Remembering Danny Jackson

Photos: (top row) Danny Jackson Encore! Encore! project rehearsal in Toronto / Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann, 1986; Sacha Belinsky and Danny Jackson rehearsing at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens
(bottom row) Danny Jackson, Nesta Toumine, Angela Borgeest, Chester Ferguson, and Audrey Brownlow rehearsing Maria Chapedeleine (choreography by Nesta Toumine, 1957) as part of the Encore! Encore! project in Toronto / Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann, 1986; Danny Jackson on the stage in John Stanzel’s choir for Brian Macdonald’s Tam Ti Delam (1974)

The cult of celebrity affects so many professional domains, and dance is no exception. Most people recognize the names of the stars, particularly in the realm of ballet, but fewer know of the luminaries who work largely unacknowledged, behind the scenes, whose contributions to the art form and to Canada’s cultural legacy are immense.
One such star was Daniel Jackson – dancer, répétiteur, mentor, former co-artistic director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, co-founder and artistic director of Montréal Danse, and artistic advisor to Margie Gillis – who left us on February 21 after a lifetime of dedicated support to the Canadian dance community. A deeply cultured man, Jackson was a connoisseur of music, the visual and literary arts, with unerring good taste and a breadth of knowledge he applied to every role he took on and every institution he worked for. His appetite for new forms of expression, his enthusiasm for young creators, and the vast reservoir of cultural history he drew from enriched not only the repertoire, but enhanced the authenticity of the voices he brought to our attention. 
Spending an afternoon with Daniel Jackson was akin to engaging in time travel. Sitting on his balcony overlooking Parc Lafontaine, surrounded by art books, large abstract paintings and memorabilia from around the world, he would bring to life in vivid detail the many extraordinary encounters he had had with legendary figures. These were always recounted with characteristic wry humour, one vignette leading to another until you began to wonder whether there was anyone of interest he hadn’t met, either in normal or accidental circumstances. Such as the time he lost his union card outside the school of the American Ballet Theatre, which led to an evening at the home of Stephen Sondheim where a late-night stroll in the garden earned them a scolding from next-door neighbour Katherine Hepburn. What he always neglected to mention by way of explanation was the self-effacing, buoyant personality, quick wit, and dramatic good looks that undoubtedly drew people to him as a young artist and continued to do so throughout his life.
Born in 1937 of Romanian immigrant parents, Jackson grew up in Detroit where he studied with influential modern dance teacher Harriet Berg, offering to teach her the folk and indigenous dances he had learned in exchange for classes. He made his way to New York City on his 18th birthday, with $97 in his pocket and a determination to become an artist, eventually settling on dance as the way forward. In classes, many of them offered for free in recognition of his charm and talent, he caught the attention of various dance legends, including Antony Tudor, Edward Caton, Igor Schwezoff, and James Waring. However, like many aspiring dancers, he grew tired of living hand-to-mouth – sometimes without an actual room to call his own – and so auditioned for and landed a role in Hanya Holm’s wildly successful musical, My Fair Lady. For the better part of two years, he travelled in unaccustomed style across North America and toured for three full months to the USSR; it was the first musical theatre production to venture behind the Iron Curtain.
On return to NYC and classes with the American Ballet Theatre, Daniel was spotted by Ludmilla Chiriaeff, founder and director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, who offered him a place in the corps de ballet. He danced with the company from 1961 to 1968, and, after a brief stint as an antique dealer, returned to coach (and eventually to move through the ranks from ballet master to répétiteur) alongside his dance partner Linda Stearns. 
Jackson and Stearns shared a special bond, which was solidified when, in 1978, they became part of a troika with the talented administrator and financial manager Colin McIntyre. Their skills were highly complementary: Stearns oversaw the classical repertoire, Jackson the contemporary repertoire and McIntyre, who had worked for London’s Festival Ballet and Portugal’s Gulbenkian Foundation, served as Director General. It was an unusual and somewhat controversial way to run a ballet company, and there were detractors. But the deep respect and affection they had for one another ensured that the formula worked. Their time together marked a period in which the company, at the behest of Jackson, acquired and commissioned many important contemporary works from choreographers such as Paul Taylor, Lar Lubovitch, José Limón, John Butler, and James Kudelka. It was a time in which Jackson built a reputation for his reverential treatment of choreography and the unique way he had of inspiring dancers to bring forth their highest, most genuine rendering of the material.
For reasons that remain opaque, the board of Les Grands decided to change direction in 1985. Jackson left the company and a year later was putting his skills to work as co-founder of the repertory dance company Montréal Danse, along with the gifted choreographer Paul-André Fortier. Although Fortier left two years later to accept a teaching position at the Université du Québec à Montréal and to pursue his solo career, Jackson stayed on in the role of artistic director until 1996, providing a crucial platform for many Québec choreographers – Jean-Pierre Perreault, Catherine Tardif, Ginette Laurin, Danièle Desnoyers, Linda Rabin, Daniel Soulières, and Daniel Léveillé, in addition to Fortier. He attracted repertoire from international choreographers as well, including Natsu Nakajima of Japan, Susan Marshall of the USA, and Jean Gaudin of France. In a final note to his former co-founder, Fortier writes:

