1. Norbert Vesak, one of Canada's leading choreographers in the 1970s, was a ballet dancer, choreographer, theatrical director, master teacher, dance columnist, lecturer, and opera ballet director, known for his unique, flamboyant style and his multimedia approach to classical and contemporary choreography.
Norbert Vesak is credited with helping to bring modern dance to Western Canada.
Norbert Vesak was described as a "Renaissance Man", well known as a lecturer, dancer, set and costume designer, and teacher, as well as for his choreography and work in the theater.
Norbert Vesak was born in Port Moody, British Columbia in 1936 to Frank and Nora Norbert Vesak, of Czech and Belgian descent.
Norbert Vesak studied dance in Edmonton, Alberta with Laine Metz and followed that with study under Josephine Slater, whom he described as having the greatest influence on his career at that time, because in addition to teaching and mentoring him, she introduced him to Ted Shawn who was one of the pioneers of modern dance in the United States.
Norbert Vesak was given a scholarship to train with Shawn at Jacob's Pillow in Lee, Massachusetts, where he trained and eventually joined the teaching staff.
Norbert Vesak studied under Margaret Craske, Merce Cunningham, Geoffrey Holder, Pauline Koner, Madam La Meri, Robert Abramson, Ruth St Denis, and Vera Volkova, among others.
Norbert Vesak was classically trained, and was a member of the Royal Academy of Dancing and Ballet in Britain and studied ethnic dance extensively.
In 1964, Norbert Vesak was named resident choreographer for the Vancouver Playhouse Theater.
Norbert Vesak went to England to perform with Western Theatre Ballet, and then returned to Canada.
Norbert Vesak described the magazine as being "dedicated to the furtherance of dance" in Canada and he published it without attribution.
Norbert Vesak created works, such as From Ecstasy to Despair in 1969, that were described as futuristic and emotionally jarring, that provided an important social message.
Norbert Vesak was director of the San Francisco Opera ballet from 1970 to 1975.
Norbert Vesak was named official choreographer for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 1975.
Norbert Vesak became one of the most internationally renowned choreographers of his time, having the rare distinction of being awarded two international gold medals for choreography in a single year, with his broad range of work performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America.
Two notable ballets Norbert Vesak created in the 1970s, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe and What To Do 'Till the Messiah Comes, were major successes for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and highlighted important cultural and sociological issues.
Norbert Vesak noted that the ballet is 'less angry, less polemical in tone than Ryga's play, which hammers away at the idea that white justice cannot comprehend the Indian fact.
In 1973, What to do Till the Messiah Comes became another of Norbert Vesak's most acclaimed works, described as a visionary ballet set to rock music, and in 1980, he won gold medals for his choreography of Belong Pas de Deux from that work at the International Ballet Concours in both Varna, Bulgaria and Osaka, Japan.
Hart rose to international stardom, and Norbert Vesak's "Belong" became a signature piece for her.
In 1989, Norbert Vesak collaborated with director Franco Zeffirelli, choreographing La Traviata for the Metropolitan Opera.
Norbert Vesak died suddenly of a brain aneurysm while on his way to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of North Carolina Dance Theater, where a work that he had designed for that company in 1975, The Gray Goose of Silence, was being performed to commemorate the occasion.