Gina Ness

Thanks, Mme. Hermine! For anyone who can access this film, I highly recommend it as I've seen them perform most of these ballets and excerpts. Galina was a fabulous dancer! Their partnership was very special...

My recent viewing of the Kirov's "Rose Adagio" had the ballerina's tutu flopping completely over her head on the "pique arabesque roll down penchees" down the diagonal with her princes....I've never seen anything so silly...

Tamara Statkoun, who is "Juliet" in Children of Theatre Street, is staging "Paquita" for our ballet school in Santa Rosa, CA. Ms. Statkoun is a wonderful teacher, and it is fortunate for the dancers of the north bay of the San Francisco Bay Area that she is teaching here... P.S. Solor...the Panovs (Valery and Galina) often danced Harlequinade when they guested with SFB in the 70s. Valery was fabulous in this role. I wish there was a DVD of this amazing couple in this pas de deux...

I completely agree, canbelto...That's exactly how I felt... P.S. I also could not help thinking that, given what happened on the ice, this really could have been Michelle Kwan's year had she not been injured...

Nice article in the Denver Post on Gil Boggs...He sounds like a great guy who will bring positive energy along with expertise and experience to the company. I saw Mr. Boggs dance Mercutio in ABT's "Romeo and Juliet" (MacMillan) and I thought he was terrific in the role. I worked years ago with Martin Fredmann at SFB in the 70s and always thought him a talented and very nice man...

Somehow, I've always thought of the Royal Ballet's Michael Somes as a "danseur noble"...

Dick Button...

It's not always the dancer's choice. We were asked to pancake our shoes by artistic management...

I am so impressed with Johnny Weir's skate...beautiful...He has the perfect physique for skating. He is very graceful and possesses excellent line. A dancer on ice! And, a male swan...a masculine male swan...graceful and powerful. I really enjoyed his choreography for the short program. I haven't watched a lot of skating in the past couple of years and wasn't up on the new talent out there. But, I will certainly keep my eye on this talented young skater.

The most spectacular fall I ever witnessed happened to Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell. They were the guest artists for Alan Howard's Pacific Ballet in San Francisco circa 1971. I was dancing with Pacific Ballet at that time and was watching our fabulous guest artists from the wings. Ashton's "Thais" pas de deux....the part when Dowell press lifts Sibley aloft with two arms directly over his head...she is "sitting" in his hands with her legs crossed in an almost meditative position, her arms held aloft in an East Indian pose... As he lifts her fully aloft, he lost his balance and they both fell sideways like the leaning Tower of Pisa (she was WAY up there) into the wings! We were absolutely terrified that they were both seriously injured...but what did they do? They both picked themselves up and resumed right where they left off! This time though, Mr. Dowell was positively shaking like a leaf getting her up over his head. I feel he was quite traumatized by the event, but the pas de deux continued and finished, and I have never heard a more appreciative audience (vocally and HUGE applause)...Who knows why dancers fall sometimes? Jet lag...slippery floor...misjudgment of distance dancing together...nerves...many things can contribute to falls. After all, it is live theater and they are only human!

During my most of my years at San Francisco Ballet (1972 - 1985), Paula Tracy and I were the only ones with children in the company (and Paula was married to then director, Michael Smuin). I was a young Mom (19) so my entire 13-year professional career was combined with motherhood. It was a delicate and sometimes difficult balance, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything! I was lucky to have the support of my parents, without whom I could not have done it. My husband also was in the company at the time. So, there was understanding and teamwork! I feel that my family and son grounded me in a way that actually helped me as a professional dancer. I could see and appreciate that that there was life "outside" the ballet world, and I believe I became a better dancer and artist because of this balance...and I like to think I did a fairly decent job of being a Mom, too. And, now, I am happy to report I am a grandma!

Thank you, leonid...I cannot believe that Pavlova will ever be a footnote in ballet history...She is still idolized by ballet teachers around the world who are teaching the next generation of dancers. Thank you for reminding everyone that her birthday is in January! A belated Happy Birthday to the remarkable, the one and only Anna Pavlova...

She was a beautiful dancer and a true "beauty". She will live on in her films...A sad day...

I was a teenager when I saw Lynn Seymour dance Juliet in San Francisco. I remember my first impression of her in the bedroom scene...I remember thinking she seemed plain and a little pudgy looking. And, then...she began to move and dance. What a revelation! Her Juliet was one of the most moving performances I have EVER seen. But, it was the two of them together...Seymour and Gable. What a dynamic, perfectly matched pair! I have rarely seen such great acting combined with great dancing. They WERE Romeo and Juliet! They absolutely brought the house down! It was so long ago, but in my memory, it lives as one of the best performances I have ever seen...

Sizova looks like she is in an back attitude in this photo...

I recall seeing Nureyev in Graham's "Appalachian Spring", probably on PBS television...

