Mel Johnson Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Not that I noticed. And she nailed those turns. Maybe she was spotting the conductor, but it certainly wasn't a notable feature of her performance. Usually, I can tell when people are doing that. It's usually because they don't trust him, and the look says, "Deeeeeeaaath! Deeeeeeeeeeaaaaaath!", so it all comes out like Medea. Link to comment
Alexandra Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Quick note from the Helpful Hostess We never meant to diiscourage someone from posting a technical question on the order of what Amy did above. When we say "no technique questions, please!" that's aimed at dancers or dance students who might ask, "Help! How do I spot???" because we'd like to direct them to the Dancers Forum so there question can be sure to be answered to a teacher. So if there are any "insider dancer" questions like Amy's above, or 'what is a fouette anyway?" questions from viewers please, ask away. Link to comment
Dance_Scholar_London Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 Were there not some very young Russian ballerinas in the past who could do 64 fouettés in the past? Though this was not in Swan Lake... Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 The Guinness Book of World Records used to have an entry under "most turns" for Rowena Jackson, who did 121 fouettés in class. She was asked why she stopped, and answered "Because it was getting boring". Link to comment
Dance_Scholar_London Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 When did this happen? Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 I don't have a copy of the book handy, if at all any more, but it was sometime in the 1950s, I believe. Link to comment
Anne74 Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 At the risk of sounding skeptical, I must wonder what those 121 fouettes LOOKED like..... Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 Did you ever see Rowena Jackson? If the ones she did that were fewer than 121 were any indicator, they should have been pretty good. Link to comment
Dance_Scholar_London Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 I always wondered when a dancer does a double fouette is it counted as one fouette or as two? The actual whipping-movement is just done once in a double or triple fouette... so is it counted then as one or multiple? :-) Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 That's a very good question, and I wish I had a very good answer! As far as I'm concerned, a lot of it has to do with how well the incorporation of multiples works with the music. I recall one ballerina (was it Svetlana Beriosova?) who started the Black Swan fouettés rather down-tempo, and did a double on every fourth one. Then, when the music changed periods, usually the second 16, she went up-tempo as fast as possible, cranked out 14 and pirouetted out on the remaining music. Link to comment
Amy Reusch Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 At the risk of sounding skeptical, I must wonder what those 121 fouettes LOOKED like..... I'd venture to guess that they looked very very much alike! Any deviations and well before 121, she'd have lost controll! Link to comment
oberon Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 I seem to recall in Suzanne Farrell's book she tells about how she and a friend practised fouettes together (back in their student days) and I think she said she got up to 128!! She added: "...quality didn't count." Still....128???? Wheee!!!! Link to comment
richard53dog Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 Were there not some very young Russian ballerinas in the past who could do 64 fouettés in the past? Though this was not in Swan Lake... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Dance Scholar, I remember reading in an old ballet history book, lost long ago, that the Ballet Rousse de Monte Carlo's three baby ballerinas Toumanova, Baronova (who I actually saw, but in an acting role in Fiddler on the Roof), and Riabouchinska could crank out the 64 fouettes on command. Richard Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 Re: Suzanne Farrell and the fouettés, in the "yes, but" column. If you're going to go for a fouetté record, you'd better have somebody more impartial than your mother as a witness. Link to comment
Hans Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Well, all this talk of 121 fouettés makes my personal classroom record of 80 grands pirouettes à la seconde seem rather trivial. Of course, anyone will tell you that grands pirouettes are more difficult than fouettés! All in fun, of course Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Hans, you're missing the point here, this is ballet, men don't really matter, see? Link to comment
richard53dog Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 This is not exactly a new thread at this point but I am reading Agnes de Mille's autobiography(Speak To Me, Dance With Me) of how she struggled to establish herself as a dancer in the early 30s and something connected came up. She took classes with Marie Rambert. Although her body was considered all wrong, she did have extremely strong ankles and feet. At the end of each day's class, she would turn out 64 fouettes, on one spot. Never failed. but her lament was "if only I could do a pure arabesque" Richard Link to comment
carbro Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 When I was taking class, I used to say that all I wanted was a beautiful arabesque, consistent double pirouettes to both sides, and strong, high-arched feet . Someone replied, "With that, you could get into a company!"* My feet became strong, if not very arched, but the other two -- especially the arabesque -- eluded me. *Yes, she did know it was an oversimplification. Link to comment
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