dido Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Someone started the Galina Mezentzeva thread just after I saw her Giselle (on video of course) for the first time, and I found it very thought provoking and helpful. I checked the 1961 Bolshoi Cinderella out of the library (mostly because I just love that ballroom waltz, and the clock striking music). The film and audio quality were pretty bad, but I liked the production in general. I do have a hard time adjusting to such a different aesthetic however. I was wondering what people who know better think about this dancer (all sorts of questions: what kind of dancer was she? A jumper I'd guess? What were her essential qualities, why did people admire her? etc. etc.), and perhaps more specifically this particular movie. Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 At the Bolshoi, in their times, Struchkova played a sort of Elssler to Ulanova's Taglioni. The comparison is quite inexact, I know, but the former was known for her great muscularity and "down-to-earth" style, while the latter inhabited the air. Not that they couldn't cross genres, either of them, but they were both at the very top of the Bolshoi ballerinas, and Ulanova was better-known from movies and TV. She was also the one to make a "window to the west" appearing in London in (1956?). In Kahn's Days with Ulanova, I believe there's a photo of both ladies in "Chopiniana". Link to comment
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