I wonder...I don't know what experiences more modern choreographers had in working with him. IMO, his movement quality and physique would have lent itself very well to more contemporary or modern dance. I have to say that he is one of my most favorite dancers of all time. He had more charisma and sex appeal in his little finger that most dancers have in their whole bodies. It was just natural for him, I think...

Me, too! I haven't seen that in a long time...

Actually, the first full-length Nutcracker in the U.S. was not choreographed by Lew Christensen (as quoted above), but by his brother Willam Christensen. It premiered in 1944 with Gisella Caccialanza as Sugar Plum Fairy and Willam Christensen as the Cavalier. Jocelyn Vollmar was the Snow Queen. Lew's first production was mounted in 1954 and revised in 1967 with the fabulous Robert O'Hearn sets and costumes. It was re-worked again in 1986 with additional choreography by Willam Christensen, Anatole Vilzak (Trepak), and Helgi Tomasson. By far, IMO, the most beautiful, magical version was the O'Hearn production....

sz...Thank you for sharing your very personal connection with us. Everything that you said about Fernando is exactly how I perceived him...Mr. Bujones was one of the greatest dancers I have ever seen and one of the best dancers of ALL time...He will be so missed. May he rest in peace, and my heart goes out to his family in this time of transition and great sorrow.

Irina Kolpakova was a lovely Aurora...

I just attended the Sunday matinee. Here are some brief impressions. I would like to preface this with the fact that I have not regularly seen the Kirov in the past 20 years or so. During my youth, I saw them pretty regularly as they toured to the Bay Area much more frequently during this time (60s and 70s). I was very excited to see the performance this afternoon. I generally enjoyed the performance very much. The corps was superb. The fairy variations were well danced. I particularly enjoyed the Brave Fairy (is this "Violente" the "Finger Fairy"?), Yan Serebriakova, and the Diamond Fairy, Irina Golub, in Act 3. Carabosse, Roman Skripkin, was a delight. I also liked the lightness of his costume although I felt his make-up should have been stronger considering the lighting I observed at Zellerbach. In general, the costumes really were wonderful. The standout of the entire evening was, alas, not Aurora, but Prince Desire, Leonid Sarafanov. WOW! I was so glad they didn't put a wig with a ponytail on this delightful and superb dancer. He danced with authority, ease, great technical facility, and was so charming! I am now a fan! His Aurora, Ekaterina Osmolkina, was a lovely dancer in many ways but seemed a bit ill at ease in her performance. I was somewhat disappointed in her attitude balances which were non-existent in the Rose Adagio and she had a couple awkward stumbles during the course of the evening....But she is very talented and I'm sure will grow into this role.....Loved Puss in Boots, Anton Lukovkin, and his White Cat, Yana Selina. I was quite disappointed in the famous "Blue Bird" pas de deux. It bothers me that the male variation is cut in half. Anton Korsakov had a rough day, it would seem. His coda brise voles left much to be desired and he had to touch his hand down on his double tour finish at the end of his variation. He was positively sullen his entire performance. The Princess Florina (Ksenia Ostreykovskaya) variation tempo is just too slow. So was the BB pas de deux, for that matter...I noticed this with some other variations, most noticeably the Lilac Fairy (Olga Esina). This variation was almost spoiled with the slow tempo, although the dancer was lovely. Kudos to the Children and Supernumeraries who appeared with the Kirov courtesy of SFB School. They did a great job and just looked so excited to share the stage with the Kirov. I know how that feels. My brother and I had the same opportunity when we were kids to dance with the Kirov and Bolshoi in "Cinderella" and "Ballet School".

I certainly agree Angel can turn like a top. And, although I admit I'm , when I was watching Marcelo Gomes as Von Rothbart in the recent ABT Dance in America broadcast of "Swan Lake", I kept thinking, "I'll bet he would be a fabulous Siegfried".

Neat photos, violet! Perhaps, Suki is a nickname for Suzanne? It certainly looks like Ms. Schorer and has the additional information about her father given to us all from Farrell Fan. In Japanese, Suki means something like "fond of, pleasing, very dear". I know this because in my youth, I had a beloved cat named "Suki"! In the other dance photo, I recognize Bene Arnold (second on the left), a very young Sue Loyd directly in front of her, and Glen Chadwick in the back...I wish I could recognize and identify all the other dancers...

I thought Nureyev a dynamic turner...some of the best chaines turns I've ever seen. Makarova Fan, I second Vasiliev! I think you all have very astute observations about these wonderful dancers, a few of whom I have never had the privilege to see live or (I admit) on tape or DVD. I'm going to hazard something here...great turning ability is a natural gift. Yes, I agree that great ballet technique is something mastered over many years of training, but all dancers have their natural gifts...abilities that they are born with. Not everyone is a natural turner. You can develop skill, but those who have it naturally will just have an easier time and take it to a level not possible for others. Same with ballon (jumping ability), extension, musicality, etc...The dancer who has absolutely everything is rare and phenomenal, IMHO.