Tom47

California, thank you for the link. The photographer Alexia Webster from South Africa seems interesting. Drew, thank you for the link to Louise Fishman. Aurora, thank you for referencing Hung Liu, I looked her up. Tom,

California, I don’t know very much about non-western art. Do you know of any non-western women artists? Quiggin, thank you for your input both in regard to Soviet women and the "women of Ninth Street.” I have not yet looked into your links, but I will. Dirac, Artemisia Gentileschi's life is interesting. That incident is reportedly what inspired her painting of Judith Beheading Holofernes, which is very dramatic and contains two active women. And thank you for the compliment on the topic. I’m pleasantly surprised at the response to this. Also, I tried to input the image of the Firebird’s back cloth, but it didn’t work. Can anyone tell me how to do this? Tom,

The plan for this topic is to be about female artists - painters, sculptures and photographers primarily and I encourage people to contribute to this. In the past women and girls had been discouraged from becoming professional artists and even when they did so and even when they became well known in their own times, they were many times forgotten. For example, H. W. Janson’s “History of Art” was first published in 1962. It is described in a New York Times article as “a seven-pound, 750 page tome filled with pictures and prose, remembered by tens of thousands of liberal-arts graduates simply as Janson’s - the basic college textbook on the world’s great painting and sculpture.” Yet, “. . . no female artists were mentioned in earlier editions, except for an anonymous Greek vase painter.” The book was updated by the author’s son to include women in 1984. Natalia Goncharova, the first artist to be covered here, was born in Tula, Russia (less than 100 miles south of Moscow) on June 21, 1881. As a child she moved with her family to Moscow and at age 17 entered the Moscow Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. In September of 1913, in Moscow, the artist held a one woman exhibition. Three months before the start of the First World War Natalia Goncharova traveled to Paris where she designed costumes and scenery for the Ballet Russe “Le cog d’or.” She also did work for The Firebird ballet, as well as for Bronislava Nijinska’s Le Renard and Les Noces. Here is a 9 minute long video of 88 of Natalia Goncharova’s works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7J5dJ4N7a4, with music. This next link goes to an image of the artist’s back cloth for the 1926 revival of The Firebird: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O129761/backcloth-natalia-goncharova/. Finally here is a two minute video of excerpts from the ballet “Le cog d’or.” It starts with a short interview with the dancer Anna Volkova. The performance took place in Australia and is from 1940: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYRiHBzfkDU. Tom,

Mille-feuille, thank you for mentioning the Jane Eyre ballet with some music by Fanny Mendelssohn. Now I know of a ballet with music by a female composer. I could have chosen a better word than spotlights. What I was referring to was the costumes the men wore as compared to what the women wore, as in regard to the male tights or being bare chested or wearing quite tiny garments such as those worn by the male dancer in Diana and Acteon and by the slave in Excelsior. The male dancers with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater also wear body revealing costumes at times. My belief is that women are just as capable in regard to choreography as men and by not fully utilizing women choreographers, not only in ballet but in dance in general, we are missing out on potentially great talent. It would be like only letting people born on an even day to be choreographers, but not people born on an odd day. Further, to the extent that women might have a different outlook on choreography than men, we are only seeing one point of view. I also found your views on partnering interesting. Tom,

