canbelto

All I have to say is, !!!

Katia Gordeeva turned to figure skating after she unsuccessfully tried out for the Bolshoi Ballet academy (where her father was a dancer I believe). Diana Vishneva started out in figure skating.

What I love so much about the book is that Kavanagh paints such a vivid picture of the people in Nureyev's life. I think I almost got more insight about Margot Fonteyn from reading this book than I did from the entire Daneman bio. But other people really come alive too -- Erik Bruhn, Frederick Ashton, Ninel Kurgapkina, Teva Kremke, Alexander Pushkin and his wife Xenia, the Goslings, Lincoln Kirstein, Mr. B, etc. I am just jealous of Kavanagh -- researching Nureyev's life must have been so fascinating. And that's another plus about Kavanagh. She gives the impression that she really enjoyed writing about Nureyev.

My jaw dropped to the floor when I read that the 1958 Moscow Competition's winners were Rudolf Nureyev and Alla Sizova, but Yuri Soloviev, Ekaterina Maximova, Vladimir Vasiliev, and Natalia Makarova were also given gold medals. The 1950s had IMO maybe the greatest bumper crop of Russian dancers since the early 1900s, when no-namers like Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina and Vaslav Nijinsky graced the MT stage ...

I'm reading it right now and can't put it down. I've gone through over 200 pages in less than 24 hours. I think this will be the definitive biography. I particularly like Kavanagh's painstakingly researched account of the Russian years, and the letters from Bruhn to Nureyev. Authors had always spoken about the "love affair" but it never took shape for me until I started reading the biography. Lines like "Forgive me if I did not help enough. I hate to see you upset; it hurts you, and it hurts me" all of a sudden made their love very believable and human. *And reading this book makes me, again, long for a biography about Bruhn.*

Watching Anna Pavlova's Dying Swan is truly spooky. Even by today's standards she's thin, but moreover, her limbs have that super-tapered look that make her seem ethereal, even ghostly. Especially her arms, with those thin wrists that make her hands seem as if they would dissolve in air. Her big floppy flat tutu, that looks so different from the more "modest" tutus of her time, was obviously designed to show off her legs, which could give Uliana Lopatkina a run for her money. Her face, like Plisetskaya's, has those sharp features that are more soulful and haunting than conventionally beautiful. The patriotic would call it a "Russian" soul. But most of all, I watch it and I see the greatness of the Mariinsky tradition. Because her port-te-bras, so elegant and delicate, is still there in Kirov ballerinas and corps de ballet, over a century later. I saw it myself when I saw the Kirov in Swan Lake. Her back, so pliant as to seem completely boneless, is still a part of the Russian tradition. Her bourree is, as one critic said, "like pearls." Critics might still sniffle at the piece. Even in her time, the more avant-garde (like Karsavina, Fokine, and Diaghilev) thought Anna Pavlova was old-fashioned. But it seems as if 100 years later, ballerinas all over the world are still trying to look and dance like Anna Pavlova. Every time I see a Giselle, Bayadere, or Dying Swan, I can picture the haunting effect she first had on the audiences. It's available on YouTube. Search for "anna pavlova dying swan."

Oh no I'm not blaming Hughes. I'm just saying that it must have been horrible to carry around that guilt his entire life. Judging by "Birthday Letters" and some other poems that guilt never left him.

Reminds me of a poem he wrote later in life, in which he goes to the underworld, Orpheus-like, and sees Sylvia. And she tells him (in the poem), "This time, don't fail me."

Back to Giselles, VAI recently released something called "The Bolshoi Ballet" which is a film of the Bolshoi's wildly successful tour in 1956. Included is a truncated (1 hour) "Giselle" with Galina Ulanova. Some of Giselle's best dancing is cut (the Spessivtseva solo, Giselle's first encounter with Myrtha, the beautiful first duet with Albrecht in which her spirit touches him for the first time) but it's still the only video document we have of Ulanova's legendary Giselle.

I can just imagine Mr. B's reaction to a huge, 600+ page biography about him. "My oh my. Just the events, dear."

How about Kenneth MacMillan, John Cranko, and Yuri Grigorivich? All were controversial but important choreographers. In Grigorivich's case, his iron rule over the Bolshoi is also a goldmine waiting to be plundered.

Yes but the real drama behind Spessivtseva's story has never been told, I don't think. We've heard bits and pieces (an affair with a KGB officer, a bitter rivalry with Lifar at the Paris Opera Ballet, numerous clashes with ballerinas, and even speculation that she might have been a spy. And I do wonder why there hasn't been a comprehensive biography of Balanchine even though there have been three(!!!) of Jerome Robbins. The people who worked with Balanchine are aging and now is probably the time to catch their stories.

Oops didn't see the Money biography of Pavlova. I agree about Petipa. Also, Mikhail Fokine.

