Fernand Nault
Canadian ballet dancer and choreographer (1920–2006)
Fernand Nault, OC, CQ (27 December 1920 – 26 December 2006) was a Canadian dancer and choreographer.
Early life and career
He was born Fernand-Noël Boissonneault in Montreal. After he abandoned his original career intent of becoming a priest, he studied dance with Maurice Morenoff in Montreal and later with prominent teachers in New York City, London, and Paris.
In 1944, Nault was hired by the American Ballet Theatre at an audition in Montreal to replace an injured dancer. He went on to become a distinguished character dancer, ballet master with the company, and later director of the company's school. After twenty-one years with the company, he returned to Montreal in 1965 and accepted the invitation of Ludmilla Chiriaeff to become co-artistic director and resident choreographer of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.
Working in Canada
Nault's best-known work is probably his spectacular production of Casse-Noisette (The Nutcracker), which has been performed annually during the Christmas season in Montreal for many years.
Other major works include Carmina Burana, created in 1962 and given a new production in 1966 by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens for the company's season during Expo 67, and the hugely successful rock ballet Tommy, created in 1970 and based on the rock opera by The Who.
Nault was also choreographer and ballet master for the École Supérieure de Danse du Québec, the school established by Madame Chiriaeff in 1966. He remained active with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens for many years and in 1990 was named choreographer emeritus, a title he held until his death.
The public source identifies “Fernand Nault” as canadian ballet dancer and choreographer (1920–2006). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fernand, Nault and Canadian.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 26, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1406527. VIAF identifies the subject as 106185354. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1920, 2006, 1944 and 1965.
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This entry incorporates text from “Fernand Nault” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.