Mashinka

There are few books that I approached more enthusiastically than this one, already knowing something of Plisetskaya's career and eager to learn more. However, as Nora points out there is much less in this book that is actually about ballet than one might have hoped. I agree that at times it is difficult to read and it suffers badly from not having an index, which I feel is vital in a book of this kind. It is a very selective kind of book, with little or no mention of the other artists with whom she worked over the years. Nor does she tell us much about her personal life. She doesn't for example tell us about her marriages before Shchedin, one of which was to Maris Liepa; after all, this is supposed to be an autobiography. Although Plisetskaya puts names to all of the soviet officials that thwarted her progress, she doesn’t put names to the unscrupulous impresarios that were making shady deals with the Russian authorities and pocketing huge sums for themselves while the poor dancers were eating dog food. Perhaps the laws of libel prevented publication. This is an informative book, but the tale that is told is more about soviet corruption than about ballet and for this reason I would only recommend it to those with an interest in that particular period of Russian history.

Better to watch dancers that balance too long than those that cannot balance at all.

I personally feel that there is a big difference between how a role is danced during and after the choreographer’s lifetime. As Macmillan's Romeo & Juliet has been given as an example, I have to confess that performances that I've seen of this ballet since Macmillan’s death have all failed to move me as something seemed to be lacking. When a choreographer embarks on a new ballet, it is often with second or even third casts in attendance all of whom are aware of the choreographer’s intentions, so that audience preference comes down to personal taste. However there have been some ballets that have been created or in some cases adapted to suit a particular dancers technique or personality and somehow the initial impact of such works is never repeated. Ashton created Marguerite and Armand specifically for Fonteyn & Nureyev and never sanctioned another couple in the roles. I for one am very distressed that his wishes have now been brushed aside.

I try to see this company whenever I'm in Moscow and have developed quite an affection for them over the years. They perform at the Moscow Musical Theatre in Pushkinskaya, a street right by the Bolshoi Theatre. Their full title is the Stanislavski-Nemirovitch-Danchenko Company and they share their theatre with an opera company of the same name. This is where the Moscow balletomanes go, as the Bolshoi these days is full of mainly tourists and Mafiosi and therefore out of their price range. Consequently there is far more atmosphere there than at the Bolshoi. I haven't seen their Snow Maiden, but have seen them dance Swan Lake, La Sylphide, Don Q. and Vladimir Vasiliev's superb, though unconventional, Romeo & Juliet. I have also seen some contemporary mixed programmes. Obviously the Bolshoi gets the pick of the best available dancers but nevertheless the company has produced some real stars. I particularly admired Svetlana Tsoi who bears a resemblance to Lesley Caron and Gennadi Yanin (now with the Bolshoi) who was the best Mercutio I have ever seen - extremely funny, extremely dirty and totally outrageous! By the way I have been told that its possible Yanin will guest with the company in London. Currently they have a huge star called Chernobrovkina (not sure of her first name) and I am looking forward to seeing her as I have been told she is outstanding.

Sleeping Beauty is so much the ballerina’s ballet, that sometimes Florimund is almost an afterthought, but when the role is pumped up too much as in the Nureyev version, it doesn’t look right. However I very much appreciate Ashton’s awakening pas de deux, as it adds the right romantic atmosphere at that point in the story and gives Florimund more to do. Best performances? Dowell and John Gilpin were two of the best for looking noble. Nureyev was perfect with Fonteyn but a degree or so less perfect with other partners, but Nikolai Fadeyechev, whose performance is captured on video manages to dance superbly and look the part. I think he is the dancer who most defines the role for me. Last year I saw Nikolai Tsiskaridze dance the role in Barcelona and he was a revelation. I have seen no one dance quite like that. He dances at phenomenal speed and then has the ability to accelerate into a kind of overdrive. It was incredibly exciting for the audience. Has anyone else seen him in that role?

