Residence London, England Died 21 July 2014 | Nationality Spanish Alma mater Royal College of Art | |
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Born 20 November 1944 ( 1944-11-20 ) Puebla de Sancho Pérez, Badajoz, Spain Occupation Theatre and film director Movies A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Smoking Mirror Similar Jack Birkett, Lindsay Kemp, David Brandon, William Shakespeare | ||
Celestino Coronado Romero (20 November 1944 - 21 July 2014), also known as Celestino Coronado, was a Spanish film and theatre director, writer, also a flamboyant natural dancer and performer who lived most of his life in London. He was artistic director of the Lindsay Kemp Company from 1973 to 1985. He founded Cabochon Film Productions with David Meyer and has also collaborated with The Incredible Orlando (aka blind actor Jack Birkett) and with Chilean composer Carlos Miranda.
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Life and career
He was born in Puebla de Sancho Pérez, Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. He moved to Madrid in his early twenties and later settled in London in 1967 for the rest of his life, living in a rented flat in Brechin Place, South Kensington, which had become legendary for his many friends and collaborators.
He studied cinema at the Royal College of Art (School of Film and Television) and graduated Master of Arts in 1976. He studied mime with Lindsay Kemp and soon became a collaborator in his company as artistic director, contributing to the creation of the shows "Flowers", "That's the Show", "Legends", Genet's "The Maids", "Salome", "Mr. Punch's Pantomime", "A Midsummer Night's Dream" , and "Duende, fantastic poem for Federico García Lorca".
He also collaborated for the Rambert Dance Company with Lindsay Kemp and composer Carlos Miranda in the creation of the dance-theatre works "The Parades Gone By" (1976) and "Cruel Garden" (with choreography by Christopher Bruce - 1977, also in the film version 1982 directed by Colin Nears which won the Prix Italia Musica-1982.).
His RCA Diploma film "Hamlet" (1976) and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1984, after the Lindsay Kemp stage production, produced by Television Española (TVE)), were both premiered at the London Film Festival. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" also had a cinema release and was shown in Channel 4. He has produced and directed video productions and Super 8 films based on stage shows, happenings and events. Among these, his Super 8 film of "Nijinsky, the fool" (1982, produced by Teatro alla Scala, Milano) and a video production of the play "Goodbye G.O.D." by Carlos Miranda with Jack Birkett (The Incredible Orlando) in 1987. In 1989 he directed a theatre production of the play "Smoking Mirror" by Chilean playwright Alfredo Cordal, and also directed a version on video
Last years and death
Coronado continued writing and conceiving several projects that failed to materialize. He lived his last years having problems of mental health and his sometimes conflicting public behaviour caused contentions with the police. He died in July 2014, affected by colorectal cancer.