Adam Darius
Introduction Adam Darius: Helsinki, 2007. '''Adam Darius''' (10 May 1930 – 3 December 2017) was a Turkish origin American dancer, mime artist, writer and choreographer. As a performer, he appeared in over 86 countries across six continents. As a writer, he published 19 books and wrote 22 plays.In a program devoted to his career, the BBC World Service described him as "one of the most exceptional talents of the 20th century".
Biography Adam Darius was born in Manhattan, New York City, into a family of Turkish and Russian ancestry.===Ballet career===Adam Darius began his ballet and contemporary dance training in 1945, at the age of 14, and went on to study with, among others, Anatole Oboukhov, George Goncharov, Olga Preobrajenska and José Limón.His professional career began in 1946 with appearances at New York's Metropolitan Opera House, and then with numerous ballet companies including Britain's International Ballet (1953), Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet (1954), and Denmark's Scandinavian Ballet (1962). He was also choreographer of the Israel National Opera (1963–1964), where he choreographed four operas for opera star Plácido Domingo; (''Don Giovanni'', ''Carmen'', ''La Traviata'' and ''The Pearl Fishers'', all of which premièred at the Israel National Opera in Tel-Aviv in 1963). From 1964–1966, Adam Darius was the director of his own company, the Israeli Ballet. '''Principal ballets:'''*''Pierrot the Wanderer'' - Choreographed for American prima ballerina Melissa Hayden and premièred at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Toronto, Canada in 1955. *''Quartet'' - Choreographed for American prima ballerina Cynthia Gregory and premièred at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, California in 1958. *''The Anne Frank Ballet'' - Premièred in Long Beach, California in 1959.Produced for Italian Television in 1967.Released as a video in 1989, in which Mr Darius danced the role of Anne Frank's father, Otto Frank. *''Marilyn'' - A ballet based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, which ran for five weeks at the Arts Theatre in London's West End in February 1975. *''Firebird'' - Choreographed to Stravinsky's music. Presented by the Las Vegas Civic Ballet at the Reed Whipple Cultural Center, Las Vegas, in April 1986.===Expressive mime===Yukio Mishima, Portugal 2006: by Adam Darius and Kazimir Kolesnik.In 1967, Adam Darius broke away from the traditional world of ballet and premièred his own fusion of dance and mime, described as 'expressive mime', at the Spoleto Festival in Italy and at the Arts Lab in London.In the years that followed he toured many countries, including: South Africa (1970); the Soviet Union (1971); the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Australia (1971); Syria, Iran and Afghanistan (1976); Japan (1984); and Greenland (1998).Adam Darius' concept of physical theatre was also realized in the London productions of ''Yukio Mishima'' (1991), ''Rimbaud and Verlaine'' (1992) and ''Tower of Babel'' (1993), in collaboration with Kazimir Kolesnik. Among their further joint productions was ''A Snake in the Grass'', presented in Amman, Jordan (2001) and acknowledged with the Noor Al Hussein Award.===Teaching===In 1978, Adam Darius and Marita Crawley founded the Mime Centre in London. In Britain he taught, among others, mime artist, dancer and director, Kazimir Kolesnik, rock star Kate Bush, Hollywood film star Kate Beckinsale, and West End principal Warren Mitchell.
Death Darius died on 3 December 2017 in Espoo, Finland at the age of 87.
Books by Adam Darius Author#YearTitlePagesPublisherCityISBNGenreDarius, Adam11973''Dance Naked in the Sun''325Latonia PublishersLondonAutobiographyDarius, Adam21978''The Way to Timbuktu''276Latonia PublishersLondonAutobiographyDarius, Adam31984''The Adam Darius Method''270Latonia PublishersLondonTheatre techniqueDarius, Adam41988''The Man Who Spat at Fate''251Latonia PublishersLondonNovelDarius, Adam51991''The Guru''115Latonia PublishersLondonPhilosophyDarius, Adam61996''The Commedia Dell' Arte''97Kolesnik Production OYHelsinkiTheatre techniqueDarius, Adam71998''Acting - A Psychological and Technical Approach''208Kolesnik Production OYHelsinkiTheatre techniqueDarius, Adam82000''Audition Monologues''128Kolesnik Production OYHelsinkiTheatre techniqueDarius, Adam92003''Double Existence''202Kolesnik Production OYHelsinkiNovelDarius, Adam102004''A Nomadic Life''250Kolesnik Production OYHelsinkiAutobiographyDarius, Adam112005''When Your Dog Dies''63Kolesnik Production OYHelsinkiAnimal WelfareDarius, Adam122007''Arabesques Through Time''407Harlequinade BooksHelsinkiAutobiographyDarius, Adam132009''Death in Damascus''n/ae-bookn/aNovelDarius, Adam142011''The Passion of Black Jesus''n/ae-bookn/aNovelDarius, Adam152012''Dancing in the Himalayas''n/ae-bookn/aNovelBocher, Barbara with Darius, Adam162012''The Cage: Dancing for Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine, 1949-1954''288CreateSpacen/aAutobiographyDarius, Adam172013''La Belle Otero: The Last of the Great Courtesans''n/ae-bookn/a PlayDarius, Adam182014''Poems by Adam Darius''n/ae-bookn/a PoetryDarius, Adam192014''Ballet Babylon''n/ae-bookn/a History
