As Fernand Nault liked to recount, there were many candles lit and novenas said on his behalf when, in his late teens, he announced that he would like to become another Fred Astaire. Nault was brought up in a poor, devout Roman Catholic family in East Montreal and was intended for the priesthood. Dance, other than in its folk expressions, was sternly frowned upon in the clerically dominated Québec of his youth. Nault never became a tap dancer but he did achieve success in the ballet world and a measure of recognition from the church. More than a quarter century after opting for tights rather than a cassock, Nault staged Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms. Its performance in Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal during Holy Week of 1969 symbolized the sea change in Quebec society that had occurred during Nault's long absence abroad. There were limited opportunities for him in Canada. Nault leapt at the chance in 1944 to be auditioned by Anton Dolin for a vacancy in Ballet Theatre where renowned dancer Todd Bolender had been injured during a company tour stop in Montreal.