Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

Recommended Posts

Alexander Godunov Runs Nowhere

Film by Lily Buginoy

http://www.brightcove.com

Has anyone seen the online documentary that you can rent from Dance Channel TV? It seemed to me to lack a factual basis in a few areas and I would be very interested to hear what other people think.

1. About Godunov's defection to the US. (A different version to what Joseph Brodsky has written.)

Narrator:

"They wanted to eliminate all possibilities of him returning to Russia"

Igor Makunin (reporter)

"The Americans knew this and were able to trap him into staying."

2. About the relationship between Baryshnikov and Godunov. (I just don't believe this.)

Narrator:

"No one knows the reason Baryshnikov was not happy with him. Experts are

looking at reasons like jealousy and the instability he felt because of

Godunov's talent. After leaving the company, Godunov opened his own

company."

3. And about his death and the disappearance of his manager.

I was also disappointed there were not more dance clips of Godunov. There is really only part of the clip that has also been on youtube of Godunov dancing in Don Quixote. But there were interesting snippets of interviews:

Maya Plisetskaya

About Godunov's relationship with his father

"He was very depressed that his father left them. Then one day a letter

came to his older brother congratulating him on his 16th birthday. After

this he waited with the hope that on his 16th birthday, he too would receive

a letter. He never did. Never. When I asked him if he was really worried

about it, he told me that he was depressed."

About his general behaviour in Russia

"He did everything he wasn't supposed to do. When his hair was unclean and

they wanted to brush it down for Swan Lake, he said, "No, I want it like

this." I couldn't never understand what he was thinking or why he did things

this way. He was purposely breaking the rules."

About problems with drinking.

"Much of it was his fault. Ballet dancers cannot drink. Theatrical actors can

but not dancers. You lose your jump from vodka."

Lewis Segal (dance critic)

"I do not think that Godunov was unable to live with freedom and I am not

saying that America destroyed him. When you change the country you live in,

you can make so many mistakes that by the time you realize what you've done,

it is too late."

Nina Alovert (photographer)

"It was very tragic life for him, not freeing himself and his talent. But it

is nobody's fault that he didn't know himself, and also there was no one

around to help him."

Link to comment

I have not heard of this film. I do know the documentary, "The World to Dance In," available in VHS from Amazon, which follows him around the world as he dances the Corsaire pdd in many places. I remember it as rather breathlessly adoring.

Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Would you like to introduce yourself in our Welcome forum, please? :unsure:

Link to comment

One of my most poignant memories from ABT mid-80's is of waiting backstage after a performance with others (actress Jackie Bisset was there too) when an elevator door opened and Alexandre Gudonov appeared with an expression like "a deer caught in headlights just before the car hits it"; absolutely stricken. I felt so bad for him, and was glad Ms. Bisset was there to help him fend off the crowds, something he was definately uncomfortable with. His technique was never Baryshnikov's, but Gudonov did have a grandeur/power onstage that was memorable. I also remember that sweet performance in 'Witness", so self-effacing, without all the star treatment afforded Baryshnikov's films, and yet another memorable performance in a medium not his own.

Link to comment
One of my most poignant memories from ABT mid-80'

This could be sometime from the beginning of 1980 through May, 1982. So it was from early-80, not mid-80.

Alexandre Gudonov appeared with an expression like "a deer caught in headlights just before the car hits it"; absolutely stricken.

His name was Alexander Godunov or Aleksandr Godunov.

No wonder he felt kinda uncomfortable being surrounded by so many hysterical fans, he was just doing his first steps in western world at that time. I think he felt like KGB was still after him and maybe that was true, I believe. They actually didn't leave him alone untill he divorced his wife, and that happened only in 1982 or something.

And don't you remember that John Lennon was shot to death by a crazy fan in 1980 in New York, so this was an event that horrified all celebrities, I bet many artists for some time weren't crazy about being in a crowd or in public places... So his face expression was understandable. But later he managed to overcome his fears or let's call it discomfort and felt ok in a crowd and was nice with ballet fans, as it was shown in documentary "Godunov: The World To Dance In", 1983 by Peter Rosen Productions, distributed by Kultur.

His technique was never Baryshnikov's

This is absolutely unsubstantiated. Actually I can prove in details it's not true, but should I? Don't want to hurt abybody's feelings.

Anyway, thank you, 4mrdncr, very much for sharing.

