canbelto

I remember watching as a teen. I think I was really captivated by the villain Roger Thorpe. Sherry Springfield, who later played Susan Lewis on ER, played Roger's daughter Blake. Roger was in a long-term love/hate relationship with Holly (Maureen Garrett).

Corella is an uneven dancer and an uneven partner, but I think saying he's an embarrassment is a bit harsh. For whatever reason I've seen lots of "uhoh" moments in the Don Q pdd. I saw Fadeev almost drop Vishneva during a series of supported pirouettes. And then of course Fadeev got injured during the Don Q run with Tereshkina as his partner. I've seen dropped fans, fouettes that just seemed to stop dead in the tracks, and so on and so forth. I think in this case the audience expects all the tricks in the book and when the dancers feel the pressure they make mistakes.

So glad to hear Marcelo and Diana had a great success! Up to a meeting at the ABT in the spring (hope they are cast together). Natalia, is that Oksana Skorik the same Oksana of "A Beautiful Tragedy"? If so I'm so happy that she got the last laugh over her classmates and teachers who picked on her so much.

Great news! *Adds to my must-get collection*

who does Kurgapkina coach now?

Tamara Karsavina and Anna Pavlova. I'm surprised they haven't been mentioned. Tanny LeClercq is another very glamorous star from the past.

I also hate to say it but ... Yvonne Borree. I've never seen her give a good performance, and I've seen her god knows how many times.

Allegra Kent in her book mentions the resentment she received from the NYCB staff when Mr. B kept her on the roster even when she wasn't dancing more than once or twice a season. Edward Villela also says in his book how much he appreciated being kept on the NYCB roster when he had career-ending injuries. Funny, back then it was called loyalty.

Wonderful review. I have to think that maybe the partnership of Gomes and Part contributes to her performances. I saw her as O/O with Hallberg as Siegfried and while lovely at moments, i have to admit that it was not that exciting of a performance. A few weeks later, Part and Gomes together in Bayadere - magical. The Shades act was absolutely unforgettable, and their duets were interrupted by a long, loud ovation. I'm so happy for Part's success.

Having seen the R&J in the house (with Hyltin, I believe) I think this is a ballet that ironically might work better on TV. In the theater the ugly set-piece decor, and the sparsely populated "crowd scenes" were a real distraction. It didn't look like my vision of Romeo and Juliet. But on TV these things would probably be less obvious.

I'm not sure this qualifies as "tragic end" but Erik Bruhn certainly did not lead a very happy life, despite his professional success.

I too really enjoyed the story of Balanchine losing it at Robbins. It sounded like a very funny moment. "All you do is COMPLAIN COMPLAIN COMPLAIN .." I also liked seeing some of the lesser known dancers being interviewed, like Maria Calegari and Bart Cook. But as always it's amazing how beautiful and elegant former dancers remain long after retirement isn't it? As for Robbins testifying for the HUAC, my grandfather was once in a position where in order to further his career he needed to do turn in friends and random innocent people. Not in the U.S., but in another country, another regime, but the point is he refused to cooperate at a great cost to him personally and professionally. So I admit I have very little sympathy for Robbins in this regard. I'm not condemning him as a bad person, but the documentary i thought almost made us feel like we were supposed to pity him for being "forced" to testify. It's true that Ed Sullivan's actions were disgusting, but Robbins not only testified, he gave names, which he did not have to do. Whatever happened to pleading the fifth? So on this, no, i don't feel sorry for him. I thought overall this was a very good documentary, and gave us a real feel for how Robbins was as a person and choreographer. I would have liked to see more dancing clips but isn't that always the case?

Gerdt partnered but by 1895 he was over 50 years old and needed "help." But point is seems that the pas de trois was turned into a pas de deux rather quickly at the Mariinsky with different dancers. If you want a good idea of how the Swan Lake pdd probably looked in 1895, there's a video with Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes that has Benno in the pas de deux and the pas de deux ends with the lunge into Benno' arms. Oops actually you can see it here:

The pas de deux wouldn't necessarily have to turn back into a pas de trois with Benno though in a "reconstruction." As early as 1897 Nikolas Legat was dancing Siegfried without a Benno because unlike Pavel Gerdt he was a strong male partner. I do wonder how modern audiences would accept changes to the pas de deux like deleting the final penchee or some of the now-standard overhead lifts.

I didn't know she was still dancing.

I agree! With her dark hair and petite stature Vishneva makes a natural gypsy. I could see her rocking the house with the tambourine variation and then breaking our hearts with the pas de six. Other ballerinas I could see making a splash in the part are Natalia Osipova or Tamara Rojo. Natalia, any reason why the Maly dumped Esmeralda? I would think this is an ideal ballet a smaller company like the Maly/Mikhailovsky could dance, as it probably wouldn't require a huge corps de ballet and could show off character dancing and mime.

I'd like a revival of Esmeralda. I know technically the ballet is still danced by the Maly but I'd like to see a major company do it. It was a great vehicle for Kschessinskaya, who apparently used to cry as she danced for the Czar ... while her two grand dukes sat in the box with him. The Esmeralda pas de six is one of my favorite numbers, while the pas de deux is still popular in galas.

I definitely recommend seeing Marcelo Gomes in anything. I think he's the best male dancer the ABT has. I hope he makes a successful debut at the Mariinsky Festival and gets the international fame he so deserves.

If you look at Osipova's website you'll definitely see some pictures where the arch enhancer is obvious. I read an interview with Altynai Asylmuratova in which she said she wanted all the girls at the Vaganova School to have feet as pretty as the girls at the Paris Opera school. I would hate to think that schools such as the POB and Vaganova are rejecting girls simply because of a lack of banana arches, considering how many great dancers have had less than ideal feet.

Here is a video of Zenaida Yanowsky which has many many closeups of her arch-enhanced feet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytFdZYwAQVw I agree with carbro that especially with those dancers without much of an arch in their soles, it just looks like a huge bunion or bandage in the middle of the foot. I just wonder if ballet companies are now encouraging dancers to wear them.

I think that it just looks bulky, especially when the foot isn't pointed. Zenaida Yanowsky and these Bolshoi ballerinas also seem to be wearing them.

What do people think of arch enhancers? I didn't even know they existed but I guess they are worn to give the illusion of extremely arched feet for dancers who aren't Svetlana Zakharova or Sylvie Guillem. Since then I've started to look for them and I see that Natalia Osipova, among others, seems to wear them. They're the most obvious at her website on the very first photo in the "Giselle2" gallery, but they can also be seen here. Personally, I think it's kind of sad that ballet now has such high standards of appearance that dancers wear these bulky pads. I can't imagine them being very comfortable, and I'm sure Osipova's feet would look fine without them. Are these becoming more and more common among professional dancers?

Audrey Hepburn was originally a ballerina but quit due to her height (which was unusually tall at the time). But she carried the ballerina grace with her for the rest of her life.

Diana's website which is usually very reliable has no mention of her dancing Beauty in Motion. Take it for what it's worth.

There is also the undeniable appeal of an artist who knows his worth and tries to make a direct connection with the audience. Maybe the best example is Marcelo Gomes. He's not smug, but whenever he steps onstage he exudes confidence and takes the audience along for a magical ride. He also seems to infuse confidence in his partners. For instance I saw a Bayadere in which Veronika Part actually seemed to grow AS A DANCER during the ballet. By the end of the Shades scene the two were dancing as one.