Shirabyoshi

I should like to extend my heartfelt personal thanks to every single poster in this thread, for de-mystifying a subject which has been perplexing me much of late. Now I know how to look at feet! What useful knowledge for an apprentice balletomane. Incidentally, the dancers I like thus far all seem to have legs and feet which form a smooth, straight or almost-straight line. Instep curved but not too curved, and no hyperextension of the knee. It's not what I chose them for, except possibly unconsciously; but now that I'm paying attention it's what looks most beautiful to these novice eyes of mine.

What; no posts in this thread since November 2009? Wake up, everyone, wake up! Because... I think I'm in love! When I popped La Bayadère into my DVD player two weeks ago, I thought I might like Tamara Rojo. I thought she might be my first favourite living-and-active dancer; a "way in" to this intriguing art form which had recently been unlocked for me (possibly more on that later). Then, a fabulous golden creature stepped out of the wings and that was it for me. I didn't know her name, or that she was a principal dancer, or that she was playing such an important role, with a tutu and everything. I simply couldn't take my eyes off her. (In particular, her arms. Am I mad, am I unspeakably ignorant, or is there something special going on there?) And by the end I knew she had something I hadn't expected, couldn't identify, didn't understand, and needed very badly. Such was my first sight of Marianela Nuñez. I moved on to her Lilac Fairy -- not without trepidation, as she would be competing with precious childhood memories of a certain other lady -- and found myself so warmed by her smile that if I had a notebook in front of me now, instead of a keyboard, I'd be drawing flowers round her name. And then came her Lise in La fille mal gardée, which I cannot even talk about. All I can do is throw open my arms and cry to the heavens: "THANK YOU, GOD." Around that time I decided I wanted her, not any of the legendary ballerinas whose recordings survive, to be my first Swan Queen. In both roles she was so beautiful I could hardly bear it. Knowing almost nothing about ballet I have only my own highly subjective aesthetic and emotional impressions to go by; but I'd like to mention her Odile particularly. Now, I knew the story of Swan Lake, and I'd always considered Siegfried unusually dopey even by the standards of fairytale princes, for being unable to tell the difference between Odette and Odile. Marianela made me forgive him. Her Odile was so sexy, so glittering, so exultant, that Siegfried's poor little prince-brain, which had probably not had much exercise prior to this, just didn't stand a chance. Even if part of him did recognise that she wasn't quite his pensively lovely Odette, that part must surely have been drowned out by how much he wanted to believe that this gorgeous creature was his, and that it was their love which animated her so thrillingly. I don't know if it was a deliberate part of La Nuñez's characterisation of the role, or whether it was her own enjoyment of the piece showing through; but she truly gave the impression of being a woman who was happy in her work, who just loved enslaving princelings. I adored the moment when Siegfried first glimpses Odile through the crowd, when she folds her arms Odette-style -- but the way she does it gives an utterly different feeling. It's a deliberate tease. An unwinking wink. Lacking anything to compare it with I don't know whether all Odiles might not do that, but it was special to me. And yes, I did notice the wobble. I admit that it happened. I admit that it took me out of the story for those few seconds. But then, well, I was quite happy to get back into it... Talking about this Swan Lake leaves me longing to see it again. But I do hope that while I'm away gazing in heart-eyed wonderment, others will chime in with their impressions of La Nuñez. If you posted in this thread a few years ago, has your opinion of her changed in the meantime? If you're a new fan like me, what was it which drew you to her? Have you seen her on stage, lately or in the past? I'm especially curious about roles in which she hasn't been recorded. I promise, by the way, not to rush off in a snit if you post that you didn't like her in such-and-such a role, or that she doesn't do a certain thing well, or that you just don't care for her overmuch. I'm interested in all of it, good or bad. It's all helpful in building up a picture of a performer's strengths and weaknesses -- though my inclination will be to view this particular picture through lilac-tinted spectacles.

My answer to this is: yes, absolutely. In the two weeks since I decided to become a ballet fan I have watched the Royal Ballet almost exclusively (on DVD and Blu-ray, not in person!), with only brief forays into the recordings of other companies. This concentration means I can already pick out most of the principals and a few of the soloists (YUHUI CHOE!), some by their faces, a few just by the way they move. And knowing who they are, connecting this performance in this ballet to that performance in the other one, developing a feeling for the company and its style and its parameters, makes it all just so much more interesting, especially to a neophyte who has only her emotional impressions to go on. For me the "way in" to a new art form is always a connection to one artist in particular -- and, pursuing that one, one's attention is arrested by others (YUHUI CHOE!), and then every performance seems to contain at least one person for whose entrances one waits in breathless anticipation... I'm really not such a critical theatregoer, and I doubt I'll ever make a critical balletgoer. I'm in it for the thrills, frankly. (This utterly pointless post brought to you by the fact I have to write ten of 'em in order to unlock the full potential of membership on Ballet Alert. ;) )