Peter Boneham (born November 7, 1934) is an American-born Canadian

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

, dance educator and artistic director. To date, he has been the longest serving artistic director for a Canadian contemporary dance company. He was born in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, trained in

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 ...

at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

and performed with various companies in

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, including the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

, the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

Ballet and the

William Dollar William Dollar (April 20, 1907 – February 28, 1986) was an American dancer, ballet master, choreographer, and teacher. As one of the first American ''danseurs nobles'', he performed with numerous companies, including the Philadelphia Opera Ballet ...

Concert Ballet Group. In 1964, he came to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

to join Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. In 1966, he joined

Le Groupe de la Place Royale Le Groupe Dance Lab (formerly Le Groupe de la Place Royale) was a contemporary dance research centre formed in Montreal in 1966 as a dance company. It re-located to Ottawa in 1977 and changed its name and artistic mission in 1988. It closed its door ...

, the first professional contemporary dance company in Canada, as assistant director. In 1971, he became artistic director for the company, which moved to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

in 1977. Le Groupe performed works by Boneham and other Canadian choreographers. In 1988, the company changed its name and its focus to become Le Groupe Dance Lab, a dance laboratory where new choreographers could develop. Le Groupe Dance Lab closed in 2009. Boneham had stepped down as artistic director in July the year before after naming a successor. He received the Jean A. Chalmers Award for Creativity in Dance in 1991, the Dance Ontario Award in 1992 and the Victor Tolgyesy Award in 1996. Boneham was given a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for lifetime achievement in 2005. He was named to 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 ...

in 2008. In 2010, a book ''Peter in Process: Peter Boneham’s Sixty Years in Dance'' was published by Dance Collection Danse.

References

External links

Peter Boneham fonds (R12828)
at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boneham, Peter 1934 births American emigrants to Canada Canadian choreographers Members of the Order of Canada Living people Governor General's Award winners