Honours and awards * 1976: Silver medallion of the Belgrade Monodrama Festival (Yugoslavia)* 1976: Honorary membership of the North Sumatran Community (Indonesia)* 1978: American Television Emmy (US)* 1984: Premio Positano Léonide Massine Per L'arte Della Danza (Italy)* 1987: Key to the City of Las Vegas (US)* 1998: Shetland Dance and Mime Award (UK)* 2001:  Noor Al Hussein Foundation Award (Jordan)* 2002: Beirut Festival du Rire Trophy (Lebanon)* 2003:  Noor Al Hussein Foundation Award (Jordan)* 2009: Order of Luis Manuel Gutiérrez (Venezuela)* 2012: Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Cultura Award (Venezuela)* 2014: Gjakova Komedia Fest Appreciation Award (Republic of Kosovo)* 2016: Simon Bolívar Award (Venezuela)
International performances since January 2000 Unless marked as being a SOLO performance, all shows were given in partnership with  Kazimir Kolesnik.YearMonthCountryCityVenueRepertoireNotes2000AprilJordanAmmanRoyal Cultural CentreResurrection2000JulyCroatiaDubrovnikDubrovnik FestivalResurrection2000AugustFinlandOuluOulu Music Festival TheatrePierrot in Exile2000Nov.TurkeyIstanbulAtatürk Cultural CenterSelected solosSOLO2001Jan/FebJordanAmmanBaccalaureate School TheatreA Snake in the Grass2001AprilTurkeyIstanbulAksanat Cultural CentreResurrection2001Sept.MoroccoCasablancaInternational Theatre FestivalResurrectionRabatSalle BahniniResurrection2001Nov.FinlandHelsinki Q-TeatteriJames DeanAs director2002JuneSlovakiaBratislavaPantomime FestivalDeath of a Scarecrow2002JulyLebanonBeirutFestival du RireHighlight repertoire2003Feb.RussiaSt. PetersburgOkryty TheatreHighlight repertoire2003MayItalyTurin Teatro GobettiDeath of a Scarecrow2003Sept.JordanAmmanRoyal Cultural CentreDeath of a Scarecrow2004MarchNew ZealandChristchurchHagley Community CollegeDeath of a Scarecrow2004AprilMalaysiaKuala LumpurMalaysian National TheatreDeath of a Scarecrow2004AugustMaltaVallettaSaint James Cavalier CentreDeath of a Scarecrow2004Nov.SyriaDamascusAl-Kabbani TheatreDeath of a Scarecrow2005Feb.SyriaDamascusFinnish/Jordanian Festival, Al-Assad Opera HouseFusionWith company2005AugustTurkeyIstanbulSultan's PalaceDeath of a Scarecrow2006Feb.PortugalPorto Serralves FoundationYukio MishimaWith companyPonte del LimaTeatro Diogo BernardesYukio MishimaWith company2006MayUkraineKievTYS Theatre;  Suzirie TheatreDeath of a Scarecrow2006Dec.ArgentinaRosario Teatro del Rayo; Centro Cultural LavardenDeath of a Scarecrow2007Oct.ArmeniaYerevanHigh Fest Theatre FestivalDeath of a Scarecrow2007Dec.MacedoniaSkopje Macedonian Academy of Science and ArtsDance: A Bridge between CulturesUNESCO sponsored lecture2008Feb.EgyptAlexandria Bibliotheca AlexandrinaTears of a Clown2009Jan.FinlandEspoo SellosaliDeath of a Scarecrow2009MarchMacedoniaSkopje Macedonian National TheatreDeath of a Scarecrow2009Oct.VenezuelaIsla de MargaritaTeatro Simon BolivarSelected solosSOLO2009Nov.FinlandEspoo SellosaliTears of a Clown2010MayBosnia & HerzogovinaSarajevo Teaterfest Death of a Scarecrow2010Nov.NepalKathmandu Kathmandu International Theatre FestivalBasho - A Windswept Spirit2012MayVenezuelaCaracasTeresa Carreño Cultural ComplexBasho - A Windswept SpiritCaracasSala Juana SujoBasho - A Windswept SpiritCaracasTeatro PrincipalBasho - A Windswept Spirit2013MarchKuwaitKuwait City Dar al Athar al-IslamiyyahBasho - A Windswept Spirit2013OctMacedoniaSkopje Macedonian National TheatreBasho - A Windswept Spirit2014SeptRepublic of KosovoGjakovaGjakova Comedy FestivalBasho - A Windswept Spirit2015MarchKuwaitKuwait CityRoyal PalaceBasho - A Windswept Spirit2015Dec.7RussiaKrasnoyarskPalace of CultureBasho - A Windswept Spirit2015Dec.8RussiaNovosibirskPhilharmonic Chamber HallBasho - A Windswept Spirit2015Dec.10RussiaChelyabinskProkoviev Concert HallBasho - A Windswept Spirit
Notes
External links * Adam Darius at the mimecentre.com* Adam Darius on Facebook* Dansmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden