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odd publicity shot


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considering how frowned upon it was, i find this photo fo Moylan SITTING DOWN in a Doboujinsky/Karinska tutu a real oddity.

i suppose the photographer was responsible for this 'free' pose.

at least there's so chair back, etc. to crush the tutu's fine detailing from the back.

the photo is stamped with Moylan's name and Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo, but nothing else - no date, no photog, etc.

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rg,

Dancers are not allowed to sit in costumes backstage or in their dressing room or where ever, but choreography does exist where the dancer is sitting on stage in costume either on the floor or on a prop. Also sit lifts kind of crush the tutu not to mention the male dancers makeup sometimes gets on the costume. Anyway, this looks like a 1950's-ish style photo of the beautiful Mary Ellen Moylan. I like it because it shows the beautiful dancer, the beautiful costume, and does not make ballet some remote, "elitist" kind of occupation. She seems more accessible to the tastes of the general public.

I guess I'm kind of tying this into the thread about sitting in costume. I love the old ballet photos because the dancers seem more "theatrical" in a way.

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How beautiful she was (and the costume). Moylan is sort of forgotten a bit.

There's a great clip of Mary Ellen Moylan doing the Sanguinic variation of the 4Ts in Dancing for Mr B. It's where the two dancers are describing a cornucopia-shaped spiral, and her hands are either directing the reduction of--or braking, it's always very mysterious to me--the arc they are making.

MEM also describes the comedy of dancing with the original stiff and elaborate costumes, and how they--"snip, snip"--became less and less of a presence in the ballet.

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Perhaps the photo is a kind of witty commentary on a very standard shot: the dancer in rehearsal clothes, seated on the floor, tying her shoe. The extremely elegant costume here makes it even more striking. Rather "British" of the period, it seems to me, except for the willowy torso.

Moylan is featured in "Dancing for Mr. B", shot in the late 80s. She's articulate and intelligent, but rather matronly, so we have no idea of what she was like as a Balanchinian dancer There is no footage of her dancing in the video, or even still photos. At least I don't remember any. This photo makes me aware of how sad that is. Thanks, rg, for posting it.

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Dale,

I am not certain, but Joceyn Vollmar may also have been one of the early Sangs too. Her wikipedia entry is in German and doesn't say, but at a San Francisco PALM event I believe she talked about the role. (I'll have to check my notes.) She said the 4Ts was a great hit from the beginning.

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jocelyn_Vollmar

Back onTopic, I think if I been a member of the audience at City Center in the early 50's, my most favorite would have been Mary Ellen Moylan, even above Maria T. Something about her at once aristocratic and earthy way of carrying herself. (Or so I imagine it to have been.)

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two more photos of MEM

the photo of MEM in a light (white?) tutu is inscribed and signed (with a little stick-figure/dancer penned below her signature in a way i'vse seen from MEM elsewhere) is undated and otherwise unidentified.

the outdoor, rehearsal photo is dated 7/6/53 and captioned as follows:

"ROME: American Ballerina Mary Ellen Moylan, in Rome with a U. S. tropue, tries out the stage of the E.42 Stadium, now being completed in Rome. The huge project was started in the days of Mussolini, but construction was held up duirng World War II and the following years."

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Moylan is featured in the "Dancing for Mr. B" video, shot in the late 80s. She's articulate and intelligent, but rather matronly, so we have no idea of what she was like as a Balanchinian dancer There is no footage of her dancing in the video, or even still fotos. At least I don't remember any. This photo makes me aware of how sad that is. Thanks, rg, for posting it.

Bart - as Quiggin, noted above, Moylan is featured in a black and white snip of 4ts in the Dancing for Mr. B video. Her only other clip is of the Sugar Plum solo (very fine).

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Moylan is featured in "Dancing for Mr. B", shot in the late 80s. She's articulate and intelligent, but rather matronly, so we have no idea of what she was like as a Balanchinian dancer

Having recently spent a long afternoon with Mrs. Moylan Hanks, I can assure you she is anthing but matronly. :wink:

Best regards!

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For those who never saw her dance---there is a great quote from Denby which can give you an idea of what she was like:

"Moylan became one of Edwin Denby's favorite young dancers. Her 'graceful intrepidity and air of candor' reminded him 'of those demure ballet heroines who a century ago lept from the top of a twenty foot scenic waterfall into the arms of a partner." After she left Ballet Russe and NYCB she was with Ballet Theater, and I remember her so well in 'Les Sylphides'...she looked like one of those old lithographs. I saw her "Ballet Imperial" ( which she shared with Marie-Jeanne) and Dances Concertantes (paired with Tallchief and Magallanes); and I even saw her Sanguinic at that first disastrous performance of 4 T's. (since there were no 'wings' at that performance I can still see her in her costume looking warily at the puffed-sleeves of her costume.) I wish I could see that old Ballet Russe group do 'Concerto Barocco' again. The four soloists I most admired were Moylan, Ruthanna Boris, Marie-Jeanne and Patricia Wilde. By today's standards, they woud all be called 'petite'---and I miss their compactness (and the black leotards!)---I rarely see it performed today; the tall dancers of today simply to not have the sharpness of their more compact sisters---and those white tunics!---no, this is not 'Chaconne'.

Could that seated photo of her be by Walter Owen?

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From working with Maria Tallchief in the early '80s, I remember her sometimes talking about MEM. She praised her technical abilities in a way that made me think there was a rivalry there--MEM had some natrual physical gifts that Tallcheif really had to work to emulate. I got the sense too that Balanchine played on this to motivate Tallchief. This is by Tallchief's telling, at least; things might look different from MEM's point of view, of course!

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She praised her technical abilities in a way that made me think there was a rivalry there--MEM had some natrual physical gifts that Tallcheif really had to work to emulate. I got the sense too that Balanchine played on this to motivate Tallchief. This is by Tallchief's telling, at least; things might look different from MEM's point of view, of course!

In the documentary Dancing For Mr B, Tallfchief speaks to this. She recounts a story of when both were still girls. She said her mother would push at her "Why can't you dance like Mary Ellen?". Tallchief recounts that

later she found out that the young Mary Ellen was being goaded by HER mother to the tune of "Why can't you dance like Maria?".

Fact? Who knows? But it's a cute story.

Oh, and rg, I LOVE the BI photo with MEM sitting on the floor. The informality of her position plays off the elegance of her costume beautifully

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as i realized Balanchine's THEME AND VARIATIONS was about to be given by Britain's Royal Ballet, i realized i had this photo of MEM and I.Youskevitch in the Ballet Theatre production from the ballet's premiere era - i don't know specifically how soon MEM took over the lead from Alonso.

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