Christopher Richard Sandford Buckle, better known as Richard Buckle, (6 August 1916 - 12 October 2001) was a lifelong devotee of ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

, and a well-known ballet critic. He founded the magazine Ballet in 1939, and revived it after the war

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 (during which he served with the Scots Guards

Scots Guards

The Scots Guards is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army, whose origins lie in the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland...

, being mentioned in despatches in 1944 during the Italy campaign). Between 1948 and 1955 he was ballet critic for The Observer

The Observer

The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...

. He organised a number of highly successful exhibitions, including most notably one in 1954 on the life and work of Diaghilev, first at the Edinburgh Festival

Edinburgh Festival

The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...

 and then at Forbes House in London. He also organised the quatercentenary Shakespeare exhibition at Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...

 in 1964-5. His publications include the most comprehensive biographies of Nijinsky

Nijinsky

Nijinsky can refer to:*Vaslav Nijinsky , ballet dancer and choreographer*Bronislava Nijinska , dancer, choreographer and teacher*Nijinksy , starring Alan Bates Harry Saltzman as Vaslav Nijinsky*Nijinsky II, race horse...

 (1971) and Diaghilev (1979), and he edited several books, including the autobiography of Lydia Sokolova

Lydia Sokolova

Lydia Sokolova was an English ballerina. She trained at the Stedman Ballet Academy and learned from such luminaries as Anna Pavlova and Enrico Cecchetti....

 and the selected diaries of Cecil Beaton

Cecil Beaton

Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, CBE was an English fashion and portrait photographer, diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer for films and the theatre...

.

Selected writing

• Diaghilev, Atheneum (paperback 1984), ISBN 0-689-70664-2
• Nijinsky, Avon Books (paperback 1975), ISBN 0-380-00459-3
• Buckle at the Ballet: Selected Criticism, Dance Books (1980), ISBN 0-903102-53-6 reviewed in New York Times, August 21, 1981 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B00E3DE123BF932A1575BC0A967948260
• The Most Upsetting Woman (Autobiography 1), Collins (1981), ISBN 0-00-216326-8

External links

• Obituary, Ballet critic who revolutionised exhibition design and wrote biographies of Diaghilev and Nijinsky, The Guardian, October 13, 2001