At the Royal Ballet I’ve seen four different productions of Sleeping Beauty. The first was the “old” version with the Oliver Messel designs; the second was the Ashton/Wright production followed by the Kenneth MacMillan version. After that we had the Ninette de Valois production for many years. The current production by Anthony Dowell I saw televised and decided not to bother to see it live. Of these the Ashton/Wright version, which was produced in the late 1960’s, was far and away the best in my eyes. It was set in the middle ages, and had some wonderfully original touches, such as the fairies making their entrance running down a moonbeam, Carrabosse with a huge reptilian tail and an entourage of real dwarves. This was also the version where Ashton’s lovely “awakening” pas de deux first saw the light of day. It didn’t last though, the critics were outraged at the ballet being transported from the court of Louis XIV to the medieval period and objected to Aurora’s wedding taking place in a marquee. It was dropped, to be replaced by a version by Macmillan that was disliked even more. A few years later de Valois created her own version. It was traditional and looked attractive and was danced until fairly recently when it was replaced by Dowell’s version. In London at the same time we had a very serviceable version of Beauty by Ben Stevenson at Festival Ballet (now ENB), which was replaced by Nureyev’s version in the late 70’s. Other versions I’ve seen include the Bolshoi and two Kirov ones. For the record, I am not a fan of the Kirov’s “historical version”. In general I think the British productions are more technically demanding for the ballerina and that the Russian ones have somehow diluted the choreography e.g. simplified Rose Adagio without arms en couronne, no fishdives, not rising from the floor en pointe in the final pas de deux and so on. I know many people regard videos as somehow second rate when watching ballet and I agree they are no substitute for a live performance. But they are a superb record. The Ashton/Wright version was televised about 30 years ago with Sibley and Dowell in the leading roles. It probably lies mouldering in a BBC vault somewhere. I would give a lot to see it again as for me it was pure magic. If it does still exist it really should be released on video. I recommend the Sergeyev version, which has been released on video. It was made as a studio film and Desire makes his entrance on a white horse surrounded by adorable borzoi dogs. Sizova and Soloviev dance the leads with Dudinskaya as Carabosse and Makarova and Panov as the bluebirds. It’s wonderful. One last point for any future Sleeping Beauty producers. Never even think about substituting the coda of the grand pas with the three Ivans !!!

I don’t have a preference for a male or female Carabosse and have seen some remarkable ones over the years. Apart from those already mentioned I would like to pay tribute to Alexander Grant and Lynn Seymour in various RB versions and Natalya Dudinskaya in the Kirov film from the 60’s. Dancers such as Monica Mason and Anthony Dowell had of course danced Aurora and Florimund earlier in their careers and it would be interesting to know how their experiences in the other roles coloured their concept of Carabosse. The dancer I would most liked to have seen in the role would have been Robert Helpmann. Did he ever dance it? I used to love him as the dominant ugly sister in Cinderella and I can just imagine the kind of performance he would have given. I know she isn’t a dancer, but after seeing her study in pure evil in the film “Dangerous Liaisons” I think Glenn Close would be a natural for the role too.

The first Aurora I ever saw was Antoinette Sibley in 1964 and the most recent was Diana Vishneva whom I saw this summer. In between I must have seen a large number, I’ve remembered 17 names in all and a further 7 that I’ve seen on video. The finest was Fonteyn, far and away the best both technically and dramatically. At the Royal Ballet both Jennifer Penny and Lesley Collier danced the Rose Adagio with time stopping balances and Ludmilla Semenyaka came closest to portraying a radiant young princess among the Russians. I’ve always maintained that this ballet is the ultimate technical challenge for the ballerina, either she can dance it or she can’t. It frightens many of them too. In the first act there is only the tiniest solo before she has to launch into the Rose Adagio, not enough time to dispel first night nerves. And the pressure really mounts up. I was told by one dancer, after her first performance in the role, that in the awakening scene she was so exhausted that as she lay on the bed she found to her horror that she was actually falling asleep. A sleeping beauty in more ways than one!

