Lovebird Posted January 3, 2002 Share Posted January 3, 2002 I have always been an admirer of less than well known dancers and I am curious if anyone else knows the following dancers : Irina Tchistyakova Tatyana Goumba Steffi Scherzer Liliana Cosi Marnee Morris Claire Motte Anissa Curbelo Link to comment
Alexandra Posted January 3, 2002 Share Posted January 3, 2002 Interesting question -- thank you for raising it. I don't know much about them, but I've seen most of these dancers. Irina Tchistyakova - Kirov, I believe Tatyana Goumba - Bolshoi (but I'm not sure about that ) Steffi Scherzer - I have a very vague memory of her as an East German ballerina and a Varna medal winner from the late 1970s? But I never saw her and don't know anything else about her. Liliana Cosi - ballerina of La Scala and guest artist, I think, with London Festival Ballet in the 1970s. I saw her at a gala ("Italian Ballet Gala" in Washington in the early 1980s, but the memory is vague and I couldn't describe her. My impression is that she's the Giselle/Juliet type; at least at this gala, she did nightgown rather than tutu numbers. Marnee Morris - a soloist with New York City Ballet in the 1960s and early '70s. She created a role in "Who Cares" and (again, I think ) "Symphony in 3 Movements." Claire Motte - Paris Opera Ballet etoile from the 1960s. There's a photo of her in one of Serge Lido books where she's standing, back to back, with Claude Bessy; they could be twins. Anissa Curbelo -- never heard of her. Who is she? Has anyone seen these dancers and could tell more about them? Jeannie will know your two Russians, I'm sure Link to comment
Estelle Posted January 3, 2002 Share Posted January 3, 2002 I don't know if she still is there, but a few years ago Steffi Scherzer was a principal dancer of the Berlin Staatsoper. Claire Motte was born in 1937 and was a POB principal between 1960 and 1977, premiering several works by Lifar and also the role of Esmeralda in Petit's "Notre-Dame de Paris"; after her retirement she taught and was one of the ballet masters of the POB, but she died in 1986 from cancer. She was married with Mario Bois (who wrote a verrry gossipy book about Nureyev) and had two sons. I've found the following photographs of her: http://ibelgique.ifrance.com/rmuller/sieff...nse/page_03.htm http://ibelgique.ifrance.com/rmuller/sieff/danse/page_02.htm Some photographs taken by Jean-Loup Sieff in 1960. http://www.multimania.com/pif/lifar.htm Motte and Lifar in 1977. Link to comment
Lovebird Posted January 3, 2002 Author Share Posted January 3, 2002 Estelle,thank you for the beautiful pictures. Link to comment
Estelle Posted January 3, 2002 Share Posted January 3, 2002 You're welcome, Lovebird. How did you become an admirer of those dancers? Did you see all of them perform? I hadn't heard about Anissa Curbelo before, but did an web search with google and found that she was dancing with the Ballet of Cuba. I found the following review of a performance in France last year, with a small photograph of Anissa Curbelo in "La fille mal gardée": http://www.imagidanse.com/francais/presse/...allet_cuba.html Link to comment
Lovebird Posted January 3, 2002 Author Share Posted January 3, 2002 Estelle,Anissa Curbelo is a principal soloist of the Cuban National Ballet and she is a wonderful dancer.I saw her in Coppelia and the Swan Lake pas de trois.I have seen all of these dancers perform except for Marnee Morris and Liliana Cosi,who I know because she wrote a children's book on ballet which Itook out of the library.I know about Morris from Merrill Ashley's autobiography "Dancing for Balanchine"I believe she was known as a good turning person,she was also tall and given tall girl roles.She created roles in Who Cares? and quite a few other Balanchine ballets.By the way,Tatyana Goumba is not from the Bolshoi. [ January 02, 2002: Message edited by: Lovebird ] Link to comment
Farrell Fan Posted January 3, 2002 Share Posted January 3, 2002 In "Who Cares," Marnee Morris danced "Embraceable You" with Jacques d'Amboise. She also had a solo to "My One and Only." Alexandra is correct that Morris was in the original cast of "Symphony in 3 Movements." She was also in the first cast of "Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3" in which she danced the scherzo with John Clifford. And she was a "maiden" in the original cast of Balanchine's "Don Quixote." Besides the roles she originated, Morris was a notable Siren, Dewdrop, Hippolyta, Calliope and Polyhymnia. Link to comment
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