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The Clarity Act (known as Bill C-20 before it became law) is legislation passed by the Parliament of Canada that established the conditions under which the Government of Canada would enter into negotiations that might lead to secession following such a vote by one of the provinces. The Clarity Bill (C-20) was tabled for first reading in the House of Commons on December 13, 1999. It was passed by the House on March 15, 2000, and by the Senate, in its final version, on June 29, 2000.^[1]

Although the law could theoretically be applied to any province, the Clarity Act was created in response to the 1995 Quebec referendum and ongoing independence movement in that province. The content of the Clarity Act was based on the 1998 secession reference to the Supreme Court of Canada made by the federal government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Previously in 1996, a private member's bill, the Quebec Contingency Act (Bill C-341) was introduced to establish the conditions which would apply to a referendum regarding the separation of Quebec from Canada, but it did not proceed further than the First Reading.

Two days after the Clarity Act had been introduced in the Canadian House of Commons, the Parti Québécois government passed an Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State in the National Assembly of Quebec.

Background[link]

Ambiguity of referendum question[link]

The motivation behind the Clarity Act was largely based on the near separation vote of the 1995 Quebec referendum, in which the people of Quebec voted against the sovereignty option by a small margin (50.58% to 49.42%). Controversy surrounded the ambiguity and wording of the ballot question. In French, the question on the ballot asked:

"Acceptez-vous que le Québec devienne souverain, après avoir offert formellement au Canada un nouveau partenariat économique et politique, dans le cadre du projet de loi sur l'avenir du Québec et de l'entente signée le 12 juin 1995?"

In English, the question on the ballot asked:

"Do you agree that Quebec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Quebec and of the agreement signed on June 12, 1995?"

Ballots in aboriginal communities in which native languages were commonly used were trilingual.

Stéphane Dion and the three letters[link]

Prime Minister Chrétien appointed political scientist Stéphane Dion (first elected as Member of Parliament for the riding of Saint-Laurent–Cartierville in Montreal in 1996) as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in 1996. Dion would challenge Quebec sovereignist assertions about the legal validity of the 1995 Quebec referendum question in three open letters to Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard and Quebec Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Jacques Brassard.^[2][3][4]

In the first open letter, Dion challenged three assertions that Bouchard had made: that a unilateral declaration of independence is supported by international law, that a majority of "50% plus one" was a sufficient threshold for secession, and that international law would protect the territorial integrity of Quebec following a secession. Against the first assertion, Dion argued that the vast majority of international law experts "believe that the right to declare secession unilaterally does not belong to constituent entities of a democratic country such as Canada."^[2] In regard to the simple majority argument, Dion argues that due to the momentous changes to Quebecers' lives that would result from secession, a simple majority that could disappear in the face of difficulties would be insufficient to ensure the political legitimacy of the sovereignist project. In regard to the territorial integrity of Quebec, Dion retorts that "there is neither a paragraph nor a line in international law that protects Quebec's territory but not Canada's. International experience demonstrates that the borders of the entity seeking independence can be called into question, sometimes for reasons based on democracy."^[2]

In Dion's second open letter to Jacques Brassard, Quebec's intergovernmental affairs minister, Dion expands upon his earlier arguments against the territorial integrity of Quebec following secession by highlighting the inconsistency in the argument that Canada is divisible but Quebec is not. Secondly, Dion underscores that without recognition by the Government of Canada and when opposed by a strong minority of citizens, a unilateral declaration of independence faces much difficulty in gaining international recognition.^[3]

In Dion's third open letter to Lucien Bouchard, he criticizes the Quebec premier for accepting some aspects of the Supreme Court ruling on Secession (such as the political obligation for the Government of Canada to negotiate secession following a clear expression of will from the people of Quebec) and not other sections of the ruling (such as the need for a clear majority on a clear question and the unconstitutionality of a unilateral declaration of independence). In regard to the ruling, Dion makes three claims: that the federal government has a role in the selection of the question and the level of support required for it to pass, that secession can only be achieved through negotiation rather than a "unilateral declaration of independence", and that the terms of negotiation could not be decided solely by the Government of Quebec.^[4]

Supreme Court Reference re Secession of Quebec[link]

On September 30, 1996, Dion submitted three questions to the Supreme Court of Canada constituting the Supreme Court Reference re Secession of Quebec:

1. Under the Constitution of Canada, can the National Assembly, legislature, or government of Quebec effect the secession of Quebec from Canada unilaterally?
2. Does international law give the National Assembly, legislature, or government of Quebec the right to effect the secession of Quebec from Canada unilaterally? In this regard, is there a right to self-determination under international law that would give the National Assembly, legislature or government of Quebec the right to effect the secession of Quebec from Canada unilaterally?
3. In the event of a conflict between domestic and international law on the right of the National Assembly, legislature, or government of Quebec to effect the secession of Quebec from Canada unilaterally, which would take precedence in Canada?

