September 21
Born Today:
Clement Crisp
Writer and journalist Clement Crisp (1931-2022) wrote dance criticism for the Financial Times in London for over 60 years, before retiring in 2019. In particular, he was keen on the work of Kenneth MacMillan (1929-1992) and although his passion was ballet, he wrote insightful reviews of flamenco, modern dance, and other styles of dance performances and even admitted to enjoying hip-hop dance. Crisp was also the former librarian and archivist for the Royal Academy of Dance and authored 17 books on ballet. His encyclopedic knowledge of ballet is on full display in his terse and honest style.
Also Born Today: Actor and dancer Alfonso Ribeiro (1971) is best known for playing Will Smith’s dorky brother Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air who performed his own wacky dance, but he was also a skilled tap dancer and appeared on Broadway in The Tap Dance Kid (1983).