46 replies to this topic

[AlbanyGirl]

Hamorah, on 25 February 2013 - 12:23 PM, said:

What the Fille with Nerina and Blair is on DVD?  Is it really, Albany Girl?  How lovely! What I am finding rather satisfying, as they release all these archive films, is the fact that my heroes of yesteryear were actually as good as I remember them to be!  I have a film of Giselle with Ulanova, whom I saw for the first time when the Bolshoi came to London in 1956, and her technique was amazing and her acting was unbelievable - She seemed to live the part. And the divine Beriosova in the Les Sylphides extract posted above was indeed divine!  And now Nerina - such ballon, such technique and such quality. With all their legs round their ears and multiple pirouettes, I find that many of the incredibly athletic dancers of today lack the quality of the dancers from my youth. But that's another whole thread, which I believe has already been done!

Hi Hamorah,
Regarding your statement above in blue, I apologize for any confusion.  The DVD to which I refer is an ICA Classics DVD of BBC performances of Les Sylphides and Giselle.   If you look at my post to Cristian that I mention in the earlier post today, it has the DVD catalog number.  This is a wonderful DVD, in my opinion.  I agree with your view about Markova and Beriosova.  And I absolutely love Galina Ulanova.  My understanding from some readings (where I cannot remember), is that Miss Galina would wear soft slippers en pointe when dancing Giselle so that not a peep was heard from her shoes.  She is divine.   Older dancers did have a particular quality of refinement, didn't they?  Not to discount the current crop of many fine, young dancers of today.

[AlbanyGirl]

bart, on 21 February 2013 - 06:44 PM, said:

Congratulations on your 100th post, AlbanyGirl, and thanks for your contribution to this thead especially.

Quiggin, I'm grateful for your point about Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3.  Nancy Reynolds quotes a critic who thought that this work had a "split personality."  Llike most people, I usually see Theme and Variations as a stand-alone work, without the sections Balanchine added to it.  On the few occasions on which I've seen the multi-section piece, I tended to think that it was a bit disjointed in terms of style.  It never occurred to me that this might have been a comment by Balanchine on the romanticism/classicism dichotomy, with romanticism actually leading to (or culminating in) the triumph of classiscism.

Cristian, thanks for those links.  Dupont is a gorgeous Sylphide, though not the most ethereal.   She is more glamourous than "fairylike" in its original sense, but lovelyi to watch nonetheless.  Fracci's Giselle with Vasiliev is a marvel, especially considering her age at the time.  I prefer it to the much earlier ABT Fracci-Bruhn film, with its over-active camera work.

Bart, I noticed that 'split-personality' aspect this season.  I mentioned it in the forum Winter Season earlier, but it's worth responding to your post here.  I found it exceptionally odd, honestly, although I enjoyed it.  It was like movements 1-3 were one ballet and movement 4 a separate, entirely different ballet!  IMO, if this was indeed a comment by Balanchine on romanticsm/classicism, I don't think it succeeds.  This summer T&V will be performed at Saratoga and I'll see it then, in its original incarnation as T&V.