Vincent Paterson
Encyclopedia
Vincent Paterson is a director and choreographer who has had an expansive career in many parts of the entertainment industry including film, theater, Broadway
, concert tours, opera, music videos, television and commercials. He has achieved success worldwide as a director and choreographer.
and Madonna
on various projects, including directing and choreographing Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour
, the centerpiece for the documentary
Madonna: Truth or Dare
. He created Madonna's "Marie Antoinette/Vogue" performance for the MTV Awards. He also directed and choreographed Jackson's "Bad" tour as well as conceiving and choreographing Smooth Criminal
and other Jackson music videos and live performances. He also directed the music video for Jackson's hit "Blood on the Dance Floor
".
Paterson directed (with one hundred cameras) and choreographed the musical sequences in Lars Von Trier
's film Dancer in the Dark
, which was awarded the Palme d'Or
at the Cannes Film Festival
. He has choreographed several films, including The Birdcage
, Closer
for director Mike Nichols
and Evita
for Alan Parker
. Threnody
, his dance-film reflection on September 11, won the Gold Jury Award at the Houston World Film Festival. He choreographed London
's West End
production of Lenny for director Sir Peter Hall and Los Angeles Opera
's Grand Duchess for director Garry Marshall
. Paterson's direction of the play Gangsta Love, set in a boxing club, earned him a Los Angeles
Drama-Logue award for outstanding director. He also directed Prague
's National BlackLight Theater in Gulliver's Travels
.
Paterson directed the opera Manon
for both the Los Angeles Opera
and the Berlin Staatsopera which was conducted in Los Angeles
by Placido Domingo
. His initiation into the opera world was his direction of the TV program Anna Netrebko: The Woman, The Voice. The DVD is the top selling classical DVD in European history. He also directed and choreographed Berlin
's first original production of the musical Cabaret
at Bar jeder Vernunft in 2004. He directed the television film In Search of Dr. Seuss
, which received seven Emmy Award
nominations. He choreographed ABC
's South Pacific
starring Glenn Close
and has served as choreographer for several Academy
and Grammy Award programs. As a cinematic tribute to his direction and choreography in an array of electronic media, The Lincoln Center Film Society presented an evening entitled "Vincent Paterson, Master of the Media." A similar evening was previously held at Paris
' Cinematheque Francais. In 2009, he directed and wrote Cirque Du Soleil
's "Elvis" presented at Las Vegas
' CityCenter.
Paterson has choreographed over two hundred and fifty commercials including commercial campaigns for Pepsi
, GE
, Rubbermaid
and Nike
, directed commercial campaigns for Payless and El Pollo Loco
, for the television series Dharma and Greg and a documentary for Project Angel Food
.
Paterson is featured in the Smithsonian publication, "Masters of Movement: Portrait's of America's Greatest Choreographers." He has also serves as a judge on Bravo's dance reality series Step It Up and Dance
along with fellow choreographer Nancy O'Meara
and actress and dancer Elizabeth Berkley
.
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, concert tours, opera, music videos, television and commercials. He has achieved success worldwide as a director and choreographer.
Career
Paterson collaborated with Michael JacksonMichael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
and Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
on various projects, including directing and choreographing Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour
Blond Ambition Tour
The Blond Ambition World Tour was the third concert tour by American singer-songwriter, Madonna. The tour was launched in support of her fourth studio album, Like a Prayer, and the soundtrack, I'm Breathless. The tour reached North America, Europe and Asia. It was a highly controversial tour,...
, the centerpiece for the documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Madonna: Truth or Dare
Madonna: Truth or Dare
Madonna: Truth or Dare is a 1991 American documentary film chronicling the life of American singer-songwriter Madonna during her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour...
. He created Madonna's "Marie Antoinette/Vogue" performance for the MTV Awards. He also directed and choreographed Jackson's "Bad" tour as well as conceiving and choreographing Smooth Criminal
Smooth Criminal
"Smooth Criminal" is the seventh single from Michael Jackson's 1987 Bad album. The song contains a fast-paced beat intertwined with Jackson's lyrics about a woman named Annie, who has been attacked in her apartment by a "smooth" assailant. It was released as a single on October 24, 1988 and peaked...
and other Jackson music videos and live performances. He also directed the music video for Jackson's hit "Blood on the Dance Floor
Blood on the Dance Floor (song)
"Blood on the Dance Floor" is a song by Michael Jackson. The song was released as the first single from the remix album, Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix. Jackson and Teddy Riley created the track in time for the 1991 release of Dangerous. However, it did not appear on that record and...
".
Paterson directed (with one hundred cameras) and choreographed the musical sequences in Lars Von Trier
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
's film Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark is a 2000 Danish musical drama film directed by Lars von Trier and starring Icelandic singer Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Cara Seymour, Peter Stormare, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, and Joel Grey...
, which was awarded the Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. He has choreographed several films, including The Birdcage
The Birdcage
The Birdcage is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Mike Nichols, and stars Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski. The script was written by Elaine May...