I have often wondered what the result would be if a theatre producer were to be given the opportunity to stage a classic ballet. I would love to see the result of a Peter Brook Sleeping Beauty or a Trevor Nunn Swan Lake, someone who would approach these ballets with fresh ideas, but I would definitely not want an opera director allowed anywhere near a ballet company. In the UK we have been plagued for years with opera directors that openly declare their contempt for both singers and their audiences (I heard one in a TV interview refer scornfully to opera fans, as "Canary fanciers” While I appreciate that the spiralling costs of staging operas has meant that productions have been forced to become more and more minimalist, many concepts are simply unacceptable. I could give you a whole list of productions that I have sat through inwardly cringing and wishing that I had stayed home and listened to the CD. However I will tell you about the worst, which I witnessed last year at Glyndebourne. It was a production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. The costumes were weird, being set in no particular period but reflecting the fashion spectrum between the 18th and 20th centuries. However it was the sets that offended me most as the central feature of the stage was a huge pile of excrement and in the final act Don Giovanni’s feast was a dead horse from which he proceeded to pull out the entrails and then eat them. No, I am not making this up. People paid good money to watch this travesty and much of the audience was clearly outraged with cries of “Shame!” mingled with the booing. In my opinion opera is already in the hands of those that hate it and I dread the same thing happening at the ballet.

The dancers scheduled for performances on 19th and 21st of November are Delphine Moussin as Nikiya, Laetitia Pujol as Gamzatti and Jean-Guillaume Bart as Solor. Zakharova dances on 1st,4th & 5th December and Tsiskaridze on 29th,31st December and 4th January. I found these dates elsewhere on the internet, and therefore cannot vouch for accuracy. By the way, I don't think Mukhamedov ever got to dance with POB. If memory serves me correctly he was to have danced Sleeping Beauty in December 1989, but for whatever reason, never actually appeared.

Thanks for the information Estelle. The Torino site was very helpful.

I have heard that the Bolshoi Ballet is appearing in Turin, Italy in December and that they will probably be dancing Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. A friend of mine is very keen to go but doesn't know the exact dates or the venue. Can anyone help ?

The best source of information on dance and religion is the book “Sacred Dance: Encounters with the Gods” by Maria-Gabriele Wosien. It covers the subject from both a worldwide and an historical basis. I would strongly recommend it for those with an interest in the subject. I have checked Amazon and it is available there. Peter is quite right about the fate of the arts in Iran after the over-throw of the shah. The country used to have its own ballet company. I think it was called the National Ballet of Iran. The company was disbanded and I remember reading a piece in (I think) The Dancing Times concerning a British dancer in the company and her Iranian dancer husband who were forced to flee Iran at the time. Last year, in Spain I witnessed a wonderful sight while in Barcelona. On the Sunday a huge crowd had gathered in the square outside the cathedral (the gothic one, not Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia) where a large group of people had joined hands in a circle and were performing a kind of ritual Catalan dance to the music of a quite large band. The dancers were all middle aged or elderly but I noticed a small group of young dancers dancing the same steps to a very much faster tempo, one of the group was calling out instructions as they danced, I imagine she was their teacher. I was told that this dance was a tradition among the Catalans, performed after mass, but I wasn’t able to establish whether the dancing actually had any religious significance. Anyway, whether religious or secular, I still found it a most moving sight.

It's no surprise to me that Monotones II has been mentioned and it wasn't just choreographed by Ashton, it was designed by him too. Of Ashtons ballets I would nominate Symphonic Variations, but not with just any cast. Also his Scenes de Ballet. My most "perfect" memory is of Robbins's Dances at a Gathering with the RB cast that included Nureyev, Seymour, Dowell and Mason. And although I only saw it once, I would also like to nominate Le Loup by Petit(POB). The design element of this ballet is outstanding.

The original version of Daphnis & Chloe with choreography by Fokine is indeed lost, though I once saw a solo from the ballet recreated by Anton Dolin. The Royal Ballet version by Ashton has had several revivals since the '50's, in fact the first time I saw Margot Fonteyn dance was in the role of Chloe in 1964. Since then the ballet has been revived at least twice, the latest viewing being about 2 years ago, when many people were shocked that the beautiful Craxton designs had been substituted for something very inferior. There have been other versions too. I remember seeing Baryshnikov as Daphnis in a Kirov version in 1974 and I believe the POB used to dance a version also. The score of the ballet is so beautiful and so vibrant that it has become a concert hall staple here in the UK and the music is far better known than the ballet is. I am sure it will inspire many more choreographers in the future. But it is a great shame that Ashton's Daphnis isn't available on video. It deserves to be much better known.

As Mel states the ballet of Daphnis & Chloe is approximately an hour long. However Ravel later made two suites from the existing music. I have a recording of the complete ballet version, so I'm not certain about what is included in the suites. For ballet fans it is always essential to scrutinise the programme notes as there are suite versions of so many ballets e.g. Nutcracker, Romeo & Juliet, Firebird etc. and it is usually best to acquire a complete version.

I am saddened to read that so many people believe the myth that Fonteyn had poor technique. That she improved technically over the years is a fact she herself acknowledged when she praised Nureyev’s coaching abilities, which enabled her to master steps that had given her trouble throughout her career. She also took on new roles such as Raymonda and La Bayadere when she was well into her forties. And excelled in them. It is generally agreed that her most famous role was Aurora in the Sleeping Beauty, and for that you need outstanding technique, which Fonteyn still displayed even in her early fifties, She was without doubt the finest exponent of a role which has defeated more dancers than any other. Today there are few that I would describe as adequate in the role of Aurora, let alone good and none I am able to describe as great. Take a look at the video “An Evening with the Royal Ballet” which was filmed in the early ‘60’s and watchFonteyn rise from the ground on point in the grand pas of the last act. How many are able to do that today? Technique hasn’t improved. It has changed. The emphasis now is on ludicrously high extensions and split jetes and batterie is becoming a lost art. The classics are increasingly becoming watered down versions of the originals mainly due to the bad habits of dancers substituting their favourite steps for the originals. There was an excellent series of articles about lost steps in the Dancing Times a few years ago. Both dancers and teachers contributed and it became clear that classical variations have suffered seriously through the practice of adapting a sequence of steps to match a dancers abilities rather than insisting on maintaining the integrity of the originals. To get back to Lu’s original post, Nureyev was always at his best when he danced with Fonteyn, together they had a rapport which neither could recreate with other partners, no matter how good. When they danced together the atmosphere in the theatre was electric and their audiences rewarded them with applause that bordered on the hysterical. They are now legends – a status they richly deserve. [ 09-03-2001: Message edited by: Mashinka ]

Monica Mason was hugely popular with RB audiences during the 60's and '70's. In soloist roles she was something of a "scene stealer", always eliciting the loudest applause from the audience. As a principal she was outstanding in "Song of the Earth" and "Dances at a Gathering" and a thrilling Firebird. She had the most expressive eyes. As the unfortunate muse in "Apollo" who lets out a yell at the end of her solo, she was unforgettable, gazing up at Nureyev in embarrSssed supplication. To sum her up, she was a dancer with PERSONALITY.

Many thanks to everyone who responded so promptly to my questions. To be honest I hadn’t expected any replies at all. I have certainly learnt more about Geidenreikh than I knew before. From the dates given for her founding the school in Perm, I deduce that her term of imprisonment must have been mercifully short, though I believe that the relative remoteness of that city meant that it was regarded as internal exile by the authorities. It was also interesting to compare the portrait of her in later life with the picture in Sotheby’s catalogue. She certainly danced a wide range of roles. I wonder if the fact that she danced the Lilac fairy is a clue to her height? I was delighted to hear that she danced in Daughter of the Pharaoh as I saw Pierre Lacotte’s production at the Bolshoi last year and fell in love with it. Thank you all once again for your help; I think you are all brilliant !!!

