Lovebird

Leslie Edwards, a most amazing person and artist. He embodied his roles so thoroughly. In Enigma Variations he was Elgar! He learned to play the cello for that role, I think. Derek Rencher was another incredible character actor. William Tuckett, presently a character artist at the Royal, is also a specialist in these roles he is incredible as Carabosse. David Drew, last but not least, his portrayal of the gaoler in Manon is definitive and is also remarkable as Drosselmayer.

I don't think Thesmar, Sumner, or Pascal are red haired in the way that I mean, they are more strawberry blonde, very different from the carrot, tomato, flame color that Shearer or Fiat have. Also, hair does look different when it's in a bun, it tends to look darker. Wasn't Guillem red-haired? Hold it, Natalia Sologub from the Kirov has really red hair, it really stands out on stage, thats the red I'm talking about.

I am shamelessly copying Marga's thread, but I thought it would be interesting . Now, if there seems to be few blonde ballerinas, I'd say there is even less red- haired ballerinas! Being rather ginger-haired myself , I would like to know, have there been ANY red haired ballerinas? Besides Moira Shearer, of course :grinning: . I think Moira Shearer's fame, both in movies and ballet, was partly based on her ragingly red hair. Even in everyday life redheads are very scarce. So, any red haired ballet dancers you can think of?

Every Step You Take, Every Move You Make: Sting, the Ballet Dancing Queen: A Tribute to Abba :green: We Don't Need No Education: RBS dances to Pink Floyd

Uncrossed Fifth, I don't want to start a discussion but I find your comments on both Ananiashvili and Zelensky insulting. What is worse is that they are untrue and unfounded. Ananiashvilli is 40, she is not past her prime, is dancing like a dream, and has a technique that many other ballerinas, much younger than her, can only hope to have. Perhaps you have not heard of such dancers as Fonteyn, Haydee, Alonso, Ulanova, Plisetskaya who danced well into their fifties, and still showed such masterful and artistic portrayals, that they have never been equaled? Have you not thought that perhaps there is a need, no a dearth, of such elder ballerinas and danseurs in the dance world to set examples and to guide younger ones?

I did see some similarities to Cabaret in it, the costumes especially. It would probably be difficult to find someone with the same unique qualities as Kent to perform it, though.

Just wanted to add, I was surprised with the comment that NYCB has never had a female of Asian descent in its company. And then I thought it over, and it tickled me no end, and it's true! Why is that?

I never knew she danced Miss Julie, it doesn't seem to be a role that I readily identify her with . The comment seems rather mean. I think she was a principal with the Berlin Opera Ballet, but she guested a lot. I also find that many dancers that are admired in Germany are not well received in U.S. I think it's a question of different tastes.

No, Ravenna wasn't the Pakistani girl, it was another girl, who graduated in her same class, who was. Samira Saidi, graduate of RBS and danced with the Royal, was Pakistani, I think. Never saw her dance, though.

I am sure someone has seen her, she used to be really big in Europe! She was the first ballerina my mom ever saw.

Did anyone see this ballet? From Allegra Kent's autobiography it looks like a really strange, wacky ballet. The costumes are strange, everyone has a mask, and the women have high heeled boots and padded bikinis. Allegra kent is in underwear. What are the impressions of this ballet? Was there a scandal when it premiered? Why has it never been revived? I am sure there are ballerinas at NYCB who would be good in it. How was Allegra Kent in it?

Oooooppss! Sorry about that Stephen Jeffries's wife is Rashna indeed, don't know why I said Padma, I was thinking of someone else, anyway I always mix up ethnic sounding names . Thinking harder now, what nationality was Ravenna Tucker? She was born in an exotic land, but I don't remember which. :sweating:

At the Royal Ballet there was Benazir Hussein, a wonderful and very tall dancer. She did Myrtha and Lilac Fairy, which is on tape, Aurora being Viviana Durante. And even before her there was Nicola Katrak, a really beautiful principal dancer at the Sadler's Wells, now Birmingham Royal Ballet, she was Iranian. She is on tape too, in The Rake's Progress. She was often compared with Margot Fonteyn, same dark hair and eyes, medium height, and pale skin color. There was also Stephen Jeffries's wife, Padma.

