balletmama Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Happy to say I was there Friday night for what the Times says this morning was Nina's 10th anniversary performance with the company, a lovely Swan Lake. The Times notes that Nina is tall, which surprised me very much. Would someone please tell: How tall is she? Link to comment
carbro Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Similarly, I'm perplexed by this observation regarding the Monday Night Don Q (in the same review): "One had only to marvel at her solo in Act I, with its pirouettes along a diagonal." :confused: I distinctly noted that Nina substituted a kind of pique for the pirouettes on diagonal. Aha! Rereading the line, I see that Kisselgoff is marveling at the variation, a variation that contains pirouettes -- not necessarily at the pirouettes themselves. Link to comment
zerbinetta Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 I met Nina after a Don Q two summers ago & was quite surprised at how tiny she actually is, perhaps 5'3" but she dances huge & her feet are quite long, so en pointe, she may be considered "tall". Link to comment
balletmama Posted June 24, 2003 Author Share Posted June 24, 2003 Well, she sure does "dance tall," or "huge," as you say, but I don't think it's factually accurate to describe her as tall if she is 5' 3". Link to comment
carbro Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Maybe 5' 3 1/4", max, but she is indeed quite petite. She is beautifully proportioned, though, creating the illusion of height. Link to comment
zerbinetta Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 or perhaps 5'2-3/4"? Whatever her height, her amplitude is what counts. Musically, she seems to breathe all the air on the stage. Link to comment
balletmama Posted June 24, 2003 Author Share Posted June 24, 2003 Agreed. I am basically of the persuasion that Nina can do no wrong. However, in Anna Kisselgoff's review 6/23, she wrote, "As Kitri, that ballet's hoerine, she was well matched with a new partner in Mr. Gomes as Basil. Both are tall..." I was startled. That didn't sound like a metaphorical statement, but one that was intended as literal. As a fan who has not met Nina but has seen her from the fifth row at Jacob's Pillow, it just didn't compute for me. Now, if Kisselgoff had described her as a "giant," I would have had no quibble at all. ;) Link to comment
zerbinetta Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 I'll go for "giant". 5'3" going on 6'3"! Link to comment
carbro Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Consider the source: the writer herself is somewhere in the 5'2"-5'3" range. In Symphony in C, when Nina is in a line with Irina on her right and Gillian on her left, she indeed looks short. Are her co-ballerinas so very tall? Link to comment
zerbinetta Posted June 24, 2003 Share Posted June 24, 2003 Let's switch the word short to "petite"; it sounds more positive. Link to comment
Daron Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Nina is 1 meter 65 centimeters. Sorry, I don't know, what is that in feet and inches. Her proportions and incredible amplitude of her dancing are what creates the illusion of being tall. Link to comment
carbro Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 . . . working out to 64.9 inches -- for practical purpose 5'5". Whoops! Link to comment
zerbinetta Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Daron: where did you find this statistic, please? Interesting Fact I Just Learned Today: the NBA measures basketball players in their sneakers. So, Latrell Sprewell, who is listed at 6'6" tall is actually 6'4-3/4" tall in his (undoubtedly gorgeous) bare feet, as professional sneakers have a 1-1/4" sole. Where am I going with this, you wonder? It could be that in Russia, ballerinas are measured on demi-pointe, as I am 5'6" & had to bend down to hug The Nina when I met her. She accepted the unsolicited hug from a total stranger quite graciously, I might add. Link to comment
Daron Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 From Ms. Ananiashvili's interviews to the Russian newspapers and ballet magazines. The information is one hundred percent correct, trust me. A lot of people (including myself) thought that she is much taller than she is actually. Hey, the way she dances, who cares? Link to comment
Marga Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Originally posted by carbro In Symphony in C, when Nina is in a line with Irina on her right and Gillian on her left, she indeed looks short. Are her co-ballerinas so very tall? Irina Dvorovenko is so slight physically that she appears to be shorter than she really is. Standing close to her backstage she looked tiny, but is probably about 5'5", maybe more. I've seen Gillian Murphy taking class at Steps and also walking past me. She is quite tall, at least 5'6". Edited to add: I just checked a Pointe Magazine article about Irina and Max and it stated her height as 5'6" (and Max's as 5'10" or maybe 5'11" -- he didn't really know for sure and said he could care less!) Link to comment
zerbinetta Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Daron, I was certainly not doubting you; it was the statistic I was doubting as Russian statistics can be a bit misleading (as are NBA statistics!). After all, these are the folks who invented baseball, right? Was it Abneri Doubledievich, perhaps? In any case, I think we are all in agreement that, whatever her height, when she dances she is an Amazon. Link to comment
Daron Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 I certainly can't be responsible for statistics, because, as we all know, there is a lie, then - science of statistics and then - Russian statistics. As for your last notion, I'm with you for 100%. Link to comment
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