Brian Macdonald (choreographer)
| Brian Ronald Macdonald | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 14, 1928 Montreal, Quebec |
| Died | November 29, 2014 (aged 86) Stratford, Ontario |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Teacher, dancer, choreographer, director |
| Known for | Dancer, choreographer |
| Awards | Order of Canada |
Brian Ronald Macdonald,CC (May 14, 1928 – November 29, 2014) was a Canadian dancer, choreographer and director of opera, theatre and musical theatre.
Brian Macdonald was born in Montreal on May 14, 1928. His father Ian was Irish and worked at Dominion Glass Co. as a sales manager while his mother Mabel Lee was Scottish. Macdonald was a child actor for Radio-Canada and studied piano.
In 1959 Macdonald’s first wife Olivia Wyatt died in an automobile accident. Macdonald became a single father, taking care of his three-year-old son. Macdonald met his second wife Annette av Paul while the artistic director of the Royal Swedish Ballet. They married in 1964.
He died on November 29, 2014 in Stratford, Ontario of bone cancer.
In 1945 he started his dance training with Elizabeth Leese and Gerald Crevier. Macdonald joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1951 and was one of its founding members. He left the company in 1953 due to an injury in his arm.
In 1945 at age 17 Macdonald was watching Ballets Russes rehearse Concerto Barocco by George Balanchine in Montreal. He became inspired by the way the ballerinas were dancing en pointe and in high heels. After that rehearsal he was inspired to become a choreographer and began taking his ballet studies more seriously.
In 1956 he created his own company called the Montreal Theatre Ballet. He also created works for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet such as The Darkling in 1958 and Les Whoops De Doo in 1959. One of his most acclaimed works was Time Out of Mind created for Joffrey Ballet in 1963. He choreographed Rose Latulippe in 1966, which was Canada’s first evening-length ballet performance and the first full-length colour production filmed by the Canadian Broadcasting Company.
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