As soon as these questions were made public, both parties of the National Assembly, the Bloc Québécois and numerous federalists denounced Ottawa's gesture.

On August 20, 1998, the Supreme Court answered, concluding that Quebec does not have the right to secede unilaterally under Canadian or international law. However, the Government of Canada would have to enter into negotiations with the Quebec government if Quebeckers expressed a clear will to secede. It confirmed that the Parliament of Canada had the power to determine whether or not a referendum question was clear enough to trigger such negotiations. The Constitution of Canada would remain in effect until terms of secession were agreed to by all parties involved, and these terms would have to respect principles of democracy, minority and individual rights as outlined in the Canadian constitution.^[5]

Both the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada publicly stated that they were very pleased with the opinion of the Supreme Court, which stated both that Quebec could not legally separate unilaterally from Canada and that the Government of Canada would have a 'political obligation' to enter into separation negotiations with Quebec in the event that a clear majority of its populace were to vote in favour of independence.

Bill Clinton and the First International Conference on Federalism[link]

Stéphane Dion organized and hosted the First International Conference on Federalism in Mont Tremblant in October 1999 to foster international support for the cause of federalism in Canada. Quebec sovereignist leaders were granted a prominent role in the conference and would use their floor time to denounce Canadian federalism to an international audience to the great annoyance of their federalist host. But the Clarity Act would get a big boost during the closing speech by United States President Bill Clinton. While looking directly at Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard, who was present in the audience, Clinton appeared to echo the Supreme Court Reference, warning that "when a people thinks it should be independent in order to have a meaningful political existence, serious questions should be asked.... Are minority rights as well as majority rights respected? How are we going to co-operate with our neighbours?". Clinton argued that federalism allows peoples seeking recognition of their identity a way to do so without isolating themselves in a nation-state. The speech would lay to rest any doubts about the U.S. position on the legality and desirability of unilateral secession in Quebec.^[6]

Passage and reactions to Clarity Act[link]

The Clarity Act (Bill C-20) was later drafted and presented to the House of Commons on December 13, 1999. This was denounced by all provincial parties in the Quebec National Assembly, the Bloc Québécois, and many federalists.^{[citation needed]} The Progressive Conservative Party, led by Joe Clark, also opposed the Act^{[citation needed]}. The NDP voted in favour of the Clarity Act.^[7]

Following its adoption by the Parliament of Canada, an open letter supporting Quebec's right to self-determination was published and signed by numerous intellectuals from Quebec and other parts of Canada.

William Johnson, leader of Quebec's largest Anglophone rights group, Alliance Quebec said the Act would prevent the promulgation of misinformation by separatists.^[8]

Former Prime Minister Chrétien has often stated that the Clarity Act was among his proudest achievements in federal politics.

In an interview with CTV News aired on May 15, 2005, separatist former Premier of Quebec Jacques Parizeau said that the Clarity Act "meant nothing" and would be ignored.

On December 7, 2005, in the midst of a federal election, New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton too announced that he backed the Clarity Act. This was in contrast to comments made in the 2004 election where he said that Canada should recognize a declaration of Quebec independence if sovereigntists win a referendum.^[9]

Key points[link]

The key points of the legislation included the following:

• Giving the House of Commons the power to decide whether a proposed referendum question was considered clear before the public vote;
• Specifically stating that any question not solely referring to secession was to be considered unclear;
• Giving the House of Commons the power to determine whether or not a clear majority had expressed itself following any referendum vote, implying that some sort of supermajority is required for success;
• Stating that all provinces and the First Nations were to be part of the negotiations;
• Allowing the House of Commons to override a referendum decision if it felt the referendum violated any of the tenets of the Clarity Act;
• The secession of a province of Canada would require an amendment to the Constitution of Canada.

Quebec mirror law[link]

Following the adoption of the Clarity Act by the federal government, the Quebec provincial government adopted its own law An Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State,^[10] This provincial act was inspired by the same decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that the federal one was.

This Quebec act emphasizes the right to self-determination according to public international law. It also claims the right to territorial integrity of the province of Quebec. The act also recognizes the rights of Quebec's English-speaking minority and of the First Nations of Quebec. Finally, Article 13 clearly responds to the Canadian federal Clarity Act by stating: "No other parliament or government may reduce the powers, authority, sovereignty or legitimacy of the National Assembly, or impose constraint on the democratic will of the Québec people to determine its own future."

