# Clement Crisp

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{{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](/source/OBE) (21 September 1926 – 1 March 2022) was a British dance critic. He served as dance critic for the ''[Financial Times](/source/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](/source/Romford), [Essex](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Oxted_School), he spent a year in [Bordeaux](/source/Bordeaux), [France](/source/France), before studying at [Keble College, Oxford](/source/Keble_College%2C_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](/source/The_Spectator)'' in the 1960s. His focus was on [ballet](/source/ballet), having discovered it as a teenager during the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War) when his parents took him to the [Sadler's Wells Ballet](/source/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](/source/Mary_Clarke_(dance_critic)) 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](/source/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](/source/Queen_Elizabeth_II_Coronation_Award) in 1992. In the same year he was made a Knight of the [Order of the Dannebrog](/source/Order_of_the_Dannebrog) ([Denmark](/source/Denmark)). In 2003, [Dance Research](/source/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](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) (OBE) in the [Birthday Honours](/source/2005_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}}

{{Authority control}}

{{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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Clement Crisp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_Crisp) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_Crisp?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.