As to that Russian documentary,.. unfortunately the movie is kind of secondary: too much footage from "The World To Dance In" and a deplorable lack of original material... and very, very one-sided. That nonsense regarding "America destroying him" I even don't want to discuss, it's not worth it. His life wasn't tragic at all, there sure were some dramatic moments... as in everybody's life, but nothing tragic, absolutely nothing, except for early death. But death is tragic at any age, isn't it.

In general he was a success, both in ballet, where he is considered a ballet legend, and in movies, where he made a rather creditable career. He loved and was loved by beautiful women and is still remembered by ballet and movie fans. He was actually a happy man' cause "always was doing only what he wanted to'', as Solomon Volkov put it. Not everybody enjoys this luxury.

I know what I'm talking about, so does Ms. Natalia Galadgeva, a journalist and a film critic, who scrupulously investigated his life.

http://www.kultura-portal.ru/tree_new/cult...p;pub_id=642516

Thanks.

Link to comment
In general he was a success, both in ballet, where he is considered a ballet legend, and in movies, where he made a rather creditable career.

I know what I'm talking about, so does Ms. Natalia Galadgeva, a journalist and a film critic, who scrupulously investigated his life.

http://www.kultura-portal.ru/tree_new/cult...p;pub_id=642516

Thanks.

Hello nataliequa,

I would like to know more about Godunov but unfortunately I don't read Russian. Is Natalia Galadgeva working on a biography?

Link to comment
Hello nataliequa,

I would like to know more about Godunov but unfortunately I don't read Russian. Is Natalia Galadgeva working on a biography?

I ran the URL through Google.com/translate and got this very rough translation.

His name was Alexander Godunov or Aleksandr Godunov.
In English-speaking countries, yes, that is true. :wink:

Thanks for linking the article, nataliequa. I'll try to plow through the translation. :wink:

Link to comment
Hello nataliequa,

I would like to know more about Godunov but unfortunately I don't read Russian. Is Natalia Galadgeva working on a biography?

I ran the URL through Google.com/translate and got this very rough translation.

His name was Alexander Godunov or Aleksandr Godunov.
In English-speaking countries, yes, that is true. :wink:

Thanks for linking the article, nataliequa. I'll try to plow through the translation. :D

Galadgeva made two movies about Godunov

http://www.getmovies.ru/stars.aspx?id=38376

second and third in the list. Documentaries. Unfortunately they are not free downloadable.

And yet the best is "Godunov: The World To Dance In" and she admits this fact.

In that article you tried to translate she expressed her negative opinion about Viugina's movie "Escape to Nowhere", she called it "sovkovii" which means "pro-soviet' and she's right IMO. Even the title is "pro-soviet". USA and western world are not "Nowhere".

In two words: the movie pictures Godunov as a loser... "betrayed his country, left his family, ran to nowhere and died alone... he was thus punished... And this might happen to everybody who would attempt to do the same"... something like that. It's a kind of stupid propaganda and a deliberate underestimation of everything he achieved in USA.

He achieved actually a lot, best thing was independence: financial and intellectual, freedom to do what he wanted to and not to do what he didn't want to... latter maybe even more important than the former.

Nowadays, when American newspapers and magazines open their archives in digitized form, sometimes for free, sometimes for small access fee, everybody can learn as much as possible about his life. In Chicago Tribune - about his debut in USA, Boston Globe - about his tours with ABT and then with his own temporary troupe, New York Times and LA Times - about his life and work in those cities. Life Magazine and People Magazine - about his personal life... well, sometimes in pictures.))) To name few.

Thanks for the interest.

Link to comment
His technique was never Baryshnikov's

"This is absolutely unsubstantiated. Actually I can prove in details it's not true, but should I? Don't want to hurt anybody's feelings."

I firstly would like to state that the title of the film in question is for me extremely tasteless. I feel offended by it lack of sensitivity to the life of a man who achieved more than most and died at a young age.

I first saw Mikhail Baryshnikov as a teenager and I have never been a particular admirer of him as an interpretative performer. However, he did when young, exhibit the most perfectly schooled male technique I have ever seen in watching dancers from across the world since 1961. His technique in performance was extraordinary and any one who saw him dance "Vestris" at the beginning of his career will confirm that.

Alexander Borisovich Godunov certainly had an expansive technique but was not for me an expressive dramatic artist. However Godunov did exhibit enormous expression in his dancing which had a certain technical velocity. He did not for me have a face suitable for certain roles he essayed.

The article in Kultura by Natalia Petrovna Galadzheva (a more correct translation), a jobbing journalist who also contributes to a ballet forum, personally speaking, writes with an over excited journalese, much of which echoes what has been written elsewhere at length in Alexander Godunov’s obituaries and is known to those who follow ballet closely.

