4 replies to this topic

[Mel Johnson]

http://www.nytimes.c...krassovska.html?

[Amy Reusch]

Miss Krassovska also danced some unexpected parts. Thus she had to learn tap dancing for her role as a debutante in "The New Yorker," Massine's 1940 comedy inspired by cartoons in the magazine of that name.

I would have like to have seen this one, just as a curiosity.

[atm711]

In her day, Krassovska had a beauty that was only rivalled by Toumanova's. The one ballet she was made for is 'Les Sylphides'. I did not see her 'Giselle'. Another role she excelled in was Balanchine's 'Le Bourgeoise Gentilhomme'. She would have been a wonderful 'Sleepwalker', (Night Shadow). If she ever did dance the role, it was not in New York; Danilova danced it then.

[chrisk217]

Totally off-topic, but I couldn't help notice:

She first performed the title role of "Giselle," perhaps the greatest of Romantic ballets, in Montreal in 1949, prompting S. Morgan-Powell, dance critic of The Montreal Daily Star, to write, "Her dancing was characterized by a purity of style not often seen nowadays in ballet."

It seems that style is always purer in the past...

[XTX]

http://www.nytimes.c...krassovska.html?

This is TOO SAD. She was a real character. I remember her showing up with her Chihuahua, who sat in a wicker basket all through class or rehearsal. My sister reminds me she also had two poodles, one black and one white, named Odette and Odile.

I had the good fortune to take a few classes with her, many years ago. I also recall eating dinner at her house one evening with a few other dancers. She supported them as best she could by feeding them occasionally and giving them free classes.

She was one of the ex - Ballet Russe members who settled in Texas and Oklahoma in the Sixties, including Victor Moreno, Nikita Talin, Fernando Schaffenberg, and a couple more (in Houston and OKC, I believe) whose names elude me.

(The NYT article is available only for a fee, so maybe I'll look it up in the library.)

Edited by XTX, 09 June 2005 - 07:51 PM.