{{Short description|British dance critic (1926–2022)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Clement Crisp | honorific_suffix = OBE | birth_date = {{birth date|1926|9|21|df=yes}} | birth_place = Romford, Essex, England | death_date = {{death date and age|2022|3|1|1926|9|21|df=yes}} | occupation = Dance critic, Journalist | years_active = 1956–2020 | known_for = Long-time dance critic for the Financial Times (1956–2020) }}
'''Clement Andrew Crisp''' OBE (21 September 1926 – 1 March 2022) was a British dance critic. He served as dance critic for the ''Financial Times'' from 1956 to 2020.<ref name="ft">{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/7f17363f-4bde-4902-85d8-10196eda96bc|title=Clement Crisp — FT dance critic who wrote with eloquence and astounding wit|first=Alastair|last=Macaulay|newspaper=Financial Times|date=2 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theartsdesk.com/dance/unexpurgated-clement-crisp-memoriam|title=The unexpurgated Clement Crisp - in memoriam|date=4 March 2022|website=theartsdesk.com}}</ref>
==Life and career== Crisp was born in Romford, Essex, in 1926, although for many years he claimed that he was born in 1931.<ref name=ft/> He first became interested in ballet after seeing a performance of ''Swan Lake'' as a child.<ref name=ft/><ref name=roh>[https://www.roh.org.uk/news/remembering-clement-crisp-1931-2022 "Remembering Clement Crisp (1926-2022)", Royal Opera House], 2 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.</ref> After attending Oxted School, he spent a year in Bordeaux, France, before studying at Keble College, Oxford. 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'' in the 1960s. His focus was on ballet, having discovered it as a teenager during the Second World War when his parents took him to the Sadler's Wells Ballet, though he also wrote about other forms of dance and had wide-ranging interests.<ref name=ft/>
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.<ref name="ft" /> In 2021 a collection of his reviews, entitled ''Six Decades of Dance'', was published.<ref name=roh/>
He was also librarian and archivist of the Royal Academy of Dance for many years.<ref>[https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/remembering-clement-crisp/ "Remembering Clement Crisp (1926-2022)", Royal Academy of Dance], 2 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.</ref>
Crisp died on 1 March 2022, at the age of 95.<ref name=ft/>
==Awards== Crisp was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award in 1992. In the same year he was made a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark). In 2003, Dance Research published a special Golden Jubilee edition of his work.<ref name=roh/> In 2005, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Birthday Honours "for services to ballet".<ref name=ft/>
==Books== Crisp's works included:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095648241|title=Clement Crisp|website=Oxford Reference}}</ref> *''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) * Gerland Dowler (ed.): ''Clement Crisp Reviews: Six Decades of Dance'', (International Dance Writing Foundation, 2021)
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Crisp, Clement}} Category:1926 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Category:Ballet critics Category:British classical music critics Category:Financial Times people Category:Dance in England Category:Librarians from London Category:English archivists Category:English male non-fiction writers Category:Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:20th-century British people Category:21st-century British journalists Category:British journalists