“I know what I'm talking about, so does Ms. Natalia Galadgeva, a journalist and a film critic, who scrupulously investigated his life” I wonder how accurate the last statement is as Mr Godunov spent more than half his adult life in America.

I believe that you are perhaps more familiar writing about films than real life ballet experience unlike most posters to this forum, many of whom without actively realising it, know quite a lot about Mr Godunov and his life

as a ballet dancer which I personally believe was his only real life.

Alexander Godunov had a following across two continents and those who admired him will not be touched by this film and for future generations who care about the history of dance I suggest will seek elsewhere to discover about this dancer whose anniversary of his death was the 18th of May. I joined others in a prayer for him on that day when we were celebrating the 90th anniversary of Dame Margot Fonteyn’s birth.

ps

The film of Corsair is not to be admired and I now wish I had not watched it.

Link to comment

Gee, I'm sorry I offended. I admit I only saw him perform with ABT, (apologies again for being off by a year or two--why so picky!?) and it was limited to when ABT came to L.A., so definately less that all of you. However, what I remember was...stage presence to burn, a technique that exemplified 'russian', but not the control I saw in Baryshnikov. Sorry, but that's what I saw/remember. Maybe it was an off night? I used to go to see him perform without any qualms, and usually saw much to admire. And as I wrote before, felt bad that there was a mob of people backstage that night.

Sorry about the spelling too, guess I typed too fast and added the "e" , but not because I didn't know how to pronounce his name--my ethnicity on mom's side makes sure of that.

Link to comment
Gee, I'm sorry I offended. I admit I only saw him perform with ABT, (apologies again for being off by a year or two--why so picky!?) and it was limited to when ABT came to L.A., so definately less that all of you. However, what I remember was...stage presence to burn, a technique that exemplified 'russian', but not the control I saw in Baryshnikov. Sorry, but that's what I saw/remember. Maybe it was an off night? I used to go to see him perform without any qualms, and usually saw much to admire.

I, for one, am grateful for your previous post 4mrdncr. For those of us who haven't had the opportunity to see these dancers live, memories such as yours are very precious indeed.

Link to comment
Sorry about the spelling too, guess I typed too fast and added the "e" , but not because I didn't know how to pronounce his name--my ethnicity on mom's side makes sure of that.

Oh, never mind. I just wanted to remind the correct spelling of his LAST name, G o d u n o v, 'cause some people could confuse with Gudanov - Dmitri Gudanov from Bolshoi

or Gudonov as you spell it.

So the right spelling is Godunov, :lol: like Russian tsar. :D

Thank you again for sharing, it's priceless.

People, I'm glad I kind of revived this thread.

But I definitely don't want to slide down to a useless discussion who was better.

any one who saw him dance "Vestris" at the beginning of his career will confirm that

I could say - anyone who saw Godunov's footage at rehearsal with his ballet coach Yermolaev or saw him perform pdd with Timofeyeva or whatever...

can question that. Useless, really. :huh:

Personally, as to the basic ballet technique, I think Bujones was impeccable, Russians almost always kind of believed they were above the rules... maybe they were really. :P

and his life

as a ballet dancer which I personally believe was his only real life.

Sure, his life was much more complex than you think, and half of his adult life he spent on cinema. He was keen on doing films even when being in USSR and was very offended when authorities canceled his appearance in Soviet-American production of The Bluebird with Elizabeth Taylor.

http://www.people.com/people/archive/artic...0074530,00.html

Movies - his second lifelong passion... and second profession he was devoted to, we can't deny this fact.

But, hey, this is a ballet forum and we, I think, are not allowed to discuss his various amazing movie roles. :D

The film of Corsair is not to be admired

I am not saying that this "film of CorsairE" as you obviously called documentary "Godunov: The World To Dance In" is to be admired. IMO it's just the best of very few documentaries about this dancer. As far as I know there're just about 5, so there's almost no choice. Though that one only traces his career from his childhood to his 1982 summer tour...

Link to comment
His technique was never Baryshnikov's

This is absolutely unsubstantiated. Actually I can prove in details it's not true, but should I? Don't want to hurt abybody's feelings.

Many of us who saw both Baryshnikov and Gudonov in the west (ABT) would agree with 4mrdancr, and, from experience, would conclude that what she experienced was not an off night. In fact, many of us have not seen Baryshnikov's technique equaled. His influence as an ideal of male technique may have been as influential as Nureyev's was in England; that he was cast as and was accepted as the romantic hero despite being so short and without the classic "look" can be seen throughout casting in the West. That does not mean that members always preferred Baryshnikov to Gudonov, but that wasn't issue raised.

