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Kirsten Simone and Henning Kronstam: Sleeping Beauty pdd


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Thank you for posting that, kathaP. I think that's on the Firestone DVD. I just watched it last week.

I interviewed them both about that performance for my book on Kronstam, and Simone said the floor was very slippery and "we were afraid to do anything." She said when they came to the studio, the stagehands beamed at them and told them "we've waxed the floor twice, just for you." I love that pas de deux -- very Danish, not Russian, in high Vokova-era style. I find Kronstam's arms, especially, the way they cross his chest, very beautiful.

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kathaP, that is a wonderful discovery. Thank you for posting it. I've never seen Kronstam and Simone dance in more than tiny snippets. It's a treasure.

I don't have a lot of experience with videos from early television, but this telecast strikes me as being one of the better tv presentations of classical ballet from that era. When the dancers first appeared on that tiny stage, facing the elegant audience posed stiffly at small tables, my heart sank. What could they possibly do in such a tiny space/ Would we have to endure audience reactions shots?

Then ... (whoosh!) ... the curtain rose to reveal a large and handsomely designed ballroom -- just the two dancers; the onstage observers banished. It's a stunning effect now; it must have seemed truly magical in the early 60s.

I like the way the dancers have sometimes been directed to progress down-stage directly towards -- almost into -- the camera: eg., Simone's series of chaine turns, her walk on point with the pas de chevals. It's marvelous visual stuff. :D

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yes, indeed, Alexandra is correct (and memory in this case did not serve) - the Simone/Kronstam footage is on the FIRESTONE DANCES - initially a video cassette and then a DVD, which may or may not still be on the market.

here's the NYPL cat. entry:

Firestone dances, 1962-1963/ produced by Video Artists International in association with New England Conservatory of Music, as part of Voice of Firestone classic performances ; production coordinator, Allan Altman.

Fort Lee, N.J. : Video Artists International, c1995, 1962-1963. (50 min.) : sd., b&w

Additional program information from wrapper.

Andalusian dances (ca. 5 min.) / telecast on December 2, 1962 ; danced by the Ballet Español Ximenes-Vargas.

Variations after Degas (ca. 6 min.) / telecast on October 14, 1962 ; choreography, James Starbuck ; music, Claude Debussy ; danced by Maria Tallchief and six women.

Caprice (ca. 6 min.) / telecast on April 14, 1963 ; choreography, Robert Pagent ; music, Rossini, arranged by Benjamin Britten ; danced by Maria Tallchief, Oleg Tupine, and corps de ballet.

The sleeping beauty: Act III, prince's variation (ca. 2 min.) / telecast on June 2, 1963 ; choreography, uncredited [after Petipa?] ; music, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky ; danced by Rudolf Nureyev.

Gayane: male variation (ca. 2 min.) / telecast on June 2, 1963 ; choreography, uncredited ; music, Aram Khachaturian ; danced by Rudolf Nureyev.

The sleeping beauty: Act III, grand pas de deux (ca.. 9 min.) / telecast on June 9, 1963 ; choreography, uncredited [after Petipa?] ; music, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky ; danced by Kirsten Simone and Henning Kronstam.

Pas de quatre: Cerrito's variation (ca. 3 min.) / telecast on November 18, 1962 ; choreography, Jules Perrot ; music, Cesare Pugni ; danced by Carla Fracci.

Pas de deux [Tchaikovsky pas de deux] (ca. 3 min.) / telecast on December 16, 1962 ; choreography, George Balanchine ; music, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky ; danced by Melissa Hayden and Jacques d'Amboise.

Don Quixote: pas de deux (ca. 7 min.) / telecast on March 10, 1963 ; choreography, Jacques d'Amboise after Marius Petipa ; music, L. Minkus ; danced by Melissa Hayden and Jacques d'Amboise.

Originally telecast live on the Voice of Firestone series, 1962-1963.

Brief dance works with spoken introductions.

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WOnderful! Thanks for posting htis. I love their phrasing -- though what's up with the music? They're drastically out of synch after a while.

It can't have been this way on hte Firestone Hour -- and they both seem very musical dancers.

I love his first "Ilove you" lunge -- it actually made tears spring to my eyes.

I just found this little snippet of Simone and Kronstam on youtube. I hope this is the right place to post this? I've never seen either of them dance, so I'm really excited to have discovered this.

Simone and Kronstam

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I saw this when it first aired, and there wasn't any sync problem at the time. And I was excessively fussy about things like that then.

This particular copy of the video may have gone through a format conversion at some point in it's life. I've noticed on some video conversion froms PAL, the audio and visual are out of synch

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