Impact of both laws[link]

The constitutional validity of both laws and the compliance of their provisions remain uncertain - most likely - until the eve of a new referendum. However, in Reference re Secession of Quebec, the Supreme Court of Canada has essentially said that a democratic vote in itself would have no legal effect, since the secession of a province in Canada would only be constitutionally valid after a negotiation between the federal government and the provincial government; whose people would have clearly expressed, by a clear majority, that it no longer wished to be part of Canada. Only then could a constitutional amendment be considered.

On the other hand, the Supreme Court of Canada stated that a de facto unilateral secession of a province would violate the Canadian Constitution, but it could still be recognized by the international community and that such recognition may result from the conduct of the provincial and the federal government. Thus, these two laws are subjugated by the good or bad faith shown during negotiations. Indeed, it could affect the international recognition of a secession's validity. Under the unwritten constitutional principles of Canada, both parties have an obligation to negotiate in good faith.

International law[link]

On July 22, 2010, the International Court of Justice delivered an advisory opinion concerning the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo. The court had to decide if the declaration violated general international law. The court concluded that the unilateral declaration of independence did not violate international law, because it was not issued by any official body bound by Serbian or UN administration rules, and international law does not contain a prohibition against declarations of independence.^[11]

The unique situation of Kosovo was not discussed nor presented as a reason for the exclusion of Serbian laws (internal law) to analyse the matter. The court stated that only general international law applies to the situation of a unilateral declaration of independence. The court also stated that a referendum was not required.^[12]

However, the ICJ's opinion did not conflict with the Clarity Act, because the former only addresses the ability to "issue a declaration", and the Clarity Act does not prohibit any person from issuing a declaration of independence. The advisory opinion also stated that it was up to individual states whether or not to recognize independence of a state so declared, and thus permitting the Canadian government, by the Clarity Act, to refuse or set conditions on recognition of independence.

See also[link]

• Quebec referendum, 1995
• Quebec sovereignty movement
• Politics of Quebec
• Politics of Canada

References[link]

External links[link]

• Text of the Clarity Act
• Full text of the Reference re Secession of Quebec
• 1995 Act Respecting the Future of Quebec
• Open letter in support of the democratic right to self-determination for Quebec
• Debates - Issue 44 - April 6, 2000 (Senate's Second Reading debate about the passage of specific powers to the House of Commons; notable because the Senate is a co-equal body)
• CBC report on introduction of Clarity Bill

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2009)

Milan Marković Милан Марковић
Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government
In office May 15, 2007 – March 14, 2011
Preceded by	Zoran Lončar
Succeeded by	Milan Marković
Minister of Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government
Incumbent
Assumed office March 14, 2011
Preceded by	Milan Marković Svetozar Čiplić (Human and Minority Rights)
Personal details
Born	(1970-09-07) 7 September 1970 (age 41) Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Serbian
Political party	Democratic Party
Residence	Belgrade, Serbia
Alma mater	University of Belgrade Faculty of Law

Milan Marković (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Марковић, born in 1970 in Belgrade, Serbia) is a Serbian lawyer, professor and politician and the current Minister of Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government in the Government of Serbia.^[1] He was president of the Palilula municipality from 2000 to 2004. He has been an MP in Serbian Parliament since 2001. From 2003 to 2007 he was deputy speaker in Serbian parliament. He was member of managing boards in PKB and Prva Petoletka companies. He was city deputy from 2000 until 2004.

He teaches at the Faculty of Security of Belgrade University and is an associate in research projects. He speaks English.

References[link]

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Carla Fracci
Fracci being interviewed at the funeral of Luciano Pavarotti
Born	(1936-08-20) 20 August 1936 (age 75) Milan, Italy
Occupation	ballet dancer and actress

Carla Fracci (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkarla ˈfrattʃi]; born 20 August 1936 in Milan, Italy) is a ballet dancer and actress. Her career highlights include Nijinsky, Giselle (American Ballet Theatre), Complete Bell Telephone Hour Performances: Erik Bruhn 1961-1967.

