Vincent Paterson (born May 4, 1950) is an American director and choreographer who has had an expansive career in many parts of the entertainment industry including film, Broadway, concert tours, opera, music videos, television and commercials. He has achieved success worldwide as a director and choreographer.

Career

Music

Paterson collaborated with

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

on various projects, including directing and choreographing Madonna's '' Blond Ambition Tour'', the centerpiece for the documentary '' Madonna: Truth or Dare'' (also known as In Bed with Madonna outside of North America). He created Madonna's "Marie Antoinette/Vogue" performance for the

MTV Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

and her appearance on the Academy Awards. He also choreographed Madonna in the film ''Evita'' (1996). For

, he is one of the two fighter dancers in "

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, '' Thriller'' (1982). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. Jones encouraged Jackson to include a rock song on the album. Jackson l ...

" videoclip, and was assistant choreographer and a zombie dancer in "

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

". He co-directed and co-choreographed Jackson's ''Bad'' tour as well as co-choreographing Jackson music videos "

Smooth Criminal "Smooth Criminal" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on November 14, 1988, as the seventh single from his seventh album, '' Bad'' (1987). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. The lyrics add ...

", " The Way You Make Me Feel", "

Dirty Diana "Dirty Diana" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It is the ninth track on Jackson's seventh studio album, ''Bad'' (1987). The song was released by Epic Records on April 18, 1988, as the fifth single from the album. It prese ...

", " Speed Demon", " Black or White" and live performances for the

Super Bowl XXVII Halftime show The Super Bowl XXVII halftime show took place on January 31, 1993, at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California, as part of Super Bowl XXVII. In an effort to increase its profile after being counterprogrammed by an ''In Living Color'' special the pre ...

, the

Grammys The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, and the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

10th Anniversary. He also co-directed and co-choreographed the music video for Jackson's hit " Blood on the Dance Floor".

Films

Paterson directed (with one hundred cameras) and choreographed the musical sequences in

Lars Von Trier Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominat ...

's film ''

Dancer in the Dark ''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical drama film written and directed by Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...

'', which was awarded the Palme d'Or at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. He has choreographed several films, including '' The Birdcage'', '' Closer'' for director

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...

and ''

Evita Evita may refer to: Arts * Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name * Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron * Evita (album), ''E ...

'' for Alan Parker. ''

Threnody A threnody is a wailing ode, song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. The term originates from the Greek word θρηνῳδία (''threnoidia''), from θρῆνος (''threnos'', "wailing") and ᾠδ� ...

'', his 2002 short dance-film reflection on September 11, won the Gold Jury Award at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival. He also choreographed the videos "

Hot for Teacher "Hot for Teacher" is a song by the American rock band Van Halen, taken from their sixth studio album, ''1984''. The song was written by band members Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth, and produced by Ted Temple ...

" for Van Halen and " California Girls" for

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...

as well as videos for

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

, Sheena Easton,

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and Julie Brown. His initiation into the opera world was his direction of the TV program ''

Anna Netrebko Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (russian: Анна Юрьевна Нетребко; born 18 September 1971) is an Austrian operatic soprano with an active international career and performed prominently at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna ...

: The Woman, The Voice''. The DVD is the top selling classical DVD in European history. He directed the television film ''

In Search of Dr. Seuss ''In Search of Dr. Seuss'' is a 1994 American television film chronicling the adventures of a news reporter, Kathy Lane, (Kathy Najimy), who enters the world of Dr. Seuss by opening a magical book. Also starring in the film (in order of appearanc ...

'', which received seven

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominations. He choreographed

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

'' starring

Glenn Close Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...

and has served as choreographer for several Academy and

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

programs. As a cinematic tribute to his direction and choreography in an array of electronic media, The Lincoln Center Film Society presented an evening entitled "Vincent Paterson, Master of the Media." A similar evening was previously held at

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Cinematheque Francais A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typica ...

Commercials

Paterson has choreographed over two hundred and fifty commercials including commercial campaigns for

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

, GE, Rubbermaid and Nike, directed commercial campaigns for

Payless ShoeSource Payless (formerly known as Payless ShoeSource Inc.) is an international discount footwear chain. Established in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shaol Pozez, Payless was a privately held company owned by Blum Capital, and Golden Gate Capital. In 1961, i ...

and

El Pollo Loco El Pollo Loco (Spanish for "The Crazy Chicken") is the name of two independent restaurant chains that specialize in Mexican-style grilled chicken. Both were founded by Juan Francisco Ochoa. He established the first El Pollo Loco restaurant in G ...