Perhaps we did not see what was so lauded in the Soviet Union, due to his actual dancing and the opportunities that he was given, as well as audience expectations post-Baryshnikov, including style and aesthetics. Bolshoi style and emotional extravagance, both of which I saw from him, was not perfectly in tune with the time. But that does not negate what we saw, and explains some of the reaction to him in the West.

This is a discussion board. We exist for for people to "prove in details". As far as hurting people's feelings, we have specific policies for discussions noted here:

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=20526

We often disagree with each other; it's how those disagreements are expressed that are subject to BT policy.

any one who saw him dance "Vestris" at the beginning of his career will confirm that
I could say - anyone who saw Godunov's footage at rehearsal with his ballet coach Yermolaev or saw him perform pdd with Timofeyeva or whatever...

can question that. Useless, really. huh.gif

Again, we are a discussion board, and when substantiated, hardly "useless".

I know what I'm talking about, so does Ms. Natalia Galadgeva, a journalist and a film critic, who scrupulously investigated his life.

http://www.kultura-portal.ru/tree_new/cult...p;pub_id=642516

By Ballet Talk policy, we are an English-speaking board, and if non-English links are provided, please provide a translated synopsis.

But I definitely don't want to slide down to a useless discussion who was better.

Again, we are a discussion board, and we do not find this kind of discussion useless, as long as it is substantiated and put in context. We do not expect people to agree, but we do expect them to discuss, if they are interested in the topic.

But, hey, this is a ballet forum and we, I think, are not allowed to discuss his various amazing movie roles. :D

Perhaps you read our policies and misunderstood, but this is a perfectly legitimate topic, as it is a public part of Gudonov's life and part of his artistry.

I agree with 4mrdancr's description of Gudonov's performance in "Witness". I think it was a finer performance than anything I saw him do onstage, and I wish he had had a long and fine film career.

Link to comment
His technique was never Baryshnikov's

This is absolutely unsubstantiated. Actually I can prove in details it's not true, but should I? Don't want to hurt abybody's feelings.

Many of us who saw both Baryshnikov and Gudonov in the west (ABT) would agree with 4mrdancr, and, from experience, would conclude that what she experienced was not an off night. In fact, many of us have not seen Baryshnikov's technique equaled. His influence as an ideal of male technique may have been as influential as Nureyev's was in England; that he was cast as and was accepted as the romantic hero despite being so short and without the classic "look" can be seen throughout casting in the West. That does not mean that members always preferred Baryshnikov to Gudonov, but that wasn't issue raised.

Perhaps we did not see what was so lauded in the Soviet Union, due to his actual dancing and the opportunities that he was given, as well as audience expectations post-Baryshnikov, including style and aesthetics. Bolshoi style and emotional extravagance, both of which I saw from him, was not perfectly in tune with the time. But that does not negate what we saw, and explains some of the reaction to him in the West.

This is a discussion board. We exist for for people to "prove in details". As far as hurting people's feelings, we have specific policies for discussions noted here:

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=20526

We often disagree with each other; it's how those disagreements are expressed that are subject to BT policy.

any one who saw him dance "Vestris" at the beginning of his career will confirm that
I could say - anyone who saw Godunov's footage at rehearsal with his ballet coach Yermolaev or saw him perform pdd with Timofeyeva or whatever...

can question that. Useless, really. huh.gif

Again, we are a discussion board, and when substantiated, hardly "useless".

I know what I'm talking about, so does Ms. Natalia Galadgeva, a journalist and a film critic, who scrupulously investigated his life.

http://www.kultura-portal.ru/tree_new/cult...p;pub_id=642516

By Ballet Talk policy, we are an English-speaking board, and if non-English links are provided, please provide a translated synopsis.

But I definitely don't want to slide down to a useless discussion who was better.

Again, we are a discussion board, and we do not find this kind of discussion useless, as long as it is substantiated and put in context. We do not expect people to agree, but we do expect them to discuss, if they are interested in the topic.

But, hey, this is a ballet forum and we, I think, are not allowed to discuss his various amazing movie roles. :D

Perhaps you read our policies and misunderstood, but this is a perfectly legitimate topic, as it is a public part of Gudonov's life and part of his artistry.

I agree with 4mrdancr's description of Gudonov's performance in "Witness". I think it was a finer performance than anything I saw him do onstage, and I wish he had had a long and fine film career.

Thank you Helene.

Link to comment

Thanks, Helene.

Many of us who saw both Baryshnikov and Gudonov ...

