JerryS

Hello:

What would be the name of the steps by Nureyev in:

Nureyev - Don Quixote - Entrance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvHOtZ_qdLM

at:

0:47-0:48 jumping step to his left

BTW, what dance is that, is there a name for it?

0:58 he jumps ahead with feet underneath him

1:36 he goes in a large circle, are those jetes en tour?

1:38 and 1:41 jumps during the same motion

1:48 he knees in front of Lucette; how's that stance called?

Thanks.

Hello:

I wonder if ballet terminology can be used to describe the tap dancing by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at:

4:26-4:36

in

"Dancing Cheek to Cheek," in "Top Hat"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYHZh-xnqhE

Anyway, I'm curious to compare both ballet and tap dancing terminology for what they're doing here. I mean, Baryshnikov tapped danced in movies, thus ...

Thanks.

That is a pas de chat.

Thank you, Hans, I was indeed looking for a video with this step:-)

Hi:

Cojocaru and Kobborg in FF

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B31LC_htB4E

How does one call the high lateral cross-over stepping which Kobborg does at 7:21-7:22?

Thanks

BTW, asking the costume specialists here, I'm curious about what Kobborg's wearing in period language:

cravat/neckerchief/bandanna, shirt, knee-long breeches, belt/cammerbund (doubt that?), white hoses/socks (tights today?)

were/are these the right words?

There's a special slowness in Tallchief's interpretation which is especially enchanting. I think she asked the orchestra to tempo it down a bit. She really takes her time to enjoy it all. She was towards the end of her career (she retired just three years later, in 1965, I've just learned).

It's fascinating to compare these videos, and I thank those who have to linked them.

Even the first 30 seconds of the women's part you can see striking differences. After her opening string of jetes, etc., to stage left, the ballerina switches direction and does a cross-over turn, then briefly jumpting and landing in fondu arabesque , at which point the torso and head tilted. This occurs twice. That particular tilt of the torso, and especially of the head, head is something I associate only with Bournonville.

Bojesun has the Bournonville tilt. Cojocaru makes a good try, but doesn't quite get it. Sizova doesn't try.

I'm not sure we're talking about the same torso and head tilt, but watch Soloviev at about 1:15-1:29:

The great Yuri Soloviev and Alla Sizova (wonder about the year?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr25NoQtWRE

Now, that's a tilt! Call it a bell tolling!

Kobborg, a Dane, is doing much less. Nureyev, just a bit less.

Also, how about Soloviev at 1:16-1:19! (Double ronde de jambe saute, I believe. Peaking at 1:18). Now, that's what I would call high! Nureyev is even higher with the working leg and higher than the hip, I think!

Thank you, Hans.

Danish National Treasure

Thomas Lund and Gudrun Bojesun in FF at the inauguration of the new theater in Copenhagen...

They're so proud of these dancers, it brings tears to my eyes.

Great mis-en-scene, the stage is quite small though, and crowded. That doesn't work in their favor. But that crowd is acting great, they seem to have been well stimulated for the occasion:-)

but can't resist.

I love Bojesen's performance, too. As Hans noted, the quick, light feet and soft arms, but also her musicality and charm, all values I expect from a Bournonville work, are vividly displayed here.

In terms of arms, even better is Sizova from those in this thread, IMHO, but her and Soloviev are at a terrible disantantage because of the quality of the tape, but I would encourage anyone to muster the patience and to strain their eyes:-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr25NoQtWRE

She's expressing a certain ethereality that none of the others have, perhaps because of the diaphanous dress.

3:49 - Fouetté sauté en dedans

4:05 - Pirouette en dedans

5:43 - Double tour en l'air

Thank you, gentlemen.

Any way to describe the particular position of the legs (I imagine several varieties are possible for

each?):

3:49 - Fouetté sauté en dedans: how to say his working leg is fully extended and pretty high from the hip?

4:05 - Pirouette en dedans: how to describe this particular flexion in his working knee, or alternately, the particular position of the working leg?

5:43 - Double tour en l'air: how to describe that the legs are straight, parallel and vertical (are all the tours executed this way? I doubt, but I don't know.)?

Thanks.

Again, back to our moutons/muttons:-)

In FF:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B31LC_htB4E

what are the technical names for the steps at:

3:43, seems a sissonne en place

3:48-49, that looks like a jump/saut

4:05 what kind of pirouette is that?

5:43 what kind of saut-pirouette is that, on two legs?

6:11, is that a developpe?

Thanks.

Thanks for mentioning the name of that step and the timing, Helene.

not a poem, though i can understand the question, just that they're giving the words that the gestures represent.

Fine, if that's just their own words. I just had the feeling that somehow they were reciting something at times.

Poem?