, Closer
Closer (film)
Closer is a 2004 romantic drama film written by Patrick Marber, based on his award-winning 1997 play of the same name. It was produced and directed by Mike Nichols and stars Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law and Clive Owen...
for director Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
and Evita
Evita (film)
Evita is the 1996 film adaptation of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of the same name based on the life of Eva Perón. It was directed by Alan Parker and written by Parker and Oliver Stone. It starred Madonna, Antonio Banderas, and Jonathan Pryce...
for Alan Parker
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
. Threnody
Threnody
A threnody is a song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. The term originates from the Greek word threnoidia, from threnos + oide ; ultimately, from the Proto-Indo-European root wed- that is also the precursor of such words as "ode", "tragedy", "comedy",...
, his dance-film reflection on September 11, won the Gold Jury Award at the Houston World Film Festival. He choreographed London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of Lenny for director Sir Peter Hall and Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
's Grand Duchess for director Garry Marshall
Garry Marshall
Garry Kent Marshall is an American actor, director, writer and producer. His notable credits include creating Happy Days and The Odd Couple and directing Nothing In Common, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, Valentine's Day, and The Princess Diaries.-Early life:Marshall was born in the New York City...
. Paterson's direction of the play Gangsta Love, set in a boxing club, earned him a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Drama-Logue award for outstanding director. He also directed Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
's National BlackLight Theater in Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships, better known simply as Gulliver's Travels , is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of...
.
Paterson directed the opera Manon
Manon
Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
for both the Los Angeles Opera
Los Angeles Opera
The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.-Current leadership:...
and the Berlin Staatsopera which was conducted in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
by Placido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
. His initiation into the opera world was his direction of the TV program Anna Netrebko: The Woman, The Voice. The DVD is the top selling classical DVD in European history. He also directed and choreographed Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
's first original production of the musical Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
at Bar jeder Vernunft in 2004. He directed the television film In Search of Dr. Seuss
In Search of Dr. Seuss
In Search of Dr. Seuss is a feature film chronicling the adventures of a news reporter who enters the world of Dr. Seuss by opening a magical book. It came to DVD in 2003 and again in 2008 as a bonus feature for the TV movie Horton Hears a Who!.-Plot:A reporter named Kathy Lane comes to Theodor...
, which received seven Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nominations. He choreographed ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's South Pacific
South Pacific (2001 film)
Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific is a made-for-television movie, directed by Richard Pearce in 2001. This ABC production starred Glenn Close, Harry Connick, Jr. and Rade Šerbedžija...
starring Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
and has served as choreographer for several Academy
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
and Grammy Award programs. As a cinematic tribute to his direction and choreography in an array of electronic media, The Lincoln Center Film Society presented an evening entitled "Vincent Paterson, Master of the Media." A similar evening was previously held at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
' Cinematheque Francais. In 2009, he directed and wrote Cirque Du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
's "Elvis" presented at Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
' CityCenter.
Paterson has choreographed over two hundred and fifty commercials including commercial campaigns for Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
, GE
Gê
Gê are the people who spoke Ge languages of the northern South American Caribbean coast and Brazil. In Brazil the Gê were found in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Piaui, Mato Grosso, Goias, Tocantins, Maranhão, and as far south as Paraguay....
, Rubbermaid
Rubbermaid
Rubbermaid is an American manufacturer and distributor of many household items. It is a subsidiary of Newell Rubbermaid. It is most well known for producing food storage containers and trash cans...
and Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, directed commercial campaigns for Payless and El Pollo Loco
El Pollo Loco
El Pollo Loco is a fast-food restaurant chain specializing in Mexican grilled chicken, headquartered in Costa Mesa, California. "El Pollo Loco" is Spanish for "The Crazy Chicken".Their main dish is pollo asado, a grilled marinated chicken...
, for the television series Dharma and Greg and a documentary for Project Angel Food
Project Angel Food
Project Angel Food is a nonprofit agency whose mission is to nourish the body and spirit of men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Volunteers and staff cook and deliver free and nutritious meals prepared with love throughout Los Angeles County,...
.
Paterson is featured in the Smithsonian publication, "Masters of Movement: Portrait's of America's Greatest Choreographers." He has also serves as a judge on Bravo's dance reality series Step It Up and Dance
Step It Up and Dance
Step It Up and Dance was a reality television competition series where contestants are supposed to "learn what it takes to make it big in the cutthroat dance industry". Actress and dancer Elizabeth Berkley serves as host, and director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell mentors the 12 dancers chosen...
along with fellow choreographer Nancy O'Meara
Nancy O'Meara
Nancy O'Meara is an American dancer, choreographer and occasional actress.O'Meara was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts with a strong technical background, trained in all forms of dance...
and actress and dancer Elizabeth Berkley
Elizabeth Berkley
Elizabeth Berkley is an American television, film, and theatre actress. Berkley's most notable roles were in the television series Saved by the Bell, as brainy feminist Jessie Spano, and the 1995 Paul Verhoeven film Showgirls, as exotic dancer Nomi Malone.-Early life:Berkley was born and raised...
.