32 replies to this topic

[Yvonne]

As I read this thread (the parts about what makes a "danseur noble"), I keep thinking about Patrick Bissell.  I've only seen him on video, but even in that medium, he certainly seemed to have had the body, the walk, the "weight", the presence and the partnering ability to make his ballerina look great.

  I'm certainly a lay person when it comes to these things, but if he had lived and further developed his dancing, was he the "danseur noble" type?  Reading this thread had certainly made me realize how little I know about these "categories"!

[Alexandra]

I've always thought of Bissell as a danseur noble -- by height, sense of weight, proportions, and sensibilities.  It's interesting that in the 1970s and at least early 1980s there would be articles in the dance press, "Will there ever be a true American danseur noble?"  There were a lot of people who nominated Bissell.  He did all the Prince roles when he was quite young, so I think he met those expectations.

Also, none of us really know about these classifications -- or maybe it's better to say most of us have heard the words, but it's difficult to find out what they mean -- and they vary by time and by country.

[Alexandra]

[Several posts deleted]

I think this thread has run its course -- or this incarnation of it, at any rate.  Cygne Danois has opened a parallel topic on Ballet History.  Anyone who wishes to reopen this discussion, please feel free to do so in a new topic.



[This message has been edited by alexandra (edited March 20, 2001).]