Vincent Paterson

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Vincent Paterson is a director and choreographer who has hadan expansive career in many parts of the entertainment industry including film,theater, Broadway, concert tours, opera, music videos, television andcommercials. He has achieved success worldwide as a director and choreographer.
Today I celebrate Vincent Paterson’s body of worth. Thinkyou know him? Think again…here is the real Vincent Patterson. Vincent and I spoke last month prior to the storm that crippledmost of us in the New York tri-state region so I apologize to him for the delayin getting this up. I began the interview by asking Vincent what his personalphilosophy is. His goal is to live in the moment as much as possible and tolearn from every experience he can.He doesn’t know if he made a decision to go into thisbusiness or if it sort of evolved. Like most in this business, he started “acting”when he was a little kid. He wasn’t a dancer but he used to put shows on in theneighborhood with his cousins and brothers and sisters and make everyone comeand watch for a nickel and stuff like that, so he guesses it began then. He wasin all of the plays and usually had the lead in high school. When he went tocollege, he thought he was going to major in law. He thought being in law wouldbe theatrical and financially beneficial. He got waylaid into working in thetheater. He went to a college that didn’t have a theater major. They asked himto create the first interdisciplinary theater major which he did. This was at  Dickinson College, a nationally recognized andhighly selective liberal arts college located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Then,it all sort of fell into place. He did a lot of crazy jobs from giving tours inPennsylvania to being a roofer to wiping down the interiors of huge oil tanksat oil refineries. When he looks at all those old jobs, the only thing he wasinterested in doing was living in a world of fantasy. 

Vincent Paterson Choreographer for Michael Jackson

He is one of the few people who have invaded virtually all aspects of the entertainment industry.  He has worked on films, Broadway, concert tours, opera, music videos, TV shows and even on commercials.  His commercial credits include Pepsi, GE, Rubbermaid, NIKE, Payless and El Pollo Loco.What experiences he has had!  Vincent collaborated with Michael Jackson andMadonna on various projects, including directing and choreographing Madonna's BlondAmbition Tour, the centerpiece for the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare. Hecreated Madonna's "Marie Antoinette/Vogue" performance for the MTVAwards. He also directed and choreographed Jackson's "Bad" tour aswell as conceiving and choreographing Smooth Criminal and other Jackson musicvideos and live performances. He also directed the music video for Jackson'shit "Blood on the Dance Floor".He considers Michael Jackson the one person above all otherswho truly revolutionized the music industry. 

Anna Netrebko  and Vincent

He created a new sound. He alsocreated a new way of establishing dance rhythms. He was the vanguard forbringing black entertainers into popular visual music.Vincent’s career has been made up of a series of points madeup of allowing life to present him to make choices based on subjects thatinterest him and a level of attractiveness with people involved. He also hopesthat the projects he gets involved with will scare him enough to force him todo his best work. The perfect day for Vincent would look like this: He livesin California because he likes the sun. Hot, Hot, and hotter always works forhim. He would begin the day with a protein drink. He would exercise. He woulddo some meditation. When it is a day of creativity, he would be working withamazing people who are positive to collaborate and exchange ideas. If it is nota working day, he would be working in his garden for a while. He is an avid gardener.His day would end making dinner for friends and watching a great movie. Hedoesn’t eat red meat. He hasn’t eaten red meat in forty years! He is nottotally a vegetarian. He will have a little fish and a little poultry once in awhile. He is pretty open in terms of food. He likes sushi and Chinese andItalian food. His drink of choice is red wine, a nice merlot. Those are his topthree. He is not an avid TV watcher. He does follow The Mentalist and Person ofInterest. He doesn’t have a favorite entertainer. It depends on his moodand it depends on the person’s work. He doesn’t believe anyone is totallyconsistent. Glenn Close is one of his favorite actresses. She always seems towork for him in terms of her acting. 