I hold a very warm memory of our years of collaboration. The creation of Montréal Danse remains a high point in my journey and I am happy that we conspired together to bring it to life… Even though we haven’t seen much of one another you will have a place in my heart and my thoughts for the rest of my days.

Jackson’s last professional engagement was a 13-year stretch as artistic advisor to Margie Gillis, with whose energies and emotional depth he connected intimately. Both were strong communicators and his practised eye helped to refine the meaning behind her movement, without taming the slightly wild and visceral nature of her work. He accompanied Gillis on tours and interacted with many of her collaborators, including the late, great Jessye Norman. Says Gillis: 

I met Daniel Jackson in the 1970s when he invited my brother Christopher from the Paul Taylor company to come and set one of Paul’s dances on Les Grands Ballets. He was kind and welcoming and it was a joy to be in his world. At the time I was dancing in Linda Rabin’s The White Goddess and we went to Danny’s apartment to change costumes. I had no idea whose apartment we were in. I was in the bathroom doing my final make-up when Danny walked in the door and said, “Who are you?” in a rather angry tone. I turned and said, “My name is Margie Gillis – who are you?” “I am Daniel Jackson,” he replied, “and I own this bathroom.” That was the beginning of a friendship that has lasted over 50 years. I would see him on and off at Les Grands, or I would leave messages for him on the mirrors of dressing rooms if Montréal Danse were coming after us to the same theatres on tour. 

In the late 1990s Peggy Baker and I did a show in the Midwest US and it was suggested we bring Danny in to advise us on programming. It was magic: the right program, the right conditions, the right kindness to surround us both, and to deepen our shared focus. Afterward, I kept asking him to help me with my work until Linda Foy, my manager at the time, finally said, “Margie, why don’t we just hire him? You’ve been with him every day for the last four months!”

Daniel was a brilliant artistic advisor. He energetically held space with the expectancy of genius. I called it miracle. He was patient and wise. With Daniel’s trust, I began to flourish. I gained self-confidence and a fuller freedom and joy, in the Art that flowed through me. Out of this shared dedication and vision, the dance flowed on stage and off. We believed in the same transformative energy to create the choreography and to communicate with the audience. You could feel the eagerness come off of him. He is a palpable presence of support and Love. 

(L to R) Margie Gillis and Danny Jackson in Athens, Greece; Brydon Paige, Linda Stearns, and Daniel Jackson on tour c. 1962

Daniel Jackson forged many deep relationships in the arts community, such as the one he enjoyed with Katya Cernovitch, the daughter of renowned lighting designer Nick Cernovitch and former Les Grands dancer Linda Foy. Says Katya,

He was a deeply private person, often hard on himself and self-critical, and at times that intensity could spill over onto those closest to him…. Our temperaments sometimes clashed – mine direct, his shaped by nuance, imagination, and abstraction – but within that friction grew a genuine respect and appreciation for one another. Some of our most meaningful moments were quiet ones: in those shared silences, Daniel taught me the importance of slowing down and noticing the beauty so often taken for granted. 

Daniel Jackson will be mourned by all those who treasured the artist and person he was. Predeceased by his parents, his two brothers, and his beloved Linda Stearns, he leaves behind special friends who cared for him in his final years, including Claude Girard, Margie Gillis, Katya Cernovitch, and Linda Rabin.

~ Barbara Laskin, Linda Rabin, and Margie Gillis

Banner photo: (detail) Daniel Jackson, My Fair Lady, 1959-1960, National Touring Company, San Francisco Opera House, July 1959