, for the television series ''

Dharma and Greg Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

'' and a documentary for Project Angel Food. As a dancer in his early career, he danced for

Shirley MacLaine Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty, April 24, 1934) is an American actress, author, and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed and eccentric women, MacLaine has received numerous accolades over her seven-dec ...

and was

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...

's partner on her TV series for two years. He appeared in many TV specials with

Linda Carter Linda Carter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Kellie Bright. She first appeared on 19 December 2013 and her casting was announced alongside her on-screen partner, Mick Carter (Danny Dyer). Linda was in ...

Cheryl Ladd Cheryl Ladd (born Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor; July 12, 1951) is an American actress, singer, and author best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the ABC television series ''Charlie's Angels'', whose cast she joined in its second season in 1977 to ...

, the Osmonds, among others. He partnered both

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

and

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

in music videos. Paterson is featured in the Smithsonian publication, "Masters of Movement: Portrait's of America's Greatest Choreographers." He has also served as a judge on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

's dance reality series ''

Step It Up and Dance ''Step It Up and Dance'' is an American reality television competition series where contestants are supposed to "learn what it takes to make it big in the cutthroat dance industry". Actress and dancer Elizabeth Berkley serves as host, and director ...

'' along with fellow choreographer

Nancy O'Meara Nancy O'Meara is an American dancer, choreographer and occasional actress. O'Meara was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts with a strong technical background, trained in all forms of dance. Her choreography is known to be fast-paced and po ...

and actress and dancer

Elizabeth Berkley Elizabeth Berkley (born July 28, 1974) is an American actress. She played Jessie Spano in the television series ''Saved by the Bell'' and Nomi Malone/Polly Ann Costello in the 1995 Paul Verhoeven film ''Showgirls''. She voiced the title role o ...

. The highly acclaimed documentary about Paterson's life, "The Man Behind The Throne," has been shown nationally and internationally and has garnered numerous awards for Swedish director Kersti Grunditz. He was made a Fellow at

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Broadway

Paterson's direction of the play ''Gangsta Love'', set in a boxing club, earned him a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Drama-Logue award for outstanding director. He also directed

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

's National BlackLight Theater in ''

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan ...

''. Paterson has a Tony nomination for his work as choreographer on '' Kiss of the Spiderwoman'', starring Chita Rivera on Broadway. He choreographed

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

's West End production of ''Lenny'' for director Sir Peter Hall and

Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Leadersh ...

's '' Grand Duchess'' for director Garry Marshall. Paterson directed the opera ''

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first ...

'' for both the

and the

Berlin Staatsoper The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...

which was conducted in

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

and starred soprano Anna Netrebko and

Rolando Villazon Rolando may refer to: Entertainment *''Rolando'', a 2008 puzzle-adventure video game *'' Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid'', a 2009 puzzle-adventure video game *"Rolando", a song by Roland Kirk from the album ''Domino'' People *Rolando (giv ...

. In 2009, he directed and wrote

Cirque Du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

's ''

Viva Elvis ''Viva Elvis'' was the seventh resident Cirque du Soleil show on the Las Vegas Strip. It resided at the Aria Resort & Casino and premiered on February 19, 2010. The show closed on August 31, 2012. Cirque du Soleil partnered with Elvis Presley En ...

'' presented at

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

' CityCenter. In 2012, Paterson directed ''Loving the Silent Tears'', a Broadway-style musical, based on Supreme Master Ching Hai’s poetry collection, ''Silent Tears''. He directed and choreographed Berlin's first original production of the Kander &

Ebb Ebb or EBB may refer to: People * Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861), English poet * Fred Ebb (1928–2004), American lyricist * Karl Ebb (1896–1988), Finnish athlete and racing driver * Kimberley Ebb (born 1987), Australian rules foo ...

musical, ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

''. Originally at and now at TIPI, It has been running for more than 15 years and is the longest running show in Berlin's history. In 2016, he directed and choreographed Lloyd Webber's musical, ''

'', for the Ronacher Theater in Vienna. The successful run was extended for 5 months.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Vincent American bloggers American male dancers American choreographers American film directors American television directors Participants in American reality television series Living people 1959 births American male bloggers