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ORZAK

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  1. The only performance I have ever walked out on was Netherlands Danz Theater. It was very expensive too because we had wonderful tickets and hotel room for the night just for this performance. We had travelled over a 100 miles to see the company. But, the music was miked and was so loud that my husband and I left - as did quite a number of other people in the audience. Sad to say. Basheva [ 05-14-2001: Message edited by: ORZAK ]
  2. ORZAK

    Jillana

    I can give you some further information. Jillana retired to San Diego - and that is where I knew her. I was in class with her many, many times - both as a classmate and when she would occasionally teach class. She danced with San Diego Ballet under the artistic direction of Keith Martin and Sonia Arova. She danced Juliet in Romeo and Juliet with Sonia Arova's husband Thor Sutowski. I can tell you from personal experience she is not only a very lovely dancer, a great teacher, but also a very kind and caring person. I got to talk to her quite a bit one evening when she was at my home, as well as in ballet class. Basheva
  3. I think the boom was a combination of several things: Hurok and the age of stars, the news worthiness of the defecting Russian dancers (made big headlines and were seen as exotic by the general public), the NEA and the Ford Foundation Scholarships. And, I do think there is a cyclical quality to booms and busts. As George Burns said when his fame began to climb when he was so very much up in years "I'm so old, I'm new". Basheva
  4. I, too, have seen Plisetskaya dance Dying Swan several times. She was indeed gorgeous. However, I also have a tape of Pavlova dancing it, and the feeling she imparts is quite different. Her swan suffers a quieter death, in my opinion. Basheva
  5. I believe I do understand what the conversation is about, Leigh - I just happen to have another view. Basheva
  6. Who am I to argue with the one and only Croce? And yet I will.... Having been in class with Alicia Alonso, having watched her take a private class given by her daugher Laura, and having watched her rehearse and then perform Giselle twice at very close range, there is nothing NOTHING faked about anything that prima ballerina does, in adagio, allegro or anywhere else for that matter. In my opinion. Basheva
  7. In my opinin - being a lyrical ballerina would not obviate the assets necessary to Theme and Variations - but enhance it. The adage section is not brought to fruition by a technician. Every great dancer passes through phases of re-creation. Again, in my opinion.
  8. In my opinion Gelsey Kirkland was a true lyrical ballerina - a very rare creature. Basheva
  9. I remember when I first heard that Nureyev was going to be Artistic Director of POB, - I thought finally the company has met its match. The temperaments are evenly matched. He is as strong as that entire company. And, it proved so. Basheva
  10. I should have added that I had the pleasure of seeing Patrick Bisssel dance Swan Lake with Cynthia Gregory - what a wonderful performance that was. Had things been different he was the partner she should have had. Basheva [This message has been edited by ORZAK (edited February 23, 2001).]
  11. I surely miss Gelsey Kirkland, Rudolph Nureyev. But most of all Prima Ballerina Assoluta Margot Fonteyn. Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of her death. That death does not endure - because as she dances in my mind - which she does - she does not die. That is the gift of the artist. I had the great good fortune to be in a class once with Patrick Bissel - and to watch him teach a master class. I purposely didn't take the master class because I wanted to just sit there and watch him. He arrived to teach the class directly from the beach (this is San Diego after all) wearing a pair of short shorts, and sandals - carrying his ballet slippers. At one point in the class the men said that the music was too fast for them to fully fulfill the amplitude of the steps in the combination he had set. On went the ballet slippers and without even thinking - he spun off into a series of jumps and turns with dazzling speed and aplomb. There was no more whining from the men in class. LOL He managed to "fill" that large studio with his presence that day. Basheva
  12. Frederick Franklin was a great actor/dancer. I was present once when he was rehearsing Dr. Coppelius - and then I saw him perform it. I have never seen a better. How about Gerd Larsen who I believe was the original nurse in MacMillan's Romeo & Juliet. I thought she was superb in that role.
  13. Valery Panov was known more for his characterizations. I was in class with him and watched him rehearse - and a very interesting experience it was too. I have a tape of him and his wife Galina Panov at Wolf Trap Farm Park in which he does both technical "fireworks" and characterization. Basheva ------------------ Approach life as the dancer approaches the barre - with grace and purpose.
  14. In Gretchen Ward Warren's book, "Classical Ballet Technique" on page 5 are some wonderful descriptions, definitions and diagrams of "placement". An experienced dancer's body has learned it, and when it is achieved it feels almost weightless, and the body is thus ready for movement. Basheva
  15. I had the pleasure once of watching Patrick Bissel teach a master class - first to a mixed gender group of dancers and then to a men's class. What presence and power he had. He was by no means a small man, well over 6 foot, but could he ever move!!! He arrived for the men's class straight from the beach (this is San Diego) and he was clad only in a t-shirt, shorts and sandals. He carried his ballet slippers in his hands. At one point during the class when the men were saying that the music was much too fast for the combination which Patrick had set, he put on his slippers. And then as the class stepped back and the music started, he flew through the combination, inserted beats everywhere, and then without pause, reversed it entirely. He ended with a huge, glorious, multiple pirouette and finished impeccably. He wasn't even warmed up. There were no more mumblings about the music being too fast. Everyone was in awe - total awe. This man in t-shirt, shorts and barelegs in ballet slippers. I also saw him perform La Sylphide with Gelsey Kirkland - and what a glory that was. And a Swan Lake with Cynthia Gregory. Had things been different he would have been the perfect partner for her, in my opinion. He certainly was that night. Basheva
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