Vincent Warren
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Vincent de Paul Warren, (August 31, 1938 – October 25, 2017) was a Canadian
dance historian The history of dance is difficult to access because dance does not often leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts that last over millennia, such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is not possible to identify w ...
and lecturer. After a distinguished career as a ballet dancer and teacher, he became widely known and respected as a historian and
archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...
. He is celebrated as a leading figure in the dance world of Canada.


Early life, education, and training

Vincent de Paul Warren was born in
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
. He and his fraternal twin Denis were the youngest of their parents' fourteen children. Influenced by his mother's love of opera and music, Vincent was a sensitive boy, receptive to what he has called "a fantasy life of beauty." At age ten, he saw the ballet movie ''The Red Shoes'' (1948) and discovered his future profession. At eleven, he began taking ballet classes with Betty Hyatt Ogilvie, a former Balanchine dancer. His twin brother Denis was drawn to the Roman Catholic church and at thirteen left home to join the clergy. Vincent, however, continued his dance training throughout his teenage years. He graduated from high school at eighteen, and soon he, too, left home, headed for
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 ...
with a letter of introduction to Igor Schwezoff, a Russian-trained teacher at the American Ballet Theater School. He was given a scholarship to study at the school, where he excelled in classes. As a promising student, he was soon offered another scholarship, at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School, where
Antony Tudor Antony Tudor (born William Cook; 4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer. He founded the London Ballet, and later the Philadelphia Ballet Guild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., in the mid-195 ...
was teaching. At age nineteen, in 1957, he auditioned for a position in the company at the Met and was hired as a member of the ''corps de ballet.''


Ballet dancer

Warren danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet for two years, 1957–59, during which time he took the opportunity to expand his training with leading teachers in New York City. In dance classes with
Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
and
James Waring James Waring (November 1, 1922 - December 2, 1975) was a dancer, choreographer, costume designer, theatre director, playwright, poet, and visual artist, based in New York City from 1949 until his death in 1975. He was a prolific choreographer and ...
, he became adept in the expressive styles of modern dance while continuing to study classical ballet technique with Igor Schwezoff, Anatol Oboukoff, and Antony Tudor. In 1959-60, he danced with the Santa Fe Opera Ballet and then the Pennsylvania Ballet, based in Philadelphia. In 1961, he joined
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 ...
in Montréal, where, except for dancing as guest artist with Ballet Nacional de Guatemala (1963) and seasons with the Théâtre Français de la Danse in Paris (1969–70) and the Cologne Opera Ballet (1970–71), he remained until his retirement from the stage in 1979. After more than a decade of living and dancing in Canada, he became a Canadian citizen in 1973.


