clarke, London, 1973, revised edition, 1992) *''Ballet for All'' (with P. Brinson, London, 1970, revised edition, 1980) *''Making a Ballet'' (with Clarke, London, 1974) *''Ballet in Art'' (with Clarke, 1976) *''Design for Ballet'' (with Clarke, London, 1978) *''Introducing Ballet'' (with Clarke, 1978) *''History of Dance'' (with Clarke, London, 1981) *''The Balletgoer's Guide'' (with Clarke, 1981) *''Dancer'' (with Clarke, 1984) *''Ballerina'' (with Clarke, 1987)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crisp, Clement 1926 births 2022 deaths Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Ballet critics Financial Times people Dance in England Librarians from London English archivists English male non-fiction writers Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British people 21st-century British people