I was happy to see so many new comments. The quote I used actually has two parts. First is the part “The ballet is a purely female thing; it is a woman, a garden of beautiful flowers . . .“ This is somewhat surprising in that the male dancer is and has been an important part of ballet, however, this is the part that makes it fit in with this topic. The second part “. . . and man is the gardener” is much more important to me. It seems that the majority of dancers are female, but the overwhelming majority of those in charge - choreographers and artistic directors and composers of the music - are male. I know of no female composer of music for ballet. Let me know if there are any. As people may have noticed I like to challenge sex and gender sterotypes, this is why I refer to both men and women as beautiful, but another part of this is the challenging of who is in charge. It seems to me that ballet spotlights the male body and the form of the male body as much as if not more than the female body. Further, many ballet stories are about strong females who display agency, although in a number of those cases these women wind up dying - La Sylphide, La Bayadere and Carmen for example. But, in regard to who is in charge ballet and dance in general displays a great deal of imbalance. So whether or not the quote reveals Balanchine’s true feelings and beliefs, I believe that the quote accurately reflects the general feelings and beliefs of many people. Can you imagine someone referring to men as something as inert and delicate as a beautiful flower. I would like to read what people know or think about the lack of women in positions of control. Now I want to get back to something Helene wrote. I was inspired by your mention of “contemporary and modern ballet” to go look for some. The following appear to be contemporary ballet, let me know if I’m incorrect. This is a dance to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (3 mins): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_dl4uqkw4s. The men are wearing pants/trousers, but the women are wearing bathing suits like garments. Others that I came across are Say Something by Sharon Chance, see here (2 mins): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKQfBegT0NE, The Golden Section and In the Upper Room both by Twyla Tharp, Waves Choreographed by Krista King Doherty and NY Complexion. If you or anyone else can help me out by directing me to other examples I would appreciate it. On Pointe, thank you for your information on recent developments in ballet and for the nude in ballet and for the video of Nureyev. California, thank you for mentioning Kammermusic No. 2. I read the article you linked to, but only could find short videos on facebook. And Canbelto thank you for mentioning Square Dance, I was able to find excerpts from it. Mille-feuille, thank you for helping out California and I like to find out who reads what I write. Tom,

In the June 11, 1965 issue of Life Magazine, George Balanchine is quoted as saying “The ballet is a purely female thing; it is a woman, a garden of beautiful flowers, and man is the gardener.” This position severely and unnecessarily restricts ballet - male dancers can be seen as being just as beautiful as female dancers and I believe ballet would greatly benefit by having many more women gardeners. Tom,

Helene, I completely agree with you, I would not want ballet to drop any qualities and standards to make people more comfortable. Actually I’m hopeful that the changes we are seeing, in regard to the way people feel about gender roles, will result in people in general being more comfortable with men in tights and I feel that ballet can help with that. Tom,

On Pointe, I’m not sure what your point is. I know that swimsuits worn by male Olympic divers are revealing as are swimsuits worn by male water polo players. That does not mean that many people are not “put off” from watching those players. I agree with you about growing used to seeing male dancers in tights and I pointed out that happened to me. Also, it seems that the article I linked to makes the same point. So, here we agree. But it appears to me that many Americans, not all, have not grown used to seeing men in ballet tights and that seems to be supported by the article “Fear of Men in Tights.” As to female beach volleyball players, I believe that many people, both female and male, are acceptable to seeing the lower part of a woman’s body and so would not be put off by the female beach volleyball players, because they have grown used to seeing that. Beach volleyball is a good example of that. The Male players wear boxer-like loose fitting suits, while the women wear bikinis. In many swimming sports women’s suits sometimes turn into thongs, I have not seen that with men. Many times male gymnasts wear loose pants/trousers, but female gymnasts wear high cut suits. I go to the beach on the East Coast of the US and the bottom half of the suits worn by women, particularly young women, are almost always lots smaller than the suits worn by men. The situation with Beach Volleyball players suggests that is worldwide. As I see it, men's pants/trousers tend to be baggier than women's and the male suit jacket covers the backside of the wearer. So, people, at least in the US, have not grown used to seeing the revealed lower half of the male body to anywhere near the extent that they have grown used to seeing the revealed lower half of the female body. This is also the case with photographs in magazines, both in regard to articles and advertisements. I believe that if young men wore the swimsuits that male Olympic divers wear there would be fewer people put off by seeing male ballet dancers in tights. As to my statement “It seems to me that in most cases sports players wear loose fitting ‘modesty shorts’ or pants/trousers over any tight fitting garment” I was referring to tights instead of swimming suits. Tom,

