"The Great American Ballerina" (or.... what's in a name, anyway?)

[atm711]

I have always felt that Alonso was the "Great American Ballerina"-- probably because her early career was in the US--she performed in musicals, and eventually joined the newly formed Ballet Theatre as a soloist and received her greatest acclaim here in the States.

[BryMar1995]

Probably going out on a limb here.. In my opinion, Maria Talchief probably inspired the largest portion of Balanchine's finest and most enduring work.

Rick

[Leigh Witchel]

That's really an interesting statement. To me, I always thought it was fascinating that much as Farrell was Balanchine's muse, I don't think she caused him to produce his best work. Even when he made a great role for her (Diamonds, and I would conjecture Dulcinea) it wasn't in a great ballet.

It isn't hard to check who originated what;

Tallchief's big created roles were the Firebird, Eurydice, Scotch Symphony, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Pas de Dix, Allegro Brillante and Gounod Symphony. Definitely not a bad lot, but I might cast a vote for Tanaquil LeClerq (Choleric, 2nd mvt Symphony in C - Tallchief did the first, La Valse, Dewdrop, the Rondo in Western Symphony) except for the fact her career was cut short, or Diana Adams for Agon alone, but there's lot more. Her career is most fascinating because even if she never got the BIG STAR roles, she was in everything, and for a long time.

[Manhattnik]

Wasn't 2nd Mvt. Symphony in C made for Toumonova?

[Leigh Witchel]

My error! Yes, Le Palais de Cristal was originally done in Paris and then Le Clercq acquired the role when it became Symphony in C. One defining moment in it, the penchee where the ballerina touches her head to her knee was added by Farrell, I believe.

[Melissa]

I saw Gregory dance 'Swan Lake' with Godunov at ABT shortly after he defected. I think in him she finally found the perfect partner both artistically and height-wise. He was about 6'2" and was proportionally just right for her. I remember it being a great performance; they were technically remarkable and Gregory clearly relished the part of Odile.

In my opinion, Merrill Ashley was one of the greatest American ballerinas. She was so thrilling to watch with her lightning speed and flawless technique. Farrell, Hayden and McBride were great too. It's really impossible to pick just one.

[Meliss]

On 3/9/2001 at 6:45 AM, Drew said:

I saw them at one of the first performances (if not the very first) of Makarova's full length Bayadere. Gregory was dancing Gamzatti and in the sequences in which she and Godunov had to dance together they were entirely out of sync. At one point in the choreography Gamzatti and Solor are side by side facing the audience and then leap forward jointly towards the audience -- they did not once jump on the same beat. I'm pretty sure I saw them after that...]

Do you happen to know if there are any videos of their dancing together? I have only seen a bit of "Le Corsaire" and there were no problems with sync.

[Drew]

5 hours ago, Meliss said:

Do you happen to know if there are any videos of their dancing together? I have only seen a bit of "Le Corsaire" and there were no problems with sync.

Goodness, I never thought to see this thread revived.

Unfortunately I don't know about videos of Gregory with Godunov beyond what a VERY casual search reveals (which is that  same Corsaire bit you mention and some rehearsal footage).

I'll draw attention, too, to the date of that post you are quoting -- it's from over 20 years ago.  I do still remember that when I saw them in that early Bayadere (probably the first or second time they were dancing the engagement scene together), they did not look well-matched and did not seem to dance together effectively, but if I were writing my description now, I would probably express myself a little more carefully.

(My memory is that the closest Gregory came to developing a real partnership over time was with Bujones.)

Rereading the title of this thread I will say, of a certainty, she deserves to be on any list of top American Ballerinas!

Edited June 15 by Drew

[Meliss]

11 hours ago, Drew said:

Goodness, I never thought to see this thread revived.

Time has no power over real art, so why not?)  In fact Gregory and Godunov's partnership was great. It was he Gregory wanted to dance with at the "Red Shoes" dance in 1985 "Night Of 100 Stars". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g5jqV1w-j0     7-58: 8-28

 

Edited June 16 by Meliss

[Drew]

1 hour ago, Meliss said:

Time has no power over real art, so why not?)  In fact Gregory and Godunov's partnership was great. It was he Gregory wanted to dance with at the "Red Shoes" dance in 1985 "Night Of 100 Stars". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g5jqV1w-j0     7-58: 8-28

 

I'm with you on time and art -- why not indeed?