Repertoire

With
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 ...
, Warren danced leading roles in many classical, romantic, neoclassical, and contemporary works. Among them were Albrecht in '' Giselle,'' Siegfried in ''Le Lac des Cygnes'' ('' Swan Lake''), the Poet in ''
Les Sylphides ''Les Sylphides'' () is a short, non-narrative '' ballet blanc'' to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. The ballet, described as a "romantic reverie","Ballet Theater", until 1955. A compact disk ...
,'' and Drummer Boy and First Cadet in ''Bal des Cadets'' (''
Graduation Ball ''Graduation Ball'' is a ballet in one act choreographed by David Lichine to music composed by Johann Strauss II and arranged by Antal Doráti. With a scenario devised by Lichine and with scenery and costumes designed by Alexandre Benois, it wa ...
''),
David Lichine David Lichine (russian: Дэвид (Давид) Лишин; 25 October 1910 – 26 June 1972) was a Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer. He had an international career as a performer, ballet master, and choreographer, staging works fo ...
's merry romp at a girls' school celebration. He also appeared in principal roles in George Balanchine's ''
Allegro Brillante ''Allegro Brillante'' is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 3. The ballet is danced by a principal couple and a corps de ballet of eight. Balanchine said it "contains everything I knew about classic ...
, Divertimento no. 15, The Four Temperaments, Serenade,'' and ''Theme and Variations''. Notably, Warren created many roles for the artistic director and resident choreographer of the company,
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 ...
and
Fernand Nault Fernand Nault, OC, CQ (27 December 1920 – 26 December 2006) was a Canadian dancer and choreographer. Early life and career He was born Fernand-Noël Boissonneault in Montreal. After he abandoned his original career intent of becoming a pri ...
. He danced principal male roles in Chiriaeff's ''Bagatelle'' (aka ''Jeux d'Arlequin''), ''Cendrillon'' (''Cinderella''), ''Mémoires de Camille, Pierrot de la Lune, Quatrième Concert Royal,'' and ''Suite Canadienne,'' among others. Her penultimate choreographic work was ''Artère'' (1976), a solo she made especially for him, set to music by Gabriel Charpentier. In Nault's productions, Warren danced leading roles in ''Carmina Burana, 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 ...
''), ''Hip and Straight, Pas Rompu'' (''Not Broken''), and the hugely successful ''Tommy'', set to the rock opera by
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
. In works by other contemporary choreographers, Warren was cast in leading roles in ''Catulli Carmina'' and ''Villon'' by John Butler, ''L'Oiseau de Feu'' (''
The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...
'') by
Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French-born dancer, choreographer and opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, talking vast th ...
, ''Icare'' by Lucas Hoving, ''Aureole'' by Paul Taylor, and ''Les Noces'' by
Lar Lubovitch Lar Lubovitch (born April 9, 1943) is an American choreographer. He founded his own dance company, the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company in 1968. Based in New York City, the company has performed in all 50 American states as well as in more than 30 cou ...
. In the ballets of Brian Macdonald, Warren starred in ''Diabelli Variations, Double Quartet, Romeo and Juliet,'' and ''Tam Ti Delam,'' set to a Québécois folk song by
Gilles Vigneault Gilles Vigneault (; born 27 October 1928) is a Canadian poet, publisher, singer-songwriter, and Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist. Two of his songs are considered by many to be Quebec's unofficial anthems: " Mon pays" and " Gens du pays", ...
. He was especially acclaimed for his interpretation of the title role in Macdonald's ''Adieu Robert Schumann,'' created in 1979 for his farewell performance, with ballerina
Annette av Paul Annette av Paul (born February 11, 1944) is a Swedish-Canadian ballet dancer who had a 30-year dance career performing, teaching, and directing companies across Canada. Av Paul was born in Rönninge, Sweden, about 30 kilometres outside Stockhol ...
dancing as Clara Schumann and famed Canadian contralto
Maureen Forrester Maureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester, (July 25, 1930 – June 16, 2010) was a Canadian operatic contralto. Life and career Maureen Forrester was born and grew up in Montreal, Quebec, one of four children of Thomas Forrester, a Scottish cabinetmak ...
singing Clara's reminiscences. Reviewing the performance, CBC Radio's Kati Vita wrote: "Vincent Warren blazes through the work like a slender crimson flame and compels such attention
hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
one is oblivious to all else when he is on stage." Warren's curiosity about all forms of kinetic artistry led him to the postmodern experimentation at
Judson Dance Theater Judson Dance Theater was a collective of dancers, composers, and visual artists who performed at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village, Manhattan New York City between 1962 and 1964. The artists involved were avant garde experimentalists ...
in New York City, where he appeared in performances with James Waring and Aileen Passloff from 1959-64. In Montréal, he discovered similar avant-garde dancers at work. While remaining a principal dancer with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, he danced with Le Groupe de Danse Moderne de Montréal, a company formed by Françoise Riopelle and
Jeanne Renaud Jeanne Renaud (August 27, 1928 – September 15, 2022) was a Canadian dancer, choreographer, and artistic director, considered to be one of the founders of modern dance in Quebec. Born in Montreal, Renaud studied music at the École de musique V ...
, and, on numerous occasions, with
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 ...
, directed by Jeanne Renaud and Peter Boneham. With his varied training, he found that he could perform Renaud's modern minimalism with the same ease and precision he demonstrated in classical ballets. Among other works, he danced leading roles in Renaud's ''Blanc sur Blanc'' (1964) and ''Phases et Reseaux'' (1965). Some twenty years later, during the 1987 Festival de Nouvelle Danse, Warren appeared in Paul-André Fortier's ''Chaleurs'' and showed that his command of modern dance technique had not faded. On television, Warren performed on many shows originating in Canada and France. In Montréal, he appeared numerous times in works by Chiriaeff, Todd Bolender, and Renaud on ''Les Beaux Dimanches'' (''Beautiful Sundays'') and ''L'Heure du Concert'' (''The Concert Hour''), which were broadcast bilingually by Société Radio-Canada across the country. On film, Warren can be seen dancing with Margaret Mercier in Norman McLaren's '' Pas de deux'' (1968), winner of seventeen awards in experimental filmmaking, including the 1969 award for best animated film by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. More recently, he also appeared in two compelling documentary films: Marie Brodeur's ''Danseur à tout prix'' (2002) and Marie Beaulieu's ''Les Météores: Vincent Warren, un temps en mouvements'' (2011). In 2016, a documentary on Warren was produced by TAP Film Inc and La Compagnie de la Marie, ''A Man of Dance.'' The film, directed by Marie Brodeur, won the Best Canadian Film at the International Art Film Festival (FIFA) in Montreal, Canada.