Canbelto and On Point thank you for your comments. You told me things that I didn’t realize before. But as I wrote in my second comment I wasn’t as clear as I could be in the original question, “my basic point was why do the costumes of male ballet dancers many times clearly reveal the form of the part of the dancer’s body below the waist including his genitals?” It seems to me that in most cases sports players wear loose fitting “modesty shorts” or pants/trousers over any tight fitting garment. American football uniforms may be the closest, but even they are less “clingy” than ballet tights, at least, in the sense that the football uniforms don’t usually show the separation of the gluteus muscles. The issue for ballet is that many people, primarily in the US, seemingly are “put off” by seeing too much of the lower half of the male body. This article, by Kathy Valin, from Dance Magazine entitled “Fear of Men in Tights” supports that belief. It is mentioned in the article that Victoria Morgan, artistic director of the Cincinnati Ballet had heard a woman say “Oh, I am just so uncomfortable watching men in tights.” Ms. Morgan then commented that “I thought ‘Wow, I haven’t thought of it that way since I was a curious teenager.” And that “It’s a shame, but I feel there is a stigma attached to ballet in America that doesn't reflect the reality of the amazing physicality of today’s dancers. This makes it difficult to attract some audience members and boys for ballet companies.” Further, the article reports that Robert Weiss, a former Balanchine dancer, is presenting “accessible works in which men aren’t dressed in tights (or ballerinas in tutus) to first-time ballet goers.” Also, “Houston Ballet artistic director Stanton Welch points out that very often male dancers themselves, regardless of sexual orientation, have trouble with tights.” See here for article: https://www.dancemagazine.com/fear_of_men_in_tights-2306861124.html. When first becoming interested in watching ballet I was uncomfortable with seeing male dancers in tights, but in a short time, I began to see them as being attractive. Here are two of my favorite dance scenes with male dancers, both from the Nutcracker, but from different companies. The Waltz of the Flowers (8 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOC36Qjug4U and Misty Copeland and Sterling Baca dancing the Pas de Deux (6 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga994lIm96A. What is particularly interesting to me is that in the Waltz of the Flowers the women’s costumes are long Romantic style tutus which contrasts with the form revealing men’s tights. My answer now to the question “Why Tights” (without any looser modesty garment over them) would be that the revealed form of the male dancer’s body is attractive, at least to me. How many people agree that the revealed form of the male dancer’s body is attractive? Tom,

California, thank you for the reply and particularly for the links. I enjoyed reading both and learning about Nureyev. From what you wrote Nureyev would answer my question by saying tights allowed the dancer to better show off and lengthen his line and that wearing only tights showed off his legwork to better advantage. I enjoyed reading the New Yorker article, not only because of information on Nureyev, but also for information on Margot Fonteyn, so thank you again for that. Something similar is this: according to Bronislava Nijinska’s “Early Memoirs” (Chapter 34, Toward a New Life) Vaslav Nijinsky related that he was “. . . immediately dismissed from the Imperial Theatres for appearing in the presence of her Imperial Highness Maria Fedorovna in the ballet Giselle in an indecent and improper costume” and he was told if he apologized for his costume and asked to be reenlisted he would be given an increase in salary. Nijinsky replied they would have to apologize to him for him to consider returning. As he was already working with Diaghlev, Nijinsky left the Imperial Theatres. Some days later Vaslav was told by an official of the Imperial Court that the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna declared that she “. . . did not see anything indecent in Nijinsky’s costume.” There is a photograph in Nijinska’s Early Memoirs showing “Nijinsky wearing the traditional Imperial Theatres costume for Albrecht in Act I of Giselle in a studio photographic portrait posed in Paris, 1910. Nijinsky never wore this costume in a performance, though he appeared in it for rehearsals of Giselle with Anna Pavlova at the Maryinsky Theatre.” Link to photograph: https://www.schubertiademusic.com/items/details/16494-nijinsky-waslaw-%E2%80%93-original-postcard-photograph-in-giselle. As well as an image of a drawing of “The Benois costume that Nijinsky wore in the St. Petersburg performance on January 23, 1911, causing his dismissal from the Imperial Theatres.” Link to that image: https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200181847. The images are not directly from the book, but are the same as in the book. The quotes are from captions to the images in the book. Tom,

