Toughest Ballets- In Repect to Stamina

[fandeballet]

What are the toughest ballets in terms of pace and stamina, for the two lead dancers? I think we should separate this into two sub-groups: full-length and one-act ballets. You can also pick a particular segment, part or passage

that is particularly fiendish

Here is my list: Full-Lengths : La Bayadere- The Shades' Act(esp. for the lady lead); Giselle Act2 PDD(esp. for Albrecht. After his 2nd variation, he has to partner Giselle, and make her look light like a Willi!

One-Act: Theme & Variations; Tetley's Rite of Spring; and Etudes.

We can also talk about difficult stuff for soloists and corps. For example, the female corp's work in the Shade's Act in Bayadere must be pure torture!

[Cygnet]

Full length ballets: For the lead ballerina, I'd say, Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty & Raymonda (IMO these two run neck in neck regarding

stamina, style and level of difficulty), and Don Quixote. For one act ballets, Theme & Variations (for the ballerina and the corps), Agon, Rubies, Symphony in C, Ballo del Regina (the work Balanchine created for Merill Ashley - sp.?) and Bugaku. For the corps I'd definitely say La Bayadere and Swan Lake are the toughest - Bayadere being #1 and SL a very close #2. I'd say its especially hard for the shade or swan that is first, leading the corps out onstage. That's pressure.

[Alexandra]

"Don Q." When ABT first got this, it took a season or two for some of their ballerinas to be able to get through it -- many performances with an Act I Kitri, an Act II Kitri, and a third for Act III.

[GeorgeB fan]

For the corp de ballet no question LaBayadere! To perform The Kingdom of the Shades in complete unitize and still give the sense of otherworldliness and beauty has to be extraordinary demanding on the corp. And when they perform it correctly the ovation is overwhelming and very deserve.

For the ballerina in a full-length role, I would say The Sleeping Beauty if for nothing else because of the Rose Adagio, arguably the most demanding 6-7 minutes for a ballerina in all of full-length ballets. The variations in DonQ must also be very demanding. Giselle must also be definite - isn't it called the Hamlet of ballets?

For the ballerina in a one-act I would say Antony Tudor's Dark Elegies. It takes an exceptional dance-actress to convey the emotions and drama in that ballet without going overboard. Theme and Variations, Etudes, The Dying Swan - talk about the guts it takes to dance that solo, Symphony in C first & second movements.

For the principal male in a full-length, I would say Don Quixote - his variations are killers. Grigorovich's Spartacus, Giselle for the same reasons fandeballet stated. And of course the slave in Le Corsaire.

For the one-act I think Theme and Variations, Rubies, Rhapsody must be killers for the guys.

[carbro]

No question that the Shades in Bayadere -- particularly, as Cygnet pointed out, the ones at the front of the line -- have quite a challenge. But I wonder if it's worse than Concerto Barocco, where the corps never leaves the stage. You're up there for the whole ballet, and what if your nose starts to itch!!! At least the Shades get to step into the wings, scratch that itch, roll their toes, shake their legs out, etc., etc.

[Michael]

Swanhilda in "Coppelia", in the Balanchine/Danilova staging. She's on stage dancing for practically all of the three acts. Ending in Act III with a grueling and lengthy classical pas de deux after all of the extended demi character stuff earlier.

[Ari]

Among one-act ballets, I think nothing could be more grueling for the ballerina than Ballet Imperial/Tchaik Piano Concerto 2. And, although I'd never have guessed it myself, Meredith Daneman says in her Fonteyn biography of Symphonic Variations, "[T]he twenty-minute ballet, in which no one leaves the stage, is such a test of stamina that I have seen dancers vomit in the wings at the end from sheer exhaustion."

[NNatalie]

I seem to recall Aurélie Dupont of the POB saying that for her Nureyev’s Raymonda is the most technically demanding. And the danseurs often talk of all the punishing male variations Nureyev added to the classics such as the long solo for the Prince in his Sleeping Beauty!

