Marga

I've been warned! I just bought this video as a VHS tape on ebay a few days ago. At least now I won't be ranting at the TV screen as much while I'm watching it, especially when I see what they've done to my beloved peasant pas de deux. Misery loves company.....

Ballerinas with soft pointe shoes suffer the agony of defeat.

Okay, I found the original posting of this photo. It is indeed Faye Arthurs, as identified by BT poster oberon: New York Magazine Fashion shoot of NYCB dancers She is wearing over $3000 worth of clothing!:

Cliff, that's a stretch done as part of barre (and sometimes centre) exercises. It stretches the instep of the foot. harpergroup, I'm sure you're right. Checking Faye Arthurs' pic on her dancer bio at the NYCB website, it looks like her. Gilliland would not have been in this group of older dancers anyway, I don't think. I never get to see NYCB anymore, so my impressions are gleaned from the internet and video clips. I've never seen Faye Arthurs dance.

I think that is Kaitlyn Gilliland, an apprentice. Here's a good picture of her for comparison (scroll down): Katilyn Gilliland

I can't answer your question, but remember that some of those pictures have shown up on BT before and the dancers were identified then. I don't know what words to use to do a search, though. I found another page of ballet pics on the same site, of students at the School of American Ballet: SAB pics

Thank you for pointing us to those pictures and bio of Osipova, drb. We saw her in New York and she really made her mark! My daughter's friend (who went to Moscow for 2 years from our studio in Toronto) was Osipova's friend in Leonova's class -- they graduated together -- and spoke of how amazing she was. I am looking forward to watching her rise through the ranks.

Thank you so much, carbro, for bringing this transcript to our attention! What an interesting, reminiscing, discussion. To me, Aureole remains one of the most beautiful pieces ever choreographed. I wish Dan Wagoner had been there to add his comments.

My daughter and I are friends with a corps de ballet dancer at ENB. She started there 2 years ago. Her salary for one week is more than what my daughter earned in a month with the Estonian National Ballet, which equaled around $600 Canadian. The starting pay at ENB is excellent and there is extra remuneration on top of it, like allowances given while on tour. By contrast, another friend of ours danced with Universal Ballet for 3 years, from 2000. She was paid about $250 U.S./week.

There is much that goes on behind the scenes that we cannot discuss in this forum (because of our important rule of no gossip). Some of your questions cannot be answered adequately as there are no published sources of information on subjects like the "real reason" someone was fired, or not given much opportunity to dance. So much of it is within the realm of human nature and personal relationships.

This is sad news indeed. I was there when he first began at NYCB, a thin young man with a boyish face, who walked onto the stage to his piano with such charm in his (then, as a newbie) quiet manner. I so enjoyed it when he was part of the program! I've only seen him on video since, but his unique nature was evident, even on tape. He was a dynamic pianist. I wish I had seen him conduct. God be with his soul!

When I first saw Dudinskaja as the Black Swan on that tape, I mentioned the incredible speed to my daughter's ballet teacher, a graduate of the Vaganova Academy. She told me that Dudinskaja's turns were for real, that she was a dizzyingly fast turner.

Cupid (Amor) -- Don Q (same variation in Paquita, done without the "hushing" finger) Dulcinea -- Don Q First shade -- La Bayadère Third shade -- La Bayadère Peasant, version with attitude pliés -- Giselle Canary fairy -- Sleeping Beauty Kitri w/fan , part of Grand Pas de Deux-- Don Q Lise -- La Fille Mal Gardée Third Odalisque -- Le Corsaire Aurora, First Act, ending with backward diagonal w/pirouettes -- Sleeping Beauty Most variations -- Paquita

The shortest principal dancer is Megan Fairchild, at 5'3½". She states her height as such on the discount dance supply site, where she was a dancewear model.

I'm 5'4" and Wendy Whelan has walked toward me and past me on many occasions over the years as I waited for my daughter at Steps. She's definitely taller than I am! I know from your posts that you train at Steps, so I'm not doubting your perception, either, but perceptions are just that: what we observe from our point of view. From my point of view, I have to look up to look Wendy Whelan in the eye!I did a little googling and found the following observation of Wendy Whelan's height. Julio Bocca is short, but not so short that, were Whelan 5'4", she would stand, on flat, a "good half-head" taller than him. Eric Taub review

Principals and soloists at ABT and NYCB are and have been of widely varying heights. There is no typical height. NYCB: In the days of Balanchine (one "l", not two), for example, principal dancers Suki Shorer (5'1"), Allegra Kent (about 5'3"), Suzanne Farrell (5'7"), and Gloria Govrin (5'9") danced at the same time. Male dancers from the same era, Edward Villella and Jacques d'Amboise are short and tall, respectively. These days one of the tallest males is Charles Askegard, Joaquin De Luz one of the shortest. Megan Fairchild, shorter side, Wendy Whelan and Darci Kistler, tall. The other principals and soloists are all different sizes. Several new corps de ballet dancers are as short as Suki Shorer. ABT: Xiomara Reyes, Erica Cornejo, Herman Cornejo: short Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg, Michele Wiles, Gillian Murphy: tall Ethan Stiefel, Angel Corella, and Julie Kent, for examples of the middle of the road, are of medium height. A few ABT dancers of the 1980's: Natalia Makarova and Gelsey Kirkland: short; Martine van Hamel and Cynthia Gregory: tall Fernando Bujones, Mikhail Baryshnikov: short; Kevin McKenzie: tall; Patrick Bissell: very tall And spanning the 1980's to the present, Alessandra Ferri: short; Julio Bocca: short Would you like some more examples? You seem to be doing a comparative study of some kind, judging by the kinds of posts you make. Is it purely for personal reasons or are you writing some kind of interesting thesis on the comparison of ballet dancers, and, if so, what is your thesis statement, if I may be so bold as to ask?

These are lovely additions to your gallery, Marc! Thank you for taking such stunning photos. What would we do without you? Your own sense of aesthetics is wonderfully complemented by the beauty you photograph.

Thank you very much! I am of the right age to have been a hippie, but never embraced the culture and did not become versed in much of the lingo!

Okay, so you two made me google Squat, the goddess of parking. I had never heard of such a thing before! It seems to be connected to paganism. If that is true, I'd be afraid to use the term, lest I be thought to know more about such practices. But if it is a free range idiom, I can't wait to use it! Please elucidate for a moment. Sorry to veer this thread off-topic, but I just have to know!

Erica Cornejo.

I have done business with Deirdre's mother, who is a seller on ebay. When I asked about Deirdre two years ago, her mother replied that she lives in England.

Maria Tallchief's father, Alexander Joseph Tall Chief, was an Osage Indian tribal chief.

Charlotte d'Amboise, Jacques d'Amboise's and Carolyn George's daughter, as well as Christopher d'Amboise's sister, is a Broadway star and sometime TV actor.

Hans, I wouldn't dismiss what I said so readily. After seeing my share of DD studios over the last 45 years or so, usually by perusing their signs and posted literature on their storefront windows, or seeing the odd recital (pun intended) I'd say it's both. Many are in an arrested stage of ballet development.

....."toe dancing" in those days was a very common expression even among dancers, used to distinguish ballet danced on point from ballet..... Anyone else have an insight into this? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> bart, that comment stood out for me, too. In the late 50s and early to mid 60s when I was studying at a very reputable school it was still called "toe" -- and the shoes were toe shoes and advertised as such in Dance Magazine. It's a term that has simply evolved -- as language does -- to the present "pointe". I suppose now it is considered a Dolly Dinklish way to say it.