On Point, thank you for your reply however I was not as clear as I could have been in my original post. I wasn’t so concerned about tights as opposed to bare legs, but as tights as opposed to looser pants/trousers, as is worn by male dancers in some other dance forms and even in some ballets or modesty shorts with tights or long tunics with tights as were worn in the 19th century. My basic point was why do the costumes of male ballet dancers many times clearly reveal the form of the part of the dancer’s body below the waist including his genitals? For example, are such tights more comfortable, warmer or give a greater feeling of support than looser pants/trousers? Also, looser pants/trousers would also cover “Sweaty, hairy bare legs” and would “allow the costume designer to continue the line of the design” as well as tights. So, why do male ballet dancers many times wear such revealing tights instead of looser pants/trousers? As to your statement that “Tights on men have become so mainstream that I see guys jogging and even strolling down the street in them” I feel this is a positive change that I have not been aware of before. Tom,

A number of years ago a friend of mine asked me why ballet dancers wear tights. As I remember I feel she was asking more about the male dancers wearing tights than the female dancers. I sort of flippenly said “why not,” mainly because I wasn’t sure I could easily articulate my feelings on this. So, my question to the reader is why do ballet dancers and in particular male dancers wear tights? Tom,

Here is a video 1 1/2 minutes long of excerpts from a dance production of The Firebird, with what appears to be a male firebird. It was choreographed by Maurice Bejart of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UxWPhxuNt4. Here is a question: would people consider this to be ballet or another form of dance. In any case it is well performed. This next video, 4 minutes long, is of Oksana Baiul skating to the music “The Swan.” Basically she is performing the Dying Swan ballet, but on skates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZVsSoyMXdU. Tom,

Josephine Baker was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906. Most people may think of her as someone who danced in a banana skirt and who made funny faces. She did do that, but did so much more and because of what she has done in November she will receive the honor of being entered into Paris’ Pantheon mausoleum, an honor reserved for heroes of France. Josephine moved to Paris in the early 1920s where she performed in dance reviews. That was her start. She soon opened her own business, a night club named Chez Josephine, starred in multiple films, both silent and talkies, was a singer, was part of the civil rights movement in the United States and later in life adopted children from many parts of the world. Most pertinent to her upcoming honor and perhaps most surprising to many people is that after getting French citizenship she took on the dangerous job of working with the French resistance against the invading Nazis, with the rank of second lieutenant and thus helped defeat facsim. For this she was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Rosette de la Résistance. Here she sings one of my favorite pieces of music “La Vie en Rose” a song written by Edith Piaf (some minor nudity): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk5yn8q6GNM. Tom,

Imagine dancers portraying 24 birds arriving at a lake. Joining them a little later is another bird who appears to be their queen and with this queen is a young man who could be a prince. This young prince even follows the queen of the birds with his eyes as she lifts into the sky. It could be Germany by the Lake of the Swans with Odette and Siegfried but it isn’t, it is China and the birds are not swans, but Crested Ibis. The nice part is that Rothbart is nowhere to be seen. Here is the 11 minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEZrszAfNqE. Crested Ibis have all but gone extinct when 7 were found in Shaanxi Province, China and now the species is in recovery and even have been introduced into South Korea and Japan. Here is a short video, a little over one minute long, of the birds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr0ZQ0Bjo78. Tom,

There seems to me to be two versions of the ballet “Bolero,” one which is set in some type of tavern or cafe and in which there are more interactions between the main female dancer and the male dancers (I suspect that this is the original choreographed by Bronislava Nijiska) and the second which is more abstract, with simply a circle table that a woman dancers on and which the men dance around with little or no interaction between the woman and the men. I have also seen the second version with a man dancing in the middle and with men dancing around. A new take on this ballet could be to occasionally have a man dancing on the table surrounded by women as a gender switch. Also, could anyone tell me if the first version of “Bolero” as described above is the original choreographed by Bronislava. Tom,

