Peter Brinson (1920-1995). British writer, director, educator and administrator

Peter Brinson was born in Llandudno, Wales, in 1920. He went to Oxford University to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1938, but did not graduate until 1948 because of war service with the Royal Artillery, including commanding a tank at the battle of El Alamein.

After the war, Brinson began work at the London Film Centre, and in 1952 wrote and produced The Black Swan, a film featuring Beryl Grey and John Field. In 1964 he set up, directed and wrote The Royal Ballet’s Ballet For All programme, a series of lecture-demonstrations on ballet and ballets, with Royal Ballet dancers performing the roles. Until its closure in 1979, Ballet For All toured round the country, with up to 150 performances a year, reaching as many as 70,000 people annually. Brinson made seven video films of his Ballet for All scripts.

In 1968 Brinson became director of the Royal Academy of Dance. During this period of his life he was also involved with the London School of Contemporary Dance. He also began to actively promote dance education at various levels, including in schools, a role which made increasing demands on his time as his career developed. He also held various academic appointments in Britain and abroad. From 1972 until 1992 he was director of the UK and Commonwealth Branch of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. As such, in 1982, he was instrumental in setting up the chair in Dance Studies at Surrey University, the first such post in a British University. Brinson was also a prolific writer and journalist, including freelancing for The Times. With Peggy van Praagh he published The Choreographic Art in 1963, and Ballet for All with Clement Crisp in 1970. Peter Brinson died in London in 1995.