Fracci studied at La Scala Theatre Ballet School starting in 1946. She graduated to La Scala Theatre Ballet in 1954, where she was promoted to soloist in 1956, and to principal in 1958. Other ballet companies she appeared with include: the London Festival Ballet (1959 & 1962), the Royal Ballet (1963), the Stuttgart Ballet (1965), and the Royal Swedish Ballet (1969). She was a principal guest artist with American Ballet Theatre from 1967.^[1]

She was known for her performances in Giselle, dancing in with partners such as Rudolf Nureyev, Vladimir Vasiliev, Henning Kronstam, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Erik Bruhn.^[1]

FAO ambassador[link]

On 16 October 2004, Carla Fracci was named Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.^[2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Carla Fracci at the Internet Movie Database
• Carla Fracci (at 70) with principal dancer Fabio Grossi - gala performance at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome
• FAO Goodwill Ambassador website

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Mac Miller
Mac Miller performing at the Governor's Ball in 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Malcolm McCormick
Also known as	Easy Mac
Born	(1992-01-19) January 19, 1992 (age 20) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, producer, actor, songwriter
Years active	2007 – present
Labels	Rostrum Records, Most Dope Entertainment
Associated acts	Wiz Khalifa, Beedie, The Ill Spoken, I.D. Labs, Big Jerm
Website	www.macmillerofficial.com

Malcolm McCormick (born January 19, 1992),^[1] known by his stage name Mac Miller (previously Easy Mac), is an American rapper from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is signed to Rostrum Records and released his debut album Blue Slide Park on November 8, 2011.^[2]

Early life[link]

Malcolm McCormick was born on January 19, 1992, the son of an architect and a photographer, and raised in the Point Breeze part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[1][3] His father is Christian and his mother is Jewish; Miller was raised Jewish and had a Bar Mitzvah.^[4][5][6] Before attending Taylor Allderdice High School, Miller attended Winchester Thurston School.^[7] In high school, Miller decided to focus on his hip-hop career, later noting, "Once I hit 15, I got real serious about it and it changed my life completely ... I used to be into sports, play all the sports, go to all the high school parties. But once I found out hip-hop is almost like a job, that's all I did."^[1] Miller, a self-taught musician, plays piano, guitar, drums, and bass.^[1][8]

Career[link]

Before embarking on a solo career, Miller was part of rap group The Ill Spoken together with fellow Pittsburgh rapper, Beedie. The Ill Spoken released the mixtape How High in 2008. Prior to changing his name to Mac Miller, he was known as EZ Mac and released the mixtape But My Mackin Ain't Easy in 2007 at 15 years old. In 2009 Mac Miller released two mixtapes The Jukebox: Prelude to Class Clown and The High Life before getting signed to Rostrum Records.

In early 2010, Miller signed with Rostrum Records.^[9] Rostrum president Benjy Grinberg met Miller while recording with Wiz Khalifa at ID Labs.^[10] Although Grinberg started giving Miller advice, he didn't show any interest in getting involved with his career until the artist began work on the K.I.D.S. mixtape, when, as he later told HitQuarters, Grinberg "noticed a maturation in his sound and approach to his music."^[10] By that point Miller had started attracting interest from different record companies but chose Rostrum due to its location in his hometown and association with Wiz Khalifia.^[10] K.I.D.S. was released by the label in August 2010.^[1] The mixtape was inspired by the movie Kids. A significant breakthrough came in late 2010 when Miller embarked on his first "Incredibly Dope Tour", selling out at every location on the tour.^[10]

Miller's 5th^[when?] release was a mixtape titled Best Day Ever. The mixtape features his single "Donald Trump" and the hit songs "Wear My Hat", "BDE Bonus" and "All Around The World." The mixtape featured mainstream producers such as Just Blaze, 9th Wonder, and Chuck Inglish. On November 22, 2010 his first single "Knock Knock" premiered its video on YouTube.^[11]

On March 29, 2011, he released an EP called On And On And Beyond. The six-track work was produced by Rostrum Records.

On July 5, 2011, Miller announced the title of his first album Blue Slide Park on his YouTube channel, set for a Fall release.^[12] In September 2011 it was revealed that Miller would release a mixtape titled 92 Til Infinity hosted by DJ Jazzy Jeff prior to the release of Blue Slide Park.^[13] However, the release did not happen, and it was since then left in planning.

Prior to his 2011 national Blue Slide Park tour, Miller traveled Europe on his "Incredibly Dope Tour" visiting cities such as London, Manchester, and Amsterdam.

On October 14, 2011, Mac Miller released a 13 song mixtape called I Love Life, Thank You for reaching 1,000,000 followers on Twitter. It had features from Sir Michael Rocks of The Cool Kids, Talib Kweli, and Bun B.

On November 2011, Blue Slide Park debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 144,000 copies.^[14]

On March 23, 2012, Mac Miller released his seventh mixtape called Macadelic. He released "Loud" as a single off the mixtape as well as filiming a music video. Miller also released a video for "Thoughts From A Balcony".