Did anyone ever see her dance? I have read that she was an excellent Romantic ballerina(Giselle, La Sylphide).

But Malakhov is not Russian either, he is Ukrainian.

Another I would like to see is Electronics, that strange ballet where the costume is an all white unitard and fringes of metallic paper on the dancers, which I think were Diana Adams and Violette Verdy, it seems very similar to some Forsythe ballets.

The idea came from the Alonso- Youskevitch thread where someone said the Farrell- Mitchell partnership transcended categorization. Have you ever seen a partnership that under no circumstances should have worked out, but turned out to be a match from heaven? One example that I can think of is Vergie Derman and Wayne Sleep in Elite Syncopations, in that wonderful pas de deux that poked fun at their extreme height difference, she a giraffe, he a dwarf Suzanne Farrell and Arthur Mitchell, from the clips I have seen, seemed to have an amazing partnership in Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, who would have known? B) Any other quirky, unlikely, or just plain strange, yet perversely entertaining partnerships?

Well my lost Balanchine will be revived for the spring season, Ivesiana. I am longing to see it because of the interesting names of the sections, the Unanswered Question, In the Inn, and Central Park in the Dark.

Well, they did Forsythe's the Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude recently B) . I would like to single out Ana Noya, who may not be well known outside Spain, but who is a most marvelous ballerina.

Spain! Madrid being the exact location. :yes:

I see Gillian Murphy as the next big starballerina, she will certainly be one of the leaders, female side. Also, Irina Dvorovenko, she is the only big female personality onstage at ABT right now. Paloma Herrera, of all people, seems to be designated to be the ABT's mature ballerina, the upholder of the older generations "values". Michelle Wiles, even if we will have to wait a bit, is also a prospective leader of the pack and is coming into her own.

I will give my input on correct pronunciation of the Spanish names- Angel Corella is pronounced an hel ko re ya Jose Manuel Carreno is ho se man uel karre njo ( I am not sure of the last syllable as the n has the little line on top of it and it has a singular spanish sound which cannot be accurately translated into english but the sound is reproduced somewhat with the combination of the letters enje.) Tamara Rojo is ta ma ra roho, the j is pronounced as h in spanish. Marianela Nunez is mar y an ela nu njes, again the singular pronunciation of the n with the little line on top. Herman Cornejo is err man cor ne ho Joaquin de Luz is hoe a kuin de luus Jose Martinez is hoe se mar ti nes Lucia Lacarra is lu sia la carra Xiomara Reyes is si o mara re yes Carlos Acosta is car los a costa Arantxa Ochoa is ar an cha ocho a :cool2:

I will come as the Fourth Movement girl from Western Symphony, the one with the huge Karinska hat.

Oh yes, I had forgotten that amazing role she had in Elite Syncopations, as the tall girl who danced with the really short Wayne Sleep, judging from the pictures I saw, it seems like a very funny and entertaining highlight of that ballet. As a dancer, Derman seems to have had a comic and humourous, almost hilarious streak, and I think Macmillan and Ashton used it very well in the roles they made for her. Did anyone ever see her in Monotones or in the minor roles Macmillan made for her in Isadora and Anastasia?

I have just read a biography about her, and I would like to hear comments or impressions about her dancing and performances. She is supposed to have been surprisingly tall (5,8) considering the time, 1960-70, and company, Royal Ballet. She was also really pretty, she reminds me of the Vogue models of that era. Did anyone see her perform? She was a principal, surprising as she is not well known. Her career seems to have been based almost exclusively on the non-Petipa works in the company, she mostly danced the British gems that only the Royal dances, especially the Macmillan works. Any opinions?