Sorry, again, his last name is spelled G o d u n o v, not Gudonov.

In fact, many of us have not seen Baryshnikov's technique equaled

"Many of us, huh." I red some American people think, for instance, Johan Renvall surpassed Baryshnikov by far in terms of technique and physical ability. Should I provide link? Sure he didn't surpass him on longevity on stage.

Or I'm sure some or maybe "many of you" could agree with Fernando Bujones when he said 'He (B.) has the publicity and I have the technique." Some UK critics would agree with him.

I repeat, I believe this kind of discussion leads to nowhere. As one of your fellow countrymen said

" Of course Baryshnikov isn´t the best, how could he be? There`ll never be THE best dancer.You could say that Baryshnikov`s dancing was a wonderful combination of strength and lightness,or he was just a media phenomenon with a nice fattie butt. Just like you could say Bujones was engaging and passionate, or cheesy and a bad actor. Or that Godunov was a marvel of speed and precision,or that he danced like a power drill with only two settings:angry and angrier.All a just a matter of opinion."

So it's just a matter of opinion and we could spend all life long arguing. Let's not do that.

Bolshoi style and emotional extravagance, both of which I saw from him, was not perfectly in tune with the time.

As US critic Lewis Segal said, Godunov was a heroic dancer, but there was and there still is no heroic ballet in USA. Nobody here would dare to stage Spartacus", - he said.

About Spartacus, Bolshoi style and ABT dancers, if anybody's interested. I'm sure many of you :lol: know this publication. This Laura Jacobs is so smart. :D

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb33...ag=content;col1

By Ballet Talk policy, we are an English-speaking board, and if non-English links are provided, please provide a translated synopsis.

I did provide. In my next post. Would I repeat? Ok.

In that article you tried to translate she expressed her negative opinion about Viugina's movie "Escape to Nowhere", she called it "sovkovii" which means "pro-soviet' and she's right IMO. Even the title is "pro-soviet". USA and western world are not "Nowhere".

In two words: the movie pictures Godunov as a loser... "betrayed his country, left his family, ran to nowhere and died alone... he was thus punished... And this might happen to everybody who would attempt to do the same"... something like that. It's a kind of stupid propaganda and a deliberate underestimation of everything he achieved in USA.

He achieved actually a lot, best thing was independence: financial and intellectual, freedom to do what he wanted to and not to do what he didn't want to... latter maybe even more important than the former.

Please, before reproaching read mesages with more attention, please, please. :P

Again, we are a discussion board, and we do not find this kind of discussion useless, as long as it is substantiated and put in context. We do not expect people to agree, but we do expect them to discuss, if they are interested in the topic.

The topic is a documentary about Godunov, and what conclusions the authors made and what our conclusions are. So I've already expressed my opinion on that.

Perhaps you read our policies and misunderstood, but this is a perfectly legitimate topic, as it is a public part of Gudonov's life and part of his artistry.:

I 'll rephrase: this is a ballet forum and in my opinion this is a wrong place to discuss his versatile movie roles. Good enough? And.. sorry, again, his last name was G o d u n o v.

agree with 4mrdancr's description of Gudonov's performance in "Witness". I think it was a finer performance than anything I saw him do onstage, and I wish he had had a long and fine film career.

I suggest you watch please Carmen-suite with him and Plisetskaya and maybe, just maybe, you will change your mind, this was his finest performance IMO. Though it was rather in a studio than on stage, but he did that on stage in the Met in 1974.

Oh, and later as ABT principal he did Petit's version too, partnered by young Susan Jaffe. That was good also.

Thank you, Helene. :huh:

Link to comment

all else aside, your statement:

I 'll rephrase: this is a ballet forum and in my opinion this is a wrong place to discuss his versatile movie roles. Good enough?

is just not correct. we have discussed many aspects of many different arts here, and if a ballet artist extends his or her horizons, it is always a proper topic for discussion.

Link to comment
all else aside, your statement:
I 'll rephrase: this is a ballet forum and in my opinion this is a wrong place to discuss his versatile movie roles. Good enough?

is just not correct. we have discussed many aspects of many different arts here, and if a ballet artist extends his or her horizons, it is always a matter of discussion.

I said In My Opinion. Anyway, thanks. :D

Be well. :lol:

Link to comment
Peace out everybody!!

(I'm enjoying all this info about G O D U N O V . Haven't look fo any clips of him on Youtube. Are there any,,,?)

Don't have access at the moment but there use to be a wonderful clip of Don Quixote with Nina Timofeyeva and Alexander Godunov.

Link to comment
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...