The recent threads on ballets about the holocaust and Who’s Biography Next have prompted me to post some questions about the Russian dancer Ekaterina Geidenreikh who spent part of her life in a soviet labour camp. I first became curious about Geidenreikh after seeing a beautiful charcoal and pastel portrait of her in a Sotheby sale of Russian art. It was by an artist called Zinaida Serebriakova and the estimate was £6-8,000. In the catalogue Geidenreikh was described as a former ballerina and her dates were given as 1897-1981. The picture was quite lovely and showed Geidenreikh as a young woman of serene beauty. As her name was totally unfamiliar to me I started to do some research, but found virtually nothing. The only reference to her was in Valery Panov’s excellent autobiography “To Dance”, where he describes her as a coach at the Maly Theatre who had formerly helped set up the ballet school in Perm. He says she had been sentenced to a labour camp during the Second World War, when an unwise remark that the Germans might “spare” her because of her German name had led to her eventual imprisonment. Panov notes that even her artistically powerful husband, Leonid Lavrovsky, was unable to save her. Obviously Geidenreikh survived her ordeal (the Gulags weren’t always a death sentence) but I would love to have more information about her. What sort of roles did she dance? Did she inspire any choreographers of the time? Do any critiques of her dancing still exist? I know I am asking a pretty obscure question, but a Google search revealed nothing at all and some of you may have access to information that I don’t. I would also be interested to know of any other dancers who suffered a similar fate during the Soviet era.

Thanks for jogging my memory, Kevin. The ballet I remember as being set in a concentration camp was indeed called Traces and Marcia Haydee was the featured dancer. Interestingly it was the last ballet Cranko created before his sudden death.

John Cranko dedicated a ballet set in a concentration camp to Valery Panov. I saw it back in the'70's danced by Cranko's Stuttgart Company. I think the title was "Traces" but I'm not sure and will check it out. Kenneth Macmillan choreographed a work on a holocaust theme based on the Italian film "The Garden of Finzi-Cortini's". It was one of the very few Macmillan ballets that I missed, so I shall try and discover that title also.

Although three weighty biographies have been published since his death (though only one worth reading), nothing comparable has been written about Fonteyn. So I would certainly put an erudite biography of her on the top of my wish list. I too would like to see a book about Beriosova and anything about Plisetskaya would make fascinating reading. Plisetskaya published her autobiography a few years ago, but to the best of my knowledge it has never been translated into English.

So the Rev. Moon is a homophobe is he? How delightfully ironic then that he chooses to support an art form that gives so much pleasure to and provides so much employment for gay men! The demonstrations against the Bolshoi that Felursus mentions took place in 1974 and the pathetic stunt of a van with a caged ballerina on the roof was supposed to be a reference to Galina and Valery Panov who in fact were finally issued visas during that Bolshoi season. The demonstrations had nothing to do with the international campaign to free the Panovs and Panov himself had insisted vehemently that he wanted no demonstrations against the dancers on his behalf. As a result of the actions of a minority, London ballet-goers were denied sight of the Bolshoi for the next 12 years.

In the recent biography of Frederick Ashton, “ Secret Muses”, the author speculates on the possible outcome for Soviet ballet had Ashton (as a serving member of the armed forces) been posted to Moscow during WW2. As a Russian speaker Ashton had been considered for a posting as some sort of liaison officer in Russia, but the idea was dropped. What sort of balletic hybrids would have emerged at the Bolshoi had the plan gone ahead, we can only fantasize about ! The Royal Ballet got to dance in Moscow in 1961 and the then Bolshoi director, Leonid Lavrovsky, was reportedly very taken with Ashton’s “Two Pigeons” and is rumoured to have wanted to acquire it for the company. Sadly political considerations made that impossible but I actually think the Russians would have made of very good job of that particular ballet because when it comes to dancing gipsies the Bolshoi reigns supreme – and there are an awful lot of gipsies in Two Pigeons. The current ballet director, Boris Akimov now works regularly with the Royal Ballet as a teacher and is said to be a great admirer of Ashton’s work. I think the company will make a success of Fille. When Nina Ananiashvili danced the role at Covent Garden, the older critics noted that no one had jumped like that since the original Lise, Nadia Nerina, (who actually guested with the Bolshoi at one time). I would love to see Anastasia Goriacheva and Dmitri Goudanov in the leading roles and look forward to seeing the Bolshoi’s Fille in London. The only Grigorovitch ballet performed by a non Russian company was Ivan the Terrible which I believe was danced at one time by the Paris Opera Ballet, though I never saw them dance it. The comments about the Bolshoi and Kirov Opera companies are spot on. For some time now the Bolshoi has been used as a kind of political football by a number of interested parties in Russia, I would like to think that the appointment of a new director will put a stop to the intrigues, but perhaps I'm being optimistic.