Ashton’s Sylvia is also very demanding on the ballerina. There is hardly any padding and she dances almost non-stop in the ballet. I also feel that Ashton’s choreography is very exposed- the tiniest mistake is very noticeable to the audience. His choreography is also so intensely musical that if she misses a beat it’s very obvious. Monica Mason described the solos in Act I- with all the jumping, turning and balancing- as being a marathon for the ballerina! And of course no matters how tired she is by Act III, she still has to execute that pizzicato variation and be the definition of radiance during the pas de deux. And this is not to mention the interpretative side- she has to portray all three facets of the character convincingly and make all the transitions between the Acts believable!

For the men, I suppose it depends. Jonathan Cope, for example, said that a ballet like McMillan’s Mayerling is like a marathon whereas something like a classics such as Swan Lake is like a sprint. In Mayerling, Crown Prince Rudolf has to partner at least six different women (Princess Louise, Princess Stephanie, Marie Larisch, his mother Elisabeth, Mary Vetsera and Mitzi Casper) and you have to give it your very all emotionally in the last Act. But Cope said, with the classics, one has to be perfection in all the variations which can be extremely taxing even if the solos only last a few minutes.

For the corps, the Kingdom of Shades must be it for the reasons you all described! For the RB version, I believe the lead girl performs 39 arabesques (!) Nijinska’s Les Noces is also meant to be very demanding and unforgiving. The corps dancers often say the music is extremely difficult to count.

Edited February 23, 2005 by NNatalie

[Helene]

Merrill Ashley, writing in Dancing for Balanchine, describes how Balanchine choreographed Ballade intermittently because of illness, and how impossibly difficulty it was in its original version -- she was never given a rest. Balanchine changed this for her, so that she had a breather. If the original was a stretch for her, I would guess that it was among the most difficult ever created.

[jllaney]

For the female princpal it seems like Swan Lake wins(or loses). I get tired just watching the poor girl stay on her toe for so long. And for the guys, in a one act I would say Spectre is pretty tough. Fifteen minutes of jumping while the girl sleeps...how unfair is that?

In a full length ballet Spartacus must be tough. I've never seen it live but that must be a heck-of-a-lot of jumping for two and a half hours. Swan Lake is hard for the guy for another reason. The variations aren't terrible but all the lifts add up after a while, especially if you're a smaller guy. By the time the fouth act rolls around, you really are looking for a cliff to jump off of.

I think I read that Baryshnikov said Theme and Variation was his most taxing piece. If he did say it, that would have to put it at the top of the list for me.

[Helene]

For the men, I suppose it depends. Jonathan Cope, for example, said that a ballet like McMillan’s Mayerling is like a marathon whereas something like a classics such as Swan Lake is like a sprint. In Mayerling, Crown Prince Rudolf has to partner at least six different women (Princess Louise, Princess Stephanie, Marie Larisch, his mother Elisabeth, Mary Vetsera and Mitzi Casper) and you have to give it your very all emotionally in the last Act. But Cope said, with the classics, one has to be perfection in all the variations which can be extremely taxing even if the solos only last a few minutes.

I remember watching a TV broadcast of a live performance of Mayerling -- perhaps David Wall danced the lead? -- and thinking about how exhausting the role must be. I can't imagine the stamina needed not only to dance the role, but also to portray such an anguished character.

(BTW: Welcome to Ballet Talk NNatalie! I hope to read more of your posts in the future.)

[carbro]

Among one-act ballets, I think nothing could be more grueling for the ballerina than Ballet Imperial/Tchaik Piano Concerto 2.  And, although I'd never have guessed it myself, Meredith Daneman says in her Fonteyn biography of Symphonic Variations, "[T]he twenty-minute ballet, in which no one leaves the stage, is such a test of stamina that I have seen dancers vomit in the wings at the end from sheer exhaustion."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If we're going to apply the vomit standard, in her autobio, Fonteyn says the exertion Firebird demanded made her feel sick. Maybe she just had a sensitive stomach? Both roles are killers, though.

At the SAB-Vaganova event at BAM a few years ago, Suki Shorer had two couples dance the adage from Nutcracker pdd simultaneously. Stage right danced the Ivanov, stage left the Balanchine. It was amazing how much more dancing the Balanchine pair had to do in the same amount of time.