The biographies of Jerome Robbins make me long for a biography about Tanny LeClercq. What a fascinating, strong-willed woman, who held a life-long spell over Robbins. I loved simply reading the letters between Tanny and Robbins.

Julie Kavanagh's comprehensive biography of Nureyev, the THREE biographies of Jerome Robbins, plus Daneman's of Fonteyn, led me to thinking who in the ballet world needs a real biography, in the tradition of Buckle's biography of Nijinsky, the recent biography of Kschessinska, and the like. I'd also add Suzanne Farrell and Tamara Karsavina's autobiographies to the list. But who needs a real biography? I've got some ideas: 1. Ninette di Valois - fearsome, indomitable. Many of the people who knew her are still alive, from the lovers to the haters. 2. Anna Pavlova - no comprehensive biography of this legendary dancer, who also had an incredible life. Hard to believe. 3. Olga Spessivtseva - What a book this would make. The ill-fated affair with the KGB agent. The drama at the POB. The tragic mental breakdown. 4. Yuri Soloviev - another tragic life that I'd love to read about. Again, many of the people who danced with him are still alive, maybe they can shed some light on his incredible career, and why he put a bullet through his head. 5. Erik Bruhn - The golden boy of ballet, but one who apparently battled a lot of personal demons. That's all I can think of for now. Anyone got any more ideas?

The best advice I can give about the Fracci/Nureyev Giselle is: don't get it. It's a sad document of two declining dancers. The production values are shoddy. Fracci's dancing has become leaden -- she fails in the hyperexposed moments of the second act. Nureyev too looks exhausted and his dancing has become sloppy. Both of them milk the applause -- Nureyev at one point gets up off the ground to take a bow, and then collapses again. But compared to their earlier films (Fracci's film with Bruhn, Nureyev's film with Seymour and the clips of him dancing with Fonteyn) this performance is very disappointing.

It's not necessarily true. Mathilde Kschessinska, Galina Ulanova, Irina Kolpakova, Natalia Makarova, Svetlana Zakharova, Sylvie Guillem, Alina Cojocaru, Gillian Murphy, Svetlana Lunkina are the ballerinas that I can name off the top of my head with not-large (if not downright small) eyes.

I really think close-ups sometimes hurt the White Swan pdd. In the recent POB video Jose Martinez was shown grinning widely during the pdd, and it ruined the whole thing for me. The White Swan pdd is one of those pieces where honestly I'd like there to be as little overt facial expression as possible. The choreography speaks for itself. I especially love the final penchee that's standard nowadays. The best ballerinas can give that final movement such stillness and tranquility, as if to say, "I've told my story."

I think of a "lyrical" dancer like porn: I can't describe it, but I know it when I see it. The most lyrical dancers I've seen live have been Alina Cojocaru and Alessandra Ferri.

Plus, she came from a family of dancers. Her father was a dancer, as was her brother I believe.

I love the "pot above the head" variation in La Bayadere.

The biography, "Imperial Dancer" is excellent. Gives a very full picture of Mathilde's life, from her days as the Czar's mistress to her eeking out a humble living as mistress of a ballet school. One thing that was great about Mathilde: apparently, she never complained. She accepted her misfortunes with grace and tenacity. By the way, one anecdote about Mathilde that I loved: even though "Mala" was known as a kind, nurturing teacher, beloved by her students, you get a hint of the "Russian way" of teaching from Mala. When a student complained that a step sequence was hurting her and made her feet bleed, Mala ordered her to repeat it 12 more times.

To give an idea of Kschessinska's life, I found this picture of her mansion before the Revolution. I also found this rather unballerina-like picture of Mathilde dancing something by Petipa: Mathilde is shorts? As for Mathilde's weight, Tamara Karsavina said that Mathilde would party and dine lavishly, but when it came time to perform, she put herself on a fanatically strict diet, eating no lunch and drinking no water.

I know when she was pregnant, she coached Anna Pavlova in the role of Nikya. Pavlova was considered technically "weak" with her wafer-thin legs and arms and arched feet. Mathilde was sure Pavlova was going to be a great failure. Instead, audiences were enchanted by Pavlova's frail look and ethereal style. As you can see from this picture, Pavlova doesn't really look very different from today's Nikyas. I also know that Mathilde danced Giselle only once, when she was 40, and it was not considered a great success. Aurora and Esmeralda, however, were considered "her" roles.

Here's a picture of the very young Margot Fonteyn in Giselle. Of the productions I've seen I really like the Kirov and POB Giselle dresses. Nice, simple blue dresses with a bit of blue trim on the skirt. I think the Bolshoi dresses look too glamorous, with the billowy yellow skirts and the maroon tops. It also depends on the dancer. I think Lynn Seymour looks fitting in the plain brown Royal dress because I think of her as a rather earthy dancer. But when Alina Cojocaru is in the same dress, it doesn't feel right. I think Alina belongs in a daintier, frillier dress. Weird huh?