Richard Buckle, 85; British Dance Critic, Historian

Richard Buckle, 85, a British dance critic and historian known for scholarly biographies of such ballet icons as George Balanchine, died Oct. 12 en route to a hospital in Salisbury, England.

His best-known works were the books “Nijinsky” in 1971, “Diaghilev” in 1978 and “George Balanchine: Ballet Master,” co-written with John Taras in 1988.

A critic for London’s Observer and later the Sunday Times, he also wrote two autobiographies and selections from his work, “Buckle at the Ballet” and “Adventures of a Ballet Critic.” As a historian, he staged multimedia exhibitions, one in Edinburgh and London in 1954 to mark the 25th anniversary of Russian ballet producer Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev’s death and another on Shakespeare in Stratford-on-Avon.

Buckle founded a magazine called Ballet in 1939 and revived it in 1946 after World War II. The magazine, which encouraged innovation in choreography and stage design, ceased publication in 1952.