He danced with ballet’s legends, partied with Freddie Mercury, and became a household name. As he celebrates his birthday with a gala performance, the 5ft 2in dynamo looks back at an action-packed life
To the international world of ballet, Clement Crisp was the British critic to fear for half a century. Crisp's dance reviews for the Financial Times - "the pink 'un" - from 1970 until 2020 were legendary for their passionate fastidiousness about ballerinas and high style, their acuity about rising talents and the difficulties of creativity, and - often - their ferocity, when he saw something he thought a blight.