Awards and honors[link]

In 2009 at age 17, he made it to the final four in Rhyme Calisthenics, the MC competition at Shadow Lounge.^[15] In 2010, he won two awards at the Pittsburgh hip-hop awards.^[16] His video "Live Free" won video of the year and he also won Best Artist Under 21. In September 2011 Maroon 5 announced that Mac Miller will be featured on their remix of their top chart song "Moves Like Jagger".^[17] In 2011 Miller was one of eleven rappers featured in XXL magazine's Freshman Class of 2011.^[18] The video for the first single released from this mixtape, "Donald Trump", has reached over 53 million views on YouTube^[19] and Donald Trump himself, who is referenced on the song, acknowledged the video on the social networking site Twitter when it reached 20 million views stating "Who wouldn't be flattered?". He declared that Miller was the “new Eminem,” and stated “I am very proud of him.”^[20] Endorsements by Donald Trump helped Miller become increasingly more popular. The song also charted on iTunes debuting at #73 and peaking at #40,^[21] before Miller was signed to a major label. In 2011, his first TV appearance took place in the VH1 show Single Ladies; he played a fictionalized version of himself that succeeded in selling one of his mixtapes to one of the main characters. Also in 2011, he was a part of MTV Jams Fab Five artists.^[22]

Musical philosophy[link]

Mac Miller includes Big L, Lauryn Hill, The Beastie Boys, Outkast, and A Tribe Called Quest among his influences.^[8] He also has a close relationship with fellow Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa, saying "Wiz has been a big brother to me with this music thing so far. Our relationship is beyond music. He really is just my homie, whether I will be making music or not."^[23]

As an artist, Mac Miller has performed in a number of different styles. His classic musical style contains lyrics focused on marijuana, women, and "a dream". However, Miller has lately been experimenting with new styles in his music, such as in his 2012 mixtape Macadelic. Most songs have a heavy psychedelic influence, and include lyrics with deeper meaning. Also, older artists and music performers are praised on some of Mac's new works (the beginning of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by the Beatles is used as an interlude for the song "Loud").

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Blue Slide Park (2011)

Extended plays

• On and On and Beyond (2011)

Mixtapes

• But My Mackin' Ain't Easy (2007)
• The Jukebox: Prelude to Class Clown (2009)
• The High Life (2009)
• K.I.D.S. (2010)
• Best Day Ever (2011)
• I Love Life, Thank You (2011)
• Macadelic (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Mac Miller Website

Erik Belton Evers Bruhn (October 3, 1928 – April 1, 1986) was a Danish danseur, choreographer, company director, actor, and author.

Biography[link]

Erik Bruhn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the fourth child and first son of Ellen (née Evers), owner of a hairdressing salon, and third child of Ernst Bruhn. His parents married shortly before his birth.^[1] Bruhn began training with the Royal Danish Ballet when he was nine years old, and made his unofficial début on the stage of Copenhagen's Royal Opera House in 1946, dancing the role of Adonis in Harald Lander's ballet Thorvaldsen.^[2] He was taken permanently into the company in 1947 at the age of eighteen. Bruhn took the first of his frequent sabbaticals from the Danish company in 1947, dancing for six months with the short-lived Metropolitan Ballet in England, where he formed his first major partnership, with the Bulgarian ballerina Sonia Arova. He returned to the Royal Danish Ballet in the spring of 1948 and was promoted to soloist in 1949, the highest level a dancer can attain in the Danish ballet. Later in 1949, he again took a leave of absence and joined American Ballet Theatre in New York, where he would dance regularly for the next nine years, although his home company continued to be the Royal Danish Ballet.

The turning point in Bruhn's international career came on May 1, 1955 with his début in the role of Albrecht in Giselle partnering Dame Alicia Markova, nearly twenty years his senior, in a matinée with Ballet Theatre in New York after only three days of rehearsal.^[3] The performance caused a sensation. Dance critic John Martin, writing in the New York Times, called it "a date to write down in the history books, for it was as if the greatest Giselle of today were handing over a sacred trust to what is probably the greatest Albrecht of tomorrow." In an article entitled “The Matinée that Made History” in Dance News in June 1955, P.W. Machester wrote:

Technically exacting as it is, the role of Albrecht is not beyond the capabilities of any competent premier danseur, and Erik Bruhn is infinitely more than that; he is probably the most completely equipped male dancer of the day, with the flawlessly clean technique that comes only through a combination of enormous talent allied to correct day-by-day training from childhood … If his dancing was magnificent, and it was, his partnering of and playing to Markova were no less so. The result was one of those electrifying performances when everyone both in the audience and on the stage is aware that something extraordinary is happening.