I think the older dancers are reciting something, from time to time, don't they?

Very good eye, JerryS!

I think it's just that I know how to run in slowmo my QuickTime:)

But thanks.

Great indeed.

She's definitely one of the best in the role, long lines, extension, great musicality. For once, the orchestra didn't run too fast through the female parts, as in Cojocaru's, who didn't have enough stress in some of the points, IMHO.

And welcome to BalletTalk!

Appreciated.

the tape on YouTube of Sibley and Dowell coaching the "Swan Lake" mime to Lauren Cuthbertson and Rupert Pennefather is a similar gem, as are Verdy coaching anything.

Sibley and Dowell and mime

Thanks for pointing it to us.

Definitely a gem.

BTW, would you know what poem are they using in relation to "Swan Lake?"

It's a brilliant performance, with the characteristic Danish modesty and sweetly engaging head positions that somehow soften and tone down all hte sharpness in the legs -- his footwork is very clean and fast, and indeed some of the small steps are so quick I had to look hard to see which foot was in front. Entrechats with odd numbers end on one foot, and all of them in this dance do land on one foot.

The main characteristic of this dance is the clever alternation between steps which begin with a spring (sissonnes, entrechats) and those which begin with a brush (jete, glissade, assemble) -- this produces the fascinating laciness of the very quick steps -- and of course, the careful placing of BIG steps like the big plants in a garden, few and far between. the very big steps come at the beginning and end of the dance, with the only other big steps at the beginning of the second phrase. A long pirouette counts as a big step even though it does not leave the ground.

You're writing great, Paul, and are clearly putting feel into it.

Keep it going. This is the commentary we need in this art.

I hope that from time to time you're able to publish your opinions on a for-fee basis.

Gentlemen, Paul and Hans,

Your great definitions, together with the ABT dictionary files, in slowmo, have clarified for me the issue of

grand jete vs. grand sissonne:-)

Thanks a lot.

BTW, the grand jete at the ABT dictionary site is executed by Vladimir Malakhov. He looks great in it.

In jeté battu the working leg would be the one that does the initial dégagé. If you start in 5th position with the left leg in front, the right (working) leg does a dégagé to the side, then beats behind, and then in front of, the left (supporting) leg. Then when you land, the right leg becomes the supporting leg with the left leg in cou-de-pied derrière. It does get confusing when talking about a movement like jeté! Normally one speaks of working and supporting legs when one is more stationary.

Hans, the above, together with the QuickTime file I downloaded from the ABT dictionary and I viewed in slowmo, is all I needed to clear the waters:-) I was right in my assumptions and thank for the confirmation.

Now, there are some details on that dégagé. If you look at the ABT dictionary in slow motion at the jeté battu, the dancer seems to be advancing first the left leg in a small dégagé to probably gain a larger base in something similar to a fourth, and only then starts what you seem to be describing in the above.

Another detail:

Should the two legs touch each other in the air for a very short time? They seem to, in the ABT dictionary.

Interesting.

However, with the advent of videotaping, perhaps the things will improve.

Paul and Hans, you may be right, you know those books, and I've heard about them, and I certainly know about Vaganova, but I've just invested $30 in

Grammaire de la danse classique

par Genevieve Guillot

Directrice de l'ecole de danse

du Theatre National de l'Opera

1969, 300p

(in French, of course)

:-)

which is very detailed in terms of text, but doesn't have enough pics. Also, we're in this age of multimedia, I prefer to use slow motion in QuickTime if I am getting my hands on the .mov files:-)

But thanks for the suggestion. I might be getting there.

I remember when this was first broadcast: I was anxious to see Bruhn and when it was announced that he would not be dancing and the substitute would be this Noorv... Nyerv... Nivry... person, I was so annoyed I wanted to skip the whole thing. Fortunately, my mother pointed out that, after all, he was Russian and you never know, he might not be so bad... I've always thought that Tallchief looked a little uncomfortable (btw, have you seen The Art of Maria Tallchief DVD?), but Nureyev was a revelation at the time. I have since learned to pronounce his name.

Sorry for the digression.

Thank you, Peggy, for sharing this personal memento with us. When I looked first at Maria Tallchief in this piece I wasn't too impressed. She doesn't have, perhaps, what I believe could be called a perfect ballet body (a bit generous on the hip side) and those teeth may be ... well a little on the too-expressive side. However, after comparing her with Cojocaru, Sizova, and the others mentioned in this thread, and looking back at the DVD, she radiates a special something in that piece, a special warmth, which surpasses some of them (perhaps it's the honest feeling for her partner?), and with Nureyev, as a couple, is in a winning position. It might be this warmth that endeared her to ballet lovers, I don't know, I don't have a longue acquaintance with her art in particular.