Matthew Nash

Matthew Nash (1952 - 2021)

With heavy hearts we mourn the passing of Matthew Nash. A lifelong New Yorker, Matthew was a brilliantly gifted dancer, choreographer, and composer. Throughout his career he was dedicated to work, glamour, and the transformative power of dance. He was a lover of style and fashion, dachshunds, tattoos, and mid-century modern design. And above all he was a generous and loyal friend, and a loving brother, uncle, and cousin.

Drawn to the performing arts at a young age, the 14 year old Matthew was already an accomplished pianist when he simultaneously enrolled in the Mannes School of Music and the Joffrey Ballet School. His ballet training continued at the School of American Ballet and the Manhattan School of Dance under Master Teacher Margaret Craske, while his formative choreographic training was with the seminal artists Leonide Massine and James Waring.

Matthew found early success as a ballet dancer, and his fluent movement style earned him roles with prestigious companies in both the United States and Europe. But Matthew's most enduring legacy is as a choreographer, where his musicality and conservatory training combined with his sharp wit and an eye for social and cultural commentary. All of his gifts were on display in his most recent project: a revival of Elements of Style, Matthew's sly and stylish tribute to Strunk and White's writing manifesto, produced in March 2019 by New York Theatre Ballet. Matthew sends the company of dancers on a series of romps depicting grammatical decrees (Mind your semi-colons! Use the active voice!) set to a jazzily syncopated score of his own creation.

Matthew accepted commissions and choreographed ballets as well as composing accompanying scores for many of the premier dancers and companies of his time, a list that includes School of American Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Joffrey Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Hartford Ballet, Dance Theater Workshop, Ice Theatre of New York, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Alexander Godunov and Stars, and the Riverside Dance Festival. In Europe he created the dance role of Young Pascal in Pierre Laroche's Blaise Pascal for the Rideau de Bruxelles, and his celebrated performance led to a major European tour, a television adaptation, and the coveted Prix de la Société des Auteurs Belges (the only time a theatre production has been so honored). Over the years, Matthew taught in contexts as varied as the Ballet of the State Academic Theatre of Mongolia (Ulaan Baatar), Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the Universities of Washington and Wisconsin, and UCLA.

Following a long illness, Matthew spent his final days in his Chelsea home surrounded by his closest friends and family. The rooms filled with a steady stream of visitors who came to say goodbye to their neighbor, colleague, ballet master, teacher, and friend.

The ever-dapper Matthew once said that it felt like he had lost an old friend when the iconic New York retailer Barneys closed its stores.

No Matthew, this is what it feels like to lose an old friend.