Bruhn formally resigned from the Danish ballet in 1961, by which time he had become internationally known as a phenomenon, although he continued to dance periodically with the company as a guest artist. In May 1961, he returned to Ballet Theatre for its New York season. In its May 5 issue, Time magazine published a major article on the dancer and his art:

Back home Bruhn, 32, is the idol of the Royal Danish Ballet, where he has brought new life to the classic roles reserved for a premier danseur noble. His technical credentials include a fine dramatic sense and an ability to leap with a high-arching grace, to turn with cat quickness and fluidity on the ground or in midair, to project emotion with vivid movements of arms, legs and body. But Bruhn long ago became aware that "technique is not enough," and he is remarkable for the feeling of tension he can convey by his mere presence. Poised and trim (5 ft. 7 in., 140 lbs.), he somehow rivets an audience with the promise of action before he has danced a step ... As Bruhn soars ever closer to his apogee, he spends restless nights reviewing roles in his mind. He has surprisingly little of the vanity that goads most performers; he does not want audiences to pay, he says, "only to see me jump." Furthermore, he would rather "be bad in a good ballet than be great in a bad ballet." But to be great in a good ballet? To do it, says Erik Bruhn, "it is important, even if you performed a role the night before, to think, 'This is the first time this is going to happen.' "^[4]

During the next 10 years, Bruhn formed long relationships as a guest artist not only with Ballet Theatre but with most all of the major ballet companies in Europe and North America, including the New York City Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, the Paris Opera Ballet, and London's Royal Ballet. He was best known for his lead roles in La Sylphide, Giselle, Frederick Ashton's Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake. John Cranko made Daphnis and Chlöe on him in 1962 at the Stuttgart Ballet, which Bruhn considered his favorite from amongst the ballets created specifically for him.^[5] He was also acclaimed in dramatic roles, such as Jean in Birgit Cullberg's Miss Julie, the Moor in José Limón's The Moor's Pavane, and Don José in Roland Petit's Carmen. In addition to Sonia Arova, Bruhn had significant dance partnerships with a large and unusually varied number of ballerinas: the Americans Cynthia Gregory, Nora Kaye, Allegra Kent, and Maria Tallchief; the Russian Natalia Makarova; the Dane Kirstin Simone; the British Nadia Nerina; and, most famously, with the Italian prima ballerina Carla Fracci.

In his book, Beyond Technique (1968), Bruhn discussed his thoughts on partnering:

It has been noticed that I have been able to work with many different kinds of ballerinas, and on most occasions we succeeded in becoming a team if only for a season or two. And that is because I always wanted to relate to them. I don't remain the same. Each ballerina is different; she has a special flavor or she wouldn't be a ballerina. This would color my style and shape my approach. I remain true to myself, but I let her flavor color me as mine colors her ... A good partnership can somehow crystallize something that you have been doing already. When the right people come together, they bring the right thing out of each other ... With the right person, it becomes a situation of being rather than playing ...The role absorbs you and you become it. And then it seems like you can do nothing wrong because you are so totally absorbed by this being.

Bruhn was made a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog, one of Denmark's highest honors, in 1963, the same year he was awarded the Nijinsky Prize in Paris.^[6] After retiring as a Danseur Noble in 1972, Bruhn danced character roles, such as Madge the Witch in La Sylphide, Dr. Coppelius, and Petrushka. He was director of the Swedish Opera Ballet from 1967 to 1973 and the National Ballet of Canada from 1983 until his death in 1986. Although twice offered the directorship of the Royal Danish Ballet, he twice declined the post. His productions of full-length classical ballets, such as La Sylphide, Giselle, Coppélia, and his somewhat controversial Swan Lake for the National Ballet of Canada, were well received, as were his stagings of pas de deux from the Bournonville repertoire. A superb teacher and coach, Bruhn was dedicated to imparting purity of form and dance as drama not spectacle. He believed in "complete identification" with the character being portrayed, "but under complete control. Because if you lose yourself completely, you cannot communicate."^[3] In 1974, he played a leading role in the stage play Rashomon with Susse Wold in Denmark, for which he won acclaim.

