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Diana Adams


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Perky, I think the 1957 Agon rehearsal photos show the Adams that you describe. The body and the pony-tail certainly suggest it.

Bart, you write "photos," plural. In Taper's Balanchine biography I find one gorgeous shot of Adams and Mitchell, with a classroom mirror and onlookers in the background, and then a few pages on there are four pages of smaller shots set against a black background? Are those known to be rehearsal photos as well, or are there more Agon rehearsal shots elsewhere? (I hope it's the latter). Thanks.

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when the prod. was on stage, were the wili dresses black or dark green? or something else?

Fred Fehl took some good performance photos at the time of the Berman Giselle---my reproductions are in B&W, but I recall shades of blue/green interspersed with long black panels going from the waist to the hem. In an early photo of Alonso/Youskevitch the wilis have huge fan like wings; but in a later photo of Sallie Wilson as Myrtha the wings have disappeared. The Giselles wore the traditional white tutu but Myrtha had the same costume as the Corps.

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Just to give a little history on my recollection, the one I saw was in an exhibit of theater designs, and the costume itself was from a private collection. I suppose that a lot of color subtlety could have bleached out just from age, and the sometimes fugitive nature of dye colors. Also, I was seeing it in bright white light with UV filters, so the color fidelity was almost certainly muted. Someday, museum people have to learn to play with lighting colors to suggest the actual light plot in which costumes and setpieces were intended to be seen!

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Or possibly a goddess for both? Verdy seems to fill Garis's book. He obviously adores her and often uses her as an examplar as well as a contrast when discussing other kinds of dancing he did not entirely approve of. In religion it's not unknown for the follower to become even more of a proslytiser than his teacher was, I think. So possibly the same applies in this case

She was one of Garis' favored dancers, but no, I would not say that she held the same place with Garis as she was with Haggin.

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Bart, you write "photos," plural. In Taper's Balanchine biography I find one gorgeous shot of Adams and Mitchell, with a classroom mirror and onlookers in the background, and then a few pages on there are four pages of smaller shots set against a black background? Are those known to be rehearsal photos as well, or are there more Agon rehearsal shots elsewhere? (I hope it's the latter). Thanks.
kfw, I'm sorry that I missed your post and your question. There's also an Adams-Mitchell photo on p. 81 ofRobert Garis's Following Balanchine. It's part of the series you refer to, the one shot when Stravinsky was in attendence. I've seen others over the years in addition to those published in these 2 books.

The Garis caption says that this was shot "at the making" of Agon, but other sources use the term "rehearsal." It's clear the pdd had already been set when the photos were made. Stravinsky's visit is discussed in Stephen Walsh's biography (volume II): Stravinsky: The Second Exile: France and America, 1934-1971, Chapter 25. About this visit, Stravinsky wrote:

Balanchine showed me his dances in rehearsal. Superb. There won't be any scenery., and to tell the truth none is needed, though it's a shame there are no costumes either, since dancing in practice kit has been done in other ballets and is no longer very convincing.

Walsh describes the tremendous success of Agon and quotes Diana Adams writing to Stravinsky about her and Mitchell's

pleasure and excitement in performing Agon. I wish it were on each program. We are still not "note-perfect" but we seize Kopeikine [balanchine's rehearsal pianist] and the stage at every opportunity and our concentration is intense, so we improve! The audience response is tremendous, they seem to love it, and several more performances have been added. I do hope you have seen the notices, they were marvelous. Congratulations, and thank you for our beautiful, beautiful score.

perky, I'm wrong about the pony tail. In the rehearsal photos, Adams is clearly wearing her hair in some kind of bun. It's Barbara Milberg (who danced the pas de trois) who has a pony tail.)

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Walsh describes the tremendous success of Agon and quotes Diana Adams writing to Stravinsky about her and Mitchell's
pleasure and excitement in performing Agon. I wish it were on each program. We are still not "note-perfect" but we seize Kopeikine [balanchine's rehearsal pianist] and the stage at every opportunity and our concentration is intense, so we improve! The audience response is tremendous, they seem to love it, and several more performances have been added. I do hope you have seen the notices, they were marvelous. Congratulations, and thank you for our beautiful, beautiful score.

Thanks, Bart. The quote is a special treat.

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