It seems to me that various productions of The Sleeping Beauty assign various names and gifts to the fairies in the prolog. In Tchaikovski’s original score at the Tchaikovsky research website the names of the good fairies are given as: Candide, Coulante: The Fairy of Blooming Wheat, Breadcrumb, The Singing Canary, Violante and The Lilac Fairy. Most of these names give me only a vague if any idea of what the gift would be, but here is a website that gives an explanation for all of the names: https://expressionplatform.com/the-fairies-of-sleeping-beauty/. Candide (Candour) = Purity, honesty, sincerity and integrity Coulante: The Fairy of Blooming Wheat (Fleur de farine) = Beauty Breadcrumb (Miettes qui tombent) = Generosity Singing Canary = Lovely, melodious voice Violente (finger fairy) = Force, passion and temperament Lilac Fairy = Wisdom What is interesting is that Aurora never got the gift of wisdom. The website gives interesting, expanded explanations as to the connections between the names and the gifts and how they fit into Russian traditions. It also gives the names of the fairies from other productions of the ballet. In Perrsult’s story, the fairies are not given names and six of the young fairies give gifts of, beauty, wit, grace, dancing perfectly well, singing like a nightingale and to be able to play all kinds of music to the utmost perfection, while the seventh young fairy hid behind some hangings as she correctly suspects the old fairy is going do some harm. Tom,

Diane, thank you for your kind comment that this information is “Intriguing!” and with an exclamation mark even. Also thank you Cuban and Volcano for your helpful information. I agree that the Ogre and boys is a weird number. According to the original score for the ballet, there are 558 bars of music between the start of Puss-in-Boots and the White Cat to the end of Tom Thumb. Of that a total of 228 (41%) is for Cinderella and her Prince, 75 bars (13%) for Tom Thumb, 68 bars (12%) for Little Red Riding Hood, 44 bars (8%) for Puss-in-Boots and the White Cat and 25 bars (5%) for the Blue Bird and Princess Florine. In addition there is a total of 118 bars (21%) for Adagio and Coda under Pas de quatre. I’m guessing that all four - Cinderella, her Prince, The BlueBird and Princess Florine dance together during those two sections. This means that Cinderella and her Prince were originally given the most dance time and the BlueBird and Princess Florine - which it seems to me now get the most - had relatively little dance time, particularly by themselves. In Bronislava Nijinska’s Early Memoirs there is a short chapter entitled “Nijinsky Dances the Blue Bird” (chapter 24, pages 207 to 210). It was pointed out that prior to Nijinsky dancing the role “Only the large rigid wings mounted on a wire frame served to identify the character as a bird.” These “. . . large wings extended upwards from the shoulder in a curved shape and covered the arms and hands.” The dancer also wore an “elaborate full-skirted coat.” It was further noted that “In the original costume a dancer could only perform the pas with his legs; his body was encumbered by the large rigid wings.” However, Nijinsky changed this. “The birdlike wings were part of his dancing body; his arms did not bend at the elbow, but the movement as in the wing of a bird was generated in the shoulder; the movements of the dancing body were the movements of a bird in fight.” According to this chapter “Nijinsky had created a whole new theatrical image of the Blue Bird.” This performance was in 1907. Nijinsky’s re-interpretation of this dance may have been the spark that shifted the emphasis from Cinderella to the Blue Bird. So, it may be the case that it wasn’t only that the Cinderella music was removed, but also some of Cinderella's music may have gone to the Blue Bird. I feel a similarity between the dance of the Blue Bird and that of the Spirit of the Rose, which Nijinsky originated. Tom,

