MakarovaFan Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 I recently discovered Eva Evdokimova and am in love with her dancing. This is how I found her (see below). Her Sylphide is so exquisite. Her ballon, entrechats, gorgeous footwork, beautiful fingers, softness and how she skims the surface of the stage. If only there was her full length Sylphide on video. Link to comment
JMcN Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 She was my first, and never forgotten Sylph in 1985, with Peter Schaufuss as her James. I only saw her do Sylph and Tatiana in Onegin a couple of years later but she was absolutely lustrous and I feel privileged to have seen her. Link to comment
MakarovaFan Posted September 1, 2016 Author Share Posted September 1, 2016 JMcN, you are so lucky to have seen her dance live. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 It is one of my greatest frustrations that this performance of La Sylphide by the London Festival Ballet is sitting somewhere in a BBC archive. Eva Evdokimova, Peter Schaufuss and Niels Bjørn Larsen. Come on!! If there were one telecast I could get out of the vaults and onto disc, this would be it. I have only the feeblest pirate, and watching it is simultaneously awe-inspiring and exasperating. because I'm dying to see it in its full glory. Link to comment
Juliet Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 I agree----my old video is fast losing it's grip on life..........I keep hoping...... Link to comment
Buddy Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 (edited) I've never seen or heard of her before, but sometimes first impressions may add some interest. I've watched the above clip and some Giselle that followed. Her hands are beautifully expressive. They float wonderfully and definitively reflect her character. She also has a fine sense of theater. I would consider this to be very 'English.' She has a fine, perhaps even 'Shakespearian,' sense of drama, both in her portrayal and in the way that her dance becomes an extension of this. This even seems kind of modern. It has a sense of TV or motion picture, of being close-up. I've seen this sort of thing with dancers such as Tamara Rojo and continue to watch with great interest how Xander Parish (formerly Royal Ballet (England)) merges this with Mariinsky fineness. Edited September 2, 2016 by Buddy spelling correction Link to comment
naomikage Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 (edited) This video of Eva Evdokimova and Peter Schaufuss in La Sylphide might be of better quality (with a short interview). From World Ballet Festival in Tokyo, 1985 Edited September 2, 2016 by naomikage Link to comment
Buddy Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 (edited) Thanks, everyone, for the videos and comments. Here’s some background from her obituary (invoking my feeling of sadness that she's no longer with us) in “The Gardian.” “More important than any prize was the attention she attracted from Ulanova and from the great teacher Asaf Messerer, who said his interest was because of her "interpretative qualities with its spirituality, clarity and musicality of the dance". Encouraged by Ulanova, she went to Varna again in 1970 and won the only gold medal, thus garnering overnight international acclaim. (A gold at Varna in those days had Olympic prestige.) “Evdokimova had danced with Nureyev on many occasions as a guest and also as a member of his own group, Nureyev and Friends,…. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/apr/09/obituary-eva-evdokimova On second viewing I’m very impressed by the clarity and sculptural beauty of her dancing (especially in her legs) in the “La Sylphide” video posted above by MakarovaFan. Edited September 2, 2016 by Buddy half a sentence and a few other words added Link to comment
balletgirl22sk Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 2 of my daughters took class with her in NY years ago and she was a lovely person and I enjoyed watching her teach. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 (edited) Yes, that's the one. What the BBC has in its vaults must be less snowy, less tinny and in a position to be digitally remastered. Even so, it's just gorgeous. That's a new upload. Thanks for spotting it, Amy. Edited September 3, 2016 by volcanohunter Link to comment
Mme. Hermine Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 I was in England and watched this on TV when it was first broadcast - Dance Month, just imagine.... Dance Month BBC Two England, 31 May 1980 20.25 Synopsis Edit The London Festival Ballet in La Sylphide Choreographer PETER SCHAUFUSS after August Bournonville Music : HERMAN LOVENSKJOLD JOHN DRUMMOND introduces the opening production in BBC2's Dance Month 1980, which comes direct from the stage of the London Coliseum. Peter Schaufuss 's brilliant re-creation of the full-length romantic ballet won him the Evening Standard Ballet Award for 1979. Set in the glens of Scotland, the ballet tells the story of James, a young farmer, who loses his heart to a sylph and for her sake deserts his human bride-to-be on the eve of their wedding. The evil witch, Madge, traps James and his sylph with a magic scarf - and, for once, evil triumphs! Designer DAVID WALKER Lighting JOHN B. READ ORCHESTRA OF LONDON FESTIVAL BALLET conducted by TERENCE KERN Television lighting JOHN MASON Television sound GRAHAM HAINES Vision mixer GRAHAM GILES Director DEREK BAILEY t Contributors Music: Herman Lovenskjold Introduces: John Drummond Unknown: Peter Schaufuss Designer: David Walker James: Peter Schaufuss The Sylph: Eva Evdokimova Madge: Niels Bjorn Larsen Effie: Margot Clarke Gurn: Nicholas Johnson First Sylph: Andria Hall Link to comment
Buddy Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 (edited) I just watched a video clip of Galina Ulanova (in her twenties?) dancing the Odette duet from Swan Lake. In aura, I find a lovely resemblance between her and Eva Evdokimova. In fact, just looking at my last post above, Galina Ulanova was very atracted to her and greatly encouraged her. Edited February 21, 2017 by Buddy Link to comment
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