Technique and style

As a performer, Warren was known as a lyrical and romantic dancer, valued for his charisma, theatricality, and vivid stage presence. Although he possessed a sound classical ballet technique, he was not a bravura dancer. Spectacular feats of athleticism were not his forte, but he was a strong and attentive partner in classical roles and was favored by many ballerinas. His partners included such international stars as Ana Cardus, Janine Charrat, Alexandra Radius, Claire Sombert, and Ghislaine Thesmar as well as Canadian ballerinas Irene Apinee, Melissa Hayden, Veronique Landory, Andrée Millaire, Sonia Taverner, and Sonia Vartanian. Warren's looks, physique, and bearing made him an ideal interpreter of classical and romantic roles. As Albrecht, his partnership with German-born Christa Mertins in ''Giselle'' was highly acclaimed, especially in the ethereal, ghostly sequences in act 2. Warren was also celebrated in contemporary works that require emotive, expressive dancing. In London, he won high critical praise for his performance in John Butler's ''Catulli Carmina,'' set to Carl Orff's scenic cantata of the lyrical texts of the Latin poet Catullus. Montréal critics praised him especially in roles created for him in a balletic modern idiom by Fernand Nault. Three works with religious and spiritual references were ''Gehenne'' (1965), ''Cérémonie'' (1972), and ''Cantique des Cantiques'' (''Song of Songs,'' 1974). In ''Gehenne'' set to music by Alvin Etler and named for a biblical place of extreme suffering, Warren was able to express his deep grief at the death of New York City poet
Frank O'Hara Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara (March 27, 1926 – July 25, 1966) was an American writer, poet, and art critic. A curator at the Museum of Modern Art, O'Hara became prominent in New York City's art world. O'Hara is regarded as a leading figure i ...
, the "love of his life," who died after a vehicle accident on a Fire Island beach in the summer of 1966. (Warren had been the addressee of O'Hara's poem, "Having a Coke With You.") In ''Cérémonie,'' a rock mass that recalls Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting of the Last Supper of Jesus, and ''Cantique des Cantiques,'' inspired by the biblical Song of Solomon, celebrating sexual love, Warren drew upon his fundamental artistic vision: to give meaning to movement.


Later life and careers

Following his retirement from Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in 1979, Warren soon put his dance talents and broad knowledge of dance history to use as he embarked on what would become multiple careers as teacher, lecturer, librarian, and archivist.


