6 replies to this topic

[glebb]

Warning:  This is a fantasy and not for real (unless I win the lottery).


ANNOUNCEMENT!

A lavish, new television series in the manner of the BBC's "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" is being produced by an anonymous impresario.

The working title is "Six Romantic Ballerinas".  Each ninety minute  episode will focus on the life of one Romantic Era Ballerina and will have it's own author and director.  

The life stories of Ballerinas: Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler, Carlotta Grisi, Lucille Grahn, Fanny Cerrito and Emma Livry will be told.

Each episode will be filmed on location, with great care taken to provide accuracy in the telling of these life stories.

Casting suggestions are requested.

[Victoria Leigh]

What a wonderful and delightful idea!  I need to think about this one, though, in terms of casting.  I'm assuming we can go back in time here, and cast anyone we feel would have been able to realistically portray one of these characters, whether they are dancing today or not.  This opens up a world of possibilites....but I need some time on this one!

[glebb]

All ideas are welcomed.  

Just don't cast the original dancer as the dancer.  

[Mel Johnson]

Working backwards through history, I would cast Carla Fracci as Taglioni in the Emma Livry show.  This choice would, of course, have an impact on who the Taglioni would be as a juvenile, for her own section.  I don't care, as long as I can play Benjamin Lumley in the "Pas de Quatre" sequence.;)

[Victoria Leigh]

Okay, here is my casting, for the moment ;) This could change!

Taglioni - Alicia Alonso
Elssler - Maya Plisetskaya
Grisi - Carla Fracci
Grahn - Galina Ulanova
Cerrito - Violette Verdy
Livry - Alicia Markova

[glebb]

Those are good!   I have to admit that I don't know a lot about some of these ballerinas and I hope to know more soon!

Now this is my fantasy so I am casting you, Victoria, as Grahn.

[Victoria Leigh]

Oh Glebb!  That is awesome   But I don't know if I could see myself in that role at all!  Actually, I did dance Taglioni in several performances of Pas de Quatre when I was teaching in a University program where we presented that work. I had just starting teaching full time, and was still performing some too.  But I think the reason I was cast as Taglioni was because I was the oldest one!  

I staged Pas de Quatre for my student company in Florida when Barbara Bears was about 16.  (She joined Houston Ballet shortly after that, and became a principal dancer there for many years. She retired last June and will soon become a mother ) Anyway, she was an absolutely lovely Grahn!  I would have listed her above, but I really just wanted to get Ulanova in there somewhere because I think she is one of the forgotten ballerinas, and I loved her!