Bruhn met Rudolf Nureyev, the celebrated Tatar dancer, after Nureyev defected to the West in 1961. Nureyev was a great admirer of Bruhn, having seen filmed performances of the Dane on tour in Russia with American Ballet Theatre, although stylistically the two dancers were very different. Bruhn became the great love of Nureyev's life^[7][8] and the two remained close for 25 years, until Bruhn's death.^[9]

Erik Bruhn died in Toronto General Hospital on April 1, 1986 at the age of 57. His death was attributed to lung cancer.^[10] However, according to Pierre-Henri Verlhac, he might have died of AIDS.^[11] He is buried in an unmarked grave at Mariebjerg Cemetery in Gentofte, an affluent northern suburb of Copenhagen, near the house where he grew up.

Dance critic John Rockwell, in his obituary of Bruhn, noted:

Mr. Bruhn was valued more as an epitome of manly elegance and for the sensitivity of his acting than as a virtuoso technician. As a partner he was grave and deferential, yet he never subsided meekly into the background. And as a poetic actor, he lifted male leading roles in the classic ballets to a new prominence ... Mikhail Baryshnikov [said] "He was indisputably one of the greatest dancers we have ever seen, and his dignity and style have been a model to us all, which can not be replaced."^[10]

Clive Barnes had named Erik Bruhn "the greatest male classical dancer of his time"^[12] when Bruhn retired in 1972. In an appreciation of Bruhn's accomplishments published in The New York Times shortly after his death, dance critic Anna Kisselgoff said:

He was, then, the model of perfection as a dancer - precise in every step, beautifully placed, a virtuoso technician, noble in bearing, elegant in every gesture. His line was extraordinary, his leg beats - a legacy of his Danish training - amazing. He was one of the few dancers who could bring the house down simply by executing a series of entrechats as James in La Sylphide. The steps, no matter how brilliantly executed, were always part of a deeper concept, part of a characterization. Erik Bruhn was a complete dancer - a far cry from the highly specialized artist he was often made out to be ... His moral example to the rest of ballet came through the concentration and seriousness with which he committed himself to every role.^[13]

In a codicil to his will, Bruhn left part of his estate for the establishment of The Erik Bruhn Prize, recognizing dancers from the three companies with which he was most closely associated: the Royal Danish Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and the National Ballet of Canada, each of which are invited to send one male and one female dancer to the competition, held in Toronto, Canada. Bruhn specified that the prize be awarded to two young dancers who "reflect such technical ability, artistic achievement and dedication as I endeavored to bring to dance." Competitors for the prize are between the ages of 18 and 23 and are selected by their respective Artistic Directors. For the competition, each dancer performs in a classical pas de deux and variations and a contemporary pas de deux or solo work.^[14] The first Erik Bruhn Prize was awarded in 1988.^[15]

Bruhn authored Beyond Technique with photos by Fred Fehl (1968, reissued as No. 36 of "Dance Perspectives" in 1973), and with Lillian Moore he co-authored Bournonville and Ballet Technique: Studies and Comments on August Bournonville's Etudes Choregraphiques (1961, reprinted 2005). He was the subject of the book Erik Bruhn: Danseur Noble (1979) by John Gruen, written with his cooperation and based in part on extensive interviews. A 2008 biography in Danish by Alexander Meinertz, Erik Bruhn - Billedet indeni (The Picture Within), has yet to be translated into English.

Bruhn was posthumously recognized in 1987 for "exemplary contributions to Canada and its culture" as the first recipient of the annual Pagurian Award for Excellence in the Arts.^[16]

Filmography[link]

A few of Erik Bruhn's performances have been preserved, several of which are available on DVD and on-line:

• Symphonie Fantastique, filmed in 1948 with the Royal Danish Ballet, choreography by Léonide Massine. A work film, shot without sound and showing the dancers in practice dress. Available on DVD through the Dance Film Archive of Ohio State University.^[17]
• Pas de deux, choreographed by Roland Petit, with the French ballerina Zizi Jeanmaire in the 1952 Goldwyn film Hans Christian Andersen. Available on DVD.
• Four short pieces were filmed in 1955 at Jacob's Pillow: Giselle Act II pas de deux with Alicia Alonso; and the Don Quixote pas de deux, Giselle Act II pas de deux, and The Nutcracker Act II pas de deux, all with Mary Ellen Moylan.^[18]
• "The Ed Sullivan Show" (25 August 1957) with Nora Kaye in the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake.
• "The Bell Telephone Hour" broadcasts: Don Quixote pas de deux with Maria Tallchief (from 1961); Act II of La Sylphide (1962) and a pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet choreographed by Bruhn (1967), both with Carla Fracci; the Black Swan pas de deux with Sonia Arova (1963), and the Act III pas de deux from Coppélia, also with Arova (1963). Available on the DVD "Rudolf Nureyev & Erik Bruhn - Their Complete Bell Telephone Hour Performances (1961-1967)," which also includes Tallchief and Nureyev dancing a pas de deux from Flower Festival in Genzano choreographed by Bruhn after Bournonville (from 1962).
• "The Art of the Pas de Deux": pas de deux from Don Quixote with Maria Tallchief; includes Tallchief and Nureyev in the Flower Festival in Genzano pas de deux choreographed by Bruhn. Available on DVD. Both performances are from "The Bell Telephone Hour" broadcasts and both also can be seen on the DVD "The Art of Maria Tallchief."
• Full-length Giselle with Carla Fracci and American Ballet Theatre (1969), which has been criticized for its eccentric camera work. Available on DVD.
• Erik Bruhn: I'm the Same, Only More - A Personal Portrait of the Legendary Dancer (2002), a posthumous 42-minute film biography by his friend, the Danish filmmaker Lennart Pasborg, includes performance footage and a recorded monologue by Bruhn used as a voice-over for clips and stills. Won an award at Cannes for use of archival material.