Teacher and lecturer

At the invitation of Madame Chiriaeff, director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Warren began teaching classes in ballet technique to teenagers in the company's affiliated school, the École Supérieure de Danse du Québec, in 1979. As his teaching skills grew, he expanded his schedule to include classes in male variations and partnering, which became popular with advanced students. He conducted his classes in the formal manner traditional in all ballet schools, but his cheerful disposition and good humor in giving technical corrections to his students lent much to his effectiveness as a teacher. He continued to teach at the school until 1992. When the instructor of dance history at the school departed, Chiriaeff asked Warren to replace him, despite the fact that he had no formal education in the field. She knew, however, that Warren had been collecting books, prints, and magazines about dance for years and that he had developed an encyclopedic knowledge. Soon after he began teaching technique classes, in 1979, Warren undertook the role of dance historian with enthusiasm and began to formulate his own system of teaching the subject. In the course of time, he was recognized by academics as a brilliant autodidact. He taught and lectured on dance history in English and French at all four universities in Montréal and at many Canadian dance institutions. His courses at McGill University (1988–1995) and at Les Ateliers de Danse Moderne de Montréal (1989–1999) were well-attended, as were his lectures at Concordia University, Ottawa University, Université de Montréal, Université du Québec à Montréal, the Musée National des Beaux Arts du Québec, the Musée des Beaux Arts de Montréal, the National Theatre School of Canada, the Banff Center for the Arts, the McCord Museum, and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. In 1999, Warren was invited to lecture at four cities in India: Delhi, Hyderabad, Madras, and Bangalore. His lecture "''Abhinaya'' in Ballet," on the Indian concept of the art of expression, won the prize for best presentation at the Natya Kala Conference held annually at Madras. His lecture "Yearning for the Spiritual Ideal: The Influence of India on Western Dance, 1626-2003," was published in ''Sruti'' (December 2000), an English-language monthly magazine on Indian performing arts, and in ''Dance Research Journal'' (2006). Notable among his other lecture topics are the seasons of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, 1909–1929; the Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris at the time of Degas; and the Imperial Russian Ballet at the time of Fabergé. Warren continued to teach dance history at the École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec (so renamed in 2010) until shortly before his death.


Librarian and archivist

While he continued to teach classes at the École Supérieure, Warren volunteered to run the school's small dance library, thus beginning his fourth career. Despite a limited budget, he installed proper book shelves, updated the cataloging system, allowed books to circulate, and began a vigorous campaign of acquisitions to enlarge the library's holdings. Eventually, he donated his own sizeable collection of dance materials, sought donations from friends in the dance world, and continued to purchase books, videos, prints, photographs, programs, and dance memorabilia. He was officially appointed curator of the library in 1982 and served in that capacity for twenty-four years, until 2006. Now named the Bibliothèque de la Danse Vincent-Warren, in his honor, it is the largest dance library in Canada.


Related activities

During his later years, Warren was active in numerous dance-related organizations in Québec and elsewhere. He was a member of the board of directors of the Dance in Canada Association from 1979 to 1983 and was its chairman from 1981 to 1982. He also served on the board of directors of the Regroupment des Professionels de la Danse du Québec from 1986 to 1990 and as its president for the 1987-1988 term. Subsequently, he was a member of the Arts Council of the Montreal Urban Community (1993–1999), in which he took an active role. For the dance section of the Canada Council, he served on the Committee on Archives and Documentation, and continued to serve on many artistic juries for the Canada Council and for Québec's Conseil des Arts et Lettres thereafter. He also served as a judge for dance competitions such as the Rencontres Chorégraphiques, held at Bagnolet, France, and the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur and the International Festival de Danse Encore in Québec.


Awards and honours

In recognition of his accomplishments, Warren received a Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, the Dance in Canada Service Award in 1984, and the Prix Denise-Pelletier in 1992. The Queen's Jubilee Medal was awarded for his contributions to the performing arts in Canada. The Pelletier prize is one of the Prix du Québec lifetime achievement awards given annually by the provincial government. In 2004, Warren was named a member 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 2012, he was among the recipients of the
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...
, created to honour significant achievements and contributions to national culture by Canadian citizens.''Curriculum vitae'' Vincent Warren, C.M.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Vincent 1938 births 2017 deaths Canadian male ballet dancers Canadian librarians Dance historians LGBT dancers Members of the Order of Canada People from Jacksonville, Florida Prix Denise-Pelletier winners