As perhaps all people on this website know Tchakovski’s 1889 ballet “The Sleeping Beauty” was taken from Charles Perrsult’s 1693 fairy-tale “La belle au bois dormant” (“The Sleeping beauty In The Woods.”) In addition, according to the Tchaikovsky research website - see here: https://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/The_Sleeping_Beauty, there are characters from six other fairy-tales entertaining the wedding guests during the third act. These tales are “Le Maistre Chat, ou le Chat Botté” (“The Master Cat or Puss-in-Boots”), “La chat blanc” (“The White Cat”), “Cendrillon, ou la petite pantoufle de verre,” (“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper”), “L’oiseau bleu,” (“The Blue Bird”), “Le petit chaperon rouge,” (“Little Red Riding Hood”) and “Le petit Pouçet” (Little Thumb). Note that Puss-in Boots and the White Car are from two different tales. The two that particularly interest me are “The White Cat” and “The Blue Bird.” They were both written by Madame d’Aulnoy (Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, baronne d’Aulnoy). She was born in the Normandy region of France in 1652. I’ve read both stories, “The White Cat” more recently and “The Blue Bird” years ago. The part of the story of “The Blue Bird” which inspired the pas from the ballet is in the first half of the fairy-tale. During the second half of the tale Princess Florine goes on an extended and difficult journey to find and save her prince. While it appears at the beginning of the “White Cat” that the story will be about a prince, a female character quickly becomes the protagonist. So, in both stories female characters are given important roles and in “The White Cat” the most important role. The other four tales were written by Perrsult. Two dances that are often removed from performances are Cinderella and her Prince and Tom Thumb, his Brothers and the Ogre. Here are videos featuring these dances. “Cinderella and Prince Fortura” (2 ½ minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACZvARLazfs and Tom Thumb, his Brothers and the Ogre (2 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w_anN-sMi4. In the story the Tom Thumb character steals the Ogre’s Seven-League Boots. Tom,

This link goes to a webpage entitled “6 female choreographers you might not know” (https://www.lafabriquedeladanse.fr/2018/evenements/6-femmes-choregraphes-que-vous-ne-connaissez-peut-etre-pas/). (If you have trouble using the linke kindly let me know.) The page is in French, but can be translated into English, although some meaning may be lost in the translation. For example in the first paragraph is the line “Les critiques de journaux (eux aussi des hommes) consacraient des colonnes entières pour un danseur, contre quelques lignes pour une danseuse,” but the English is “The newspaper critics (also male) devoted entire columns to a dancer, against a few lines for a dancer.” The female choreographers are: Françoise Prévost, b. 1680, Marie Sallé, b. 1707 Marie Taglioni, b. 1804 Mariquita, b. 1840 Madame Stichel, b. 1856 Bronislava Nijinska, b. 1891 Particularly of interest is this in the entry on Marie Taglioni, “Coming from a family of dancers and choreographers, we realize that in addition to being a magnificent first dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet, Marie Taglioni most certainly co-choreographed with her father Filippo Taglioni. We can cite in particular the creation of La Sylphide in these speculations…” In addition the dancer also choreographed “Le Papillon” for Emma Livry who was Marie Taglioni’s pupil. Françoise Prévost choreographed her own dances in the ballet “Les Caractères de la danse” described as “a ballet presenting itself as a small study of movement with a series of fast, slow, cheerful, lively, graceful noble dances.” The Oxford Reference website states that in this work Françoise Prévost “. . . danced and mimed the parts of eleven different lovers, both male and female,” see here: https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100344443. Tom,