Performance Reviews and Critiques[link]

• Danseur Noble 5 May 1961
• The High & the Mighty 10 December 1965
• Review of Giselle video (1969)
• Lady of the Still Point 14 July 1975
• Erik Bruhn's 'Syphide' at Ballet Theatre 26 May 1983
• Erik Bruhn - Epitome of the Danseur Noble 13 April 1986

References[link]

1. ^ Gruen, John Erik Bruhn: Danseur Noble (1979) ISBN 0-670-29771-2
2. ^ Gruen, pg. 33
3. ^ ^{a b} Bruhn, Erik Beyond Technique (1968) ISBN 0-384-06086-2
4. ^ "Danseur Noble". Time. 5 May 1961. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872346,00.html. Retrieved 13 March 2009. 
5. ^ Gruen, pg. 126
6. ^ Gruen, pg. 131
7. ^ Kavanagh, Julie Nureyev: The Life (2007) ISBN 978-0-375-40513-6
8. ^ "Literary Review". http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/sennett_10_07.html. Retrieved 13 March 2009. 
9. ^ "Rudolf Nureyev Foundation Official Website". http://www.nureyev.org/rudolf-nureyev-biography-defects-to-the-west-1961/. Retrieved 19 March 2009. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Rockwell, John (2 April 1986). "Erik Bruhn Dies in Toronto". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50717F9355F0C718CDDAD0894DE484D81. Retrieved 19 March 2009. 
11. ^ Verlhac, Pierre-Henri Nurejew: Bilder eines Lebens (Nureyev: Images of a Life)(2008) ISBN 978-3-89487-606-7
12. ^ "A Great Dancer Retires" by Clive Barnes, NY Times 16 January 1972
13. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (13 April 1986). "Erik Bruhn - Epitome of the Danseur Noble". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/13/arts/dance-view-erik-bruhn-epitome-of-the-danseur-noble.html. Retrieved 23 June 2009. 
14. ^ "The Erik Bruhn Prize". http://www.national.ballet.ca/performances/season0809/erik_bruhn.php. Retrieved 11 March 2009. 
15. ^ "Erik Bruhn Prize (film)". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/15969/Erik-Bruhn-Gala-World-Ballet-Competition/overview. Retrieved 19 March 2009. 
16. ^ "Erik Bruhn is Given Posthumous Award". The New York Times. 4 June 1987. http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/arts/erik-bruhn-is-given-posthumous-award.html. Retrieved 23 June 2009. 
17. ^ "Dance Film Archive". http://psweb.sbs.ohio-state.edu/faculty/jmueller/Dfa.htm. Retrieved 23 June 2009. 
18. ^ Gruen, pg. 239

External links[link]

• Ballet Encyclopedia
• ABT Biography and Credits
• The National Ballet of Canada Biography
• Archive footage of Alicia Alonso and Erik Bruhn in Pas de Deux from Giselle, Act II in 1955 at Jacob's Pillow
• Erik Bruhn entry in the Columbia Encyclopedia
• Erik Bruhn entry in the Concise Encyclopædia Britannica
• glbtq Biography
• NY Times obituary by John Rockwell, 2 April 1986
• Erik Bruhn at the Internet Movie Database
• I'm the Same Only More review, New York Times
• Erik Bruhn on Google Video
• Erik Bruhn on YouTube
• Bournonville and Ballet Technique (1961) by Erik Bruhn on-line text
• Review of Erik Bruhn - Billedet indeni (in English)

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