Directing Michael Jackson's Beat It

He is definitely not a night owl. His dayranges normally from seven AM till midnight. The importance of relationships is at the top of his priority list.      Vincent went to school for acting and directing. He taughtdance at Arthur Murray’s. His father was a social dance instructor. Vincentdidn’t know what else to do. He was unemployed. He ended up taking his firstactual dance class when he was around twenty four years old. He moved to LosAngeles at twenty nine. He worked as a dancer. That led him into choreographywhich led him into directing once again. Now, he does a little bit ofeverything. He acts once in a while. He still choreographs and he directs.His favorite form of entertainment is between live theaterand film. Those are equal for him.   On his own time as stated earlier, he gardens and watchesfilms. When he goes to the theater, he goes with friends. He is not a “partyanimal”. He is not a big socializer in general situations.  He loves having a group of friends or familyaround him. 
He is A Taurus. He is more of a homebody. He has never beenone to be part of the Hollywood Social scene or to play the Hollywood game. 
Hehas always been surprised that his career has been as fulfilling as it has beenbeing somebody who does not get out there and “mix and mingle”.Our interview took place prior to the election. Politics didcome up. Certain politics are very important to Vincent. He has always votedever since he could. He considers himself bent more to the Democratic party. However, politics are politics and so even though he does that so he can votein the primaries, he tries to keep an independent perspective. He just seems tofind since he came from a poor family and he knows what that’s like, he tendsto believe that the philosophies that are heralded by the democrats seem to bemore symbiotic with his own sentiments and feelings about taking care of peoplein the world. My next question for Vincent comes courtesy ofactress/singer Linda Purl.
Who does Vincent pray to when he’s in trouble? He wouldn’t callhimself a religious man, but he would call himself a spiritual man. Heappreciates anyone who finds a religion for them that makes them a betterperson and helps them find peace. If he was to say what is “out there”, hewould feel pretentious. This is his own personal feeling. He does meditateevery day. He sort of believes that there is a bigger sense of who we are. Hedoesn’t dare say what exactly that is. When it comes to the world of social media, his agents wouldlike him to get more involved. He goes on the computer often but is not thatgreat at self promotion. He has never had a publicist. He considers himself avery creative man and strongly believes in his own abilities. He sees himselfmore as a work horse.
He always tries to do a thorough job of making whateverproject he is working on special and hopefully enjoyable and extremely creativefor everybody involved.    What makes Vincent the happiest? Love and being loved.       The one change that Vincent would like to see in today’sindustry is for the younger generation entering the industry, especially on theproduction end; to be more aware of the history of the profession they areentering. They need a broader knowledge of where we’ve come from so they canmove forward thoughtfully in order to take us where we’re going.I asked Vincent how ambitious he is. When he commits to aproject, he is there one billion percent. Like Dolly Levi, he puts his hand in every aspect of that project. In fact, on his most recent project, Loving the Silent Tears, which featuredPatti Cohenour, he oversaw every costume, every wig, every element of theproduction. This is true of every project he has been a part of and willcontinue to be a part of. If it is not about entertainment, if it is about a need to workin order to fulfill who he is, he has no fear of retirement. As previouslystated, he is perfectly content working in his garden or being withfriends. 
When I asked Vincent if there is any one time that he wouldlike to go back to, he responded by saying that he believes everyone has aperpetual age that they would like to see themselves as. As he gets older, helooks in the mirror and it’s scarier all the time. He tends to always think heis twenty nine years old. There are books he desires to read that he hasn’t had timefor. There are films he would like to see. There are people around the worldthat he would like to spend time with.   Vincent’s favorite vacation spot? His best friend and hiswife, who sadly just passed away, have a home in a little village in Mexicocalled Troncones. Anytime he can get away, that’s where Wayne goes if he is notvisiting his mom in Blaine, Washington.
 Vincent would like to be remembered as a man who was creative and collaborative who was loved by people and has returned that love. Vincent Paterson has certainly earned my love. 

Thank you  Vincent Paterson for the gifts you have given to the world and will continue to give!

With grateful XOXOXs ,


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Elizabeth Berkley, Vincent Paterson, Jerry Mitchell, Nancy O'Meara, Step It Up and Dance (2008)