Dirac, thank you for your kind reply. Tom,

I’m interested in women who are in decision making positions in ballet, which is why I read Bronislava Nijinska’s Early Memoirs and posted about it. Recently I have been researching Marie Sallé and having found information I decided to write this post. However, in regard to the history of ballet I am an amateur, so I don’t claim that I know more about this subject than others on this website. Actually I am hoping that others would be able to add to this post so I can learn more. I seem to remember that there is a thread on “women in ballet,” but I can’t find it now. I also searched for information on Marie Sallé, but did not find anything. If someone could help me locate that information I would appreciate it. Born in 1707 Marie Sallé is described as the first woman to choreograph a ballet in which she danced. She choreographed the ballet “Pygmalion” in which she danced the role of Galatea. This work premiered at Covent Gardens in London on February 4, 1734. The following is a contemporary description of the action of the ballet: “‘Pygmalion enters his studio accompanied by his sculptors, who execute a characteristic dance, mallet and chisel in hand. Pygmalion bids them throw open the back of the studio which, like the forepart, is adorned with statues. One in the middle stands out above all the others and attracts the admiration of everyone. Pygmalion examines it, considers it, and sighs. He puts his hands on the feet, then on the body; he examines all the contours, likewise the arms, which he adorns with precious bracelets. He places a rich necklace around the neck and kisses the hands of his beloved statue. At last he becomes enraptured with it; he displays signs of unrest and falls into a reverie, then prays to Venus and beseeches her to endow the marble with life. “Venus heeds his prayer; three rays of light appear, and, to the surprise of Pygmalion and his followers, the statue, to suitable music, gradually emerges from its insensibility; she expresses astonishment at her new existence and at all the objects which surround her. “Pygmalion, amazed and transported, holds out his hand for her to step from her position; she tests the ground, as it were, and gradually steps into the most elegant poses that a sculptor could desire. Pygmalion dances in front of her as if to teach her to dance. She repeats after him the simplest as well as the most difficult and complicated steps; he endeavours to inspire her with the love which he feels, and succeeds.’” The above was published in the Mercure de France for April 1734. See https://danceinhistory.com/tag/marie-salle/, under the heading “The First Ballet at Covent Garden” near the bottom of a long article. According to another article (see here: https://londonhuawiki.wpi.edu/index.php/Marie_Sall%C3%A9) “She [Marie Sallé] has dared to appear in this entree [Pygmalion] without pannier, skirt or bodice and with her hair down, she did not wear a single ornament on her head. Apart from her corset and petticoat she wore only a simple dress of muslin draped about her in the manner of a Greek statue.” Panniers were hoops worn in order to extend a women’s gown at the sides during the 18th century. Also, the corset that she wore may not have been like the ones worn during the late 19th century. The word “corset” comes from the French and means small body (cors = body), so it was a garment that was smaller than the stays worn at the time. Also, it would not have been as tightly laced since the eyelets through which the laces went were sewn and not made of steel as later was the case. It appears to me that a bodice would have referred to stays which would have been fully boned and laced up. The following information on Marie Sallé can be found at this link: https://peoplepill.com/people/marie-salle. “As a choreographer she [Marie Sallé] integrated music, costumes, and dance styles of her ballets with their themes, thereby anticipating the reforms made by choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre in the late 18th century. She argued that costumes should reflect and represent the character, a novel idea at the time. This engendered a sense of ‘realism’ that had been largely ignored up to this point in the evolution of ballet and also allowed for greater physical freedom among the female dancers, especially, allowing them more opportunities without the restrictions of unwieldy and elaborate clothing on stage. She changed the costume from heavy long dress to muslin flowing material which caused shock and delight. She often performed without a skirt or bodice(sans-panniers), rebelling against the traditional costume and accepted gender norms of a very regimented era. She also worked in collaboration with composers such as George Handel and Christoph Gluck, commissioning compositions from them for her choreography, which helped to garner more respect for ballet as its own distinct art form.” Tom,

Diane, thank you for your positive comment. I like to know who reads my posts and if the links are of any use. Tom,

Here is a short video from BBC News about the restoration of Anna Pavlova’s “Dying Swan” tutu by the Museum of London: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-london-56613921. I seem to remember reading various dates for the premiere of “The Dying Swan” ranging from 1905 to 1908. This article gives the date as 1907. Does anyone know the actual date? Tom,

One of two things I like about the tale of “Prince Hlini and Signy” is that it switches the gender roles, with the male being the helpless one (the “damsel” in distress) and the female, Signy, being the one who saves him. The other is that the most active characters, the ones that move the story along, are all female - Signy and the two Giantesses. While the prince does some things it is only at the direction of Signy. Also, Signy did not have to marry the prince to be rewarded. She married him because she wanted to and I surmised it was because he was so beautiful. I pointed out that the story could still be called “Sleeping Beauty” because a male can be beautiful. This does not mean that the story of the ballet “The Sleeping Beauty” does not have strong, active female characters. The two most active characters in the ballet are the Lilac Fairy and Carabosse. They are the ones who move the story along. In the prolog the Lilac Fairy counters Carabosse’s curse; in the first act she puts all to sleep, in the second act she brings the Prince to Aurora's bed and she is the guest of honor in the third act. This also is the case in the Disney movie “Sleeping Beauty.” Aurora/Briar Rose is very passive, but it is the three good fairies that actively save her and bring the prince to her. The good fairies also fight the evil fairy. Here is a short video (4 minute) - a spoof on the Disney movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k8ZbajJ6bs. Tom,