188 replies to this topic

[Figurante]

Responding on her website to the rather delicate question:
"What is your weight?"
Diana Vishneva answered:
"Sufficient for today's terrestrial gravitation."


Haha! What wit!

[canbelto]

I regularly check Diana's website simply for her delightful Dianglish.

GG!: ina EVER I am sure you have already lived your dreams!!!! Your birth sign is a cancer like me...I read in an article that cancer`s are very artistic people...I hope it`s a sign!!!!

Diana:  Yes, cancer is very good for the artistic people. Good luck to you.

Tana: I overheard one woman with a thick Russian accent saying that you are Gyspy. Is that so? That would be soooo romantic...

Diana: Let it will be a secret.

[cubanmiamiboy]

"...She is Giselle"

                         Ballet Critic Arnold Haskell   , 1967 on Mme. Alicia Alonso  

[papeetepatrick]

"Her goals have been to dance in Balanchine ballets."

That's the second part of Peter Martins's description of Suzanne Farrell, and I was struck by it the first time I read it.  I have never heard ambition phrased so.  It's perfect, because it doesn't look beyond what she was currently doing (c. 1983), and had long been doing, toward anything beyond it.

Another quote I adored was Martha Graham talking about 'the body as garment' or perhaps 'ultimate garment', but I can't remember the exact quote, and I may have read it in an early 80s NYT article.  If somebody remembers it, please fill in!  I feel quite the same way about this matter, tending to agree with Ms. Graham on many things.

[cubanmiamiboy]

papeetepatrick, on Sep 24 2007, 10:33 PM, said:

Another quote I adored was Martha Graham talking about 'the body as garment' or perhaps 'ultimate garment', but I can't remember the exact quote, and I may have read it in an early 80s NYT article.  If somebody remembers it, please fill in!  I feel quite the same way about this matter, tending to agree with Ms. Graham on many things.

I have that quote among my favorite ones, papeetepatrick!.  It is "The body is a sacred garment".Martha Graham.  Beautiful words...

[papeetepatrick]

cubanmiamiboy, on Sep 24 2007, 10:43 PM, said:

'The body is a sacred garment." Martha Graham.  Beautiful words...

Thank you, cristian, I am glad to finally hear it again in proper form.

[cubanmiamiboy]

"Ballet is important and significant...yes.But first of all, it is a pleasure"
                                                          
                                                                                                 George Balanchine

[ViolinConcerto]

I remember reading a column in The New Yorker by Arlene Croce, years ago, and something she said stuck in my mind.... it can't be a quote because so much time and words have passed under the bridge, but it was something like:

"There comes a time in most Balanchine ballets when the stage is flooded with women."

I'd love to hear/read any more precise recollections of that.

[cubanmiamiboy]

ViolinConcerto, on Oct 9 2007, 07:39 PM, said:

I remember reading a column in The New Yorker by Arlene Croce, years ago, and something she said stuck in my mind.... it can't be a quote because so much time and words have passed under the bridge, but it was something like:

"There comes a time in most Balanchine ballets when the stage is flooded with women."

I'd love to hear/read any more precise recollections of that.

The words were:

" Sooner or later, the stage is flooded with women, "
                                      
Arlene Croce on George Balanchine’s "Ballo della Regina".

[ViolinConcerto]

cubanmiamiboy, on Oct 10 2007, 04:45 PM, said:

ViolinConcerto, on Oct 9 2007, 07:39 PM, said:

I remember reading a column in The New Yorker by Arlene Croce, years ago, and something she said stuck in my mind.... it can't be a quote because so much time and words have passed under the bridge, but it was something like:

"There comes a time in most Balanchine ballets when the stage is flooded with women."

I'd love to hear/read any more precise recollections of that.

The words were:

" Sooner or later, the stage is flooded with women, "
                                      
Arlene Croce on George Balanchine’s "Ballo della Regina".

WOW, that was fast.  Thank YOU!

And don't forget, today is NYCB's birthday (and Jerome Robbins' too).

[cubanmiamiboy]

ViolinConcerto, on Oct 11 2007, 05:27 PM, said:

And don't forget, today is NYCB's birthday (and Jerome Robbins' too).

i know...Happy B'Day!!!  

[innopac]

"Movement is liberated thought."    Charlie Chaplin
from Charlie Chaplin and His Times by Kenneth S. Lynn. 1998. page 353.

[4mrdncr]

I love this topic!
These came to mind most recently...

1)The following because I love alliteration and have always loved the poem; moreso now when it reminds me of a particular dancer:  
The first line of McGee's "High Flight":  
"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
and danced the skies on laughter silvered wings..."


2)This from a speech by actor Russell Crowe at the BAFTA awards some years ago.  I seem to remember he was 'a tad upset' when it was cut from the broadcast (whether inadvertantly or deliberately, I don't know.)
"Western cultures are often criticized for their focus on performing arts.  However, singing, dance, theatre, film and all forms of creative expression serve to ignite the intellect, propel emotional development and availability, and reward us all with stories of humanity and the triumph of the human spirit."


3)And this more recently: (sorry for any mistranslations) from Angel Corella:
"Dance is a form of self-expression; it's part of our self, part of our culture, part of our lives...it's really a form of art, and art is a way of communicating in a more spiritual way.  It's a way of communicating our souls without having to use any words..."  
(interview 7-21-07, posted online but not sure if I can name site?)
-----and in a similar vein:
"Classical dance is not a whim of a few, but an art of the highest order that moves the masses.  The public needs (classical) dance to feed their souls.
It is the most direct way to connect because it is pure feeling."
(interview 10-13-07 prior to performance in Cordoba , published in print/online www.abc.es)

[cubanmiamiboy]

"Her Giselle is a miracle''

...said Mme Galina Ulanova in tears after watching the 1980 Alicia Alonso/ Vladimir Vasiliev performance of the ballet in Havana.

[popularlibrary]

There are so many wonderful quotes, so this is just one I found interesting.  It's from an interview with Manuel Legris by Alessandro Bizzotto in September of last year on the Italian web site Quelliche il Cinema; I believe they were actually speaking Italian rather than French.

(http://www.quellicheilcinema.com)

"Conosco ballerini migliori di me dal punto di vista tecnico o fisico… ma quando si è in scena ciò che fa la differenza è qui… nella testa! Non solo nel fisico."

Forgive my sketchy Italian, but I translated this as:
"I know dancers better than me from the point of view of technique or physique, but when one is on stage what makes the difference is here - in your head! It’s not just the physical."

His expansion on this indicated that he meant what Nureyev described as guts - sheer will and determination, and the ability not to get thrown by whatever situation turns up - just throwing yourself totally into the performance and not letting anything sidetrack you.