There are at least two kinds of stamina -- you can be a sprinter or a marathoner. Dancers are expected to be both. Today Giselle, tomorrow Theme & Variations.

[Estelle]

For the corps, the Kingdom of Shades must be it for the reasons you all described! For the RB version, I believe the lead girl performs 39 arabesques (!) Nijinska’s Les Noces is also meant to be very demanding and unforgiving. The corps dancers often say the music is extremely difficult to count.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I remember talking with a POB dancer from the corps de ballet, and she did mention those two works as especially demanding and tiring (and she had danced the lead girl in the Kingdom of Shades scene...)

Among the male roles, I remember an interview of Michael Denard in which he said the role of James in Lacotte's "La Sylphide" was in his opinion especially difficult and tiring.

[Mel Johnson]

When ABT first did the Shades scene, separate from the whole ballet, the first girl out had to be a soloist, Nanette Glushak, now Director of the Ballet Capitole de Toulouse. Forty-five arabesques in a row! She was one of the few women then who could do that and still walk to place without limping!

For my money, Swan Lake is toughest on the ballerina, and Giselle a close second. Don Q is strangely easier! The fast speed of much of it just kind of carries you along! But it's comedy! The acting makes it more difficult. This quote is attributed to many actors, but I'll make it Edmund Kean, as that's how I first heard it, and it sounds like him. Kean was on his deathbed, and a friend hovering near was trying to offer comfort after the sensibility of the day, "It must be hard to die!" "Oh, no, dying is easy; COMEDY, now that's hard!"

T&V is the monster of all time of the one-acts, and grinds everybody!

[dirac]

It's off topic, but the actor's quote came from Edmund Gwenn, I'm reasonably certain. (There's an old movie, "My Favorite Year," starring Peter O'Toole, where the line is attributed to Kean. But as Mel notes, it's been passed around some. )

I've seen Mayerling only on video with Mukhamedov, but I must say I got tired just watching him. I recall that Christopher Gable told Barbara Newman that he had asked David Wall about dancing Rudolf and Wall said it had just about killed him.

[Balanchinomane]

Another great line from My Favorite Year occurs when O'Toole's character

finds out he is guest starring on a live television show. He says "I can't

appear live on stage - I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star."

[leibling]

As far as one act ballets go, I have to say that the female lead in Balanchine's Square Dance is one of the toughest on your stamina.

[richard53dog]

, T&V is the monster of all time of the one-acts, and grinds everybody!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree, T&V is a killer. I'm watching Firebird and I'm thinking that has to be a terror for the dancer doing the title role. The combinations of steps look very difficult.

Also on Firebird, Makarova writes in her bio that she found it exhausting.

And Kasarvina, when she was coaching Fonteyn in the role , told Fonteyn, this will be the most difficult ballet you will ever dance, or something along that line.

Richard

[Dansuer85]

I'd have to agree that Sqaure Dance as a whole is very very hard for everyone. Very taxing and he saves the hardest for the end!!

[Ostrich]

Taking this topic a step further, which ballet would you nominate as the most taxing for both leads together?

That makes quite a few of those already mentioned fall away, Sleeping Beauty, Firebird, Spartacus and La Bayadere, for instance. Personally, I vote for:

1) Don Quixote

2) Giselle

3) Swan Lake

[Gina Ness]

A ballet that no one has mentioned is Ashton's "La Fille Mal Gardee". Lise is a very demanding role, technically. And there is a lot of acting and comedy to fine tune. She can't even make butter without madly bourreeing around the churn! And, she is on stage a LOT of the time...Dancing with ribbons (attitude promenades holding nothing but the ends of eight ribbons pulled out like the spokes of a great wheel), jumping on pointe over a waving ribbon, whole-body cat-cradle making...well, you catch my drift! I really love this ballet...

[dirac]

Very true, Gina. I didn't really think of La Fille as what Arlene Croce once referred to as a gut-cruncher, but it really does require an enormous amount of athleticism and energy. It would also be a candidate for the new category suggested by Ostrich, although Colas is offstage for a bit.

As for really loving the ballet, I think many of us would second you on that! It's my desert island choice.