 But though both Gregory and Godunov were great and exciting dancers, and I can easily believe their partnership has and had admirers, I don't think that everyone saw their partnership qua partnership quite that way.  (Personally I very much enjoyed Gregory with Michel Denard though I only saw them together once, in a contemporary pas de deux, and he did not become an ABT regular so that partnership didn't develop.)

 I wondered if I was misremembering how ballet-goers around me responded to the Gregory-Godunov partnership--I do remember my own reactions to the Bayadere and later a Giselle--and I poked around a bit to see how it was written about:  a Kisselgoff review of their Swan Lake in the NYTimes praises both dancers very highly but also states that "no true emotional rapport between the principals could be sensed." 

I also found a link to Alan Kriegsman's discussion of their first appearance together in Corsaire. It's clear he didn't think they yet had time to gel; he also refers to "stormy rehearsals" -- though that doesn't necessarily mean a partnership won't work on stage.  The real issue may be that they simply didn't dance together that much presumably in part because Baryshnikov fired him -- and he also pursued a career in Hollywood.  (From other things you have posted, I'd guess that you probably know the details of his career better than I.)

Link to the Kisselgoff article:

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/28/arts/ballet-cynthia-gregory-s-swan.html

Links to the Kriegsman piece:

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/28/arts/ballet-cynthia-gregory-s-swan.html

The LA Times had a later piece in the 1990s on Gregory's travails finding the right partner; its headline is, rather tellingly, "going it alone." That piece now seems to be behind a paywall, but it refers to Godunov's time at ABT being all too brief for a fully fledged partnership to develop:  https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-24-ca-3142-story.html   (Side note: I think lack of time together also kept Osipova-Hallberg from being anything like the partnership it could have been.)

I will add that Gregory emerged as a star at a time when many leading dancers were known for "partnerships" where the whole was considered greater than the sum of its parts--and the on-stage chemistry between the dancers could be absolutely remarkable; and those partners danced with one another very consistently across a great deal of repertory: Fracci-Bruhn, Haydee-Cragun, Makarova-Nagy, Sibly-Dowell--eventually Makarova-Dowell and, of course, Fonteyn-Nureyev, and--for a time--Kirkland-Baryshnikov; even at NYCB one might talk about Mcbride and Villella or Farrell and Martins as "partnerships." But for a very long time now I would say that companies mostly seem to mix it up more--so that even their best known dancers are dancing with multiple partners. (There are exceptions, but on the whole...) I wonder if Gregory's lack of one special partner would be remarked upon now the way it was during her career. I also think, from what she said in interviews, that Gregory was hoping for a partnership of the Fracci-Bruhn or Kirkland-Baryshnikov kind with Godunov and most of us were hoping for that too. I remember distinctly feeling disappointment that it didn't happen that way. But she had a fabulous career. His story is a sadder one.

Edited June 16 by Drew

[Meliss]

7 hours ago, Drew said:

I'm with you on time and art -- why not indeed?

 But though both Gregory and Godunov were great and exciting dancers, and I can easily believe their partnership has and had admirers, I don't think that everyone saw their partnership qua partnership quite that way.  (Personally I very much enjoyed Gregory with Michel Denard though I only saw them together once, in a contemporary pas de deux, and he did not become an ABT regular so that partnership didn't develop.)

 I wondered if I was misremembering how ballet-goers around me responded to the Gregory-Godunov partnership--I do remember my own reactions to the Bayadere and later a Giselle--and I poked around a bit to see how it was written about:  a Kisselgoff review of their Swan Lake in the NYTimes praises both dancers very highly but also states that "no true emotional rapport between the principals could be sensed." 

I also found a link to Alan Kriegsman's discussion of their first appearance together in Corsaire. It's clear he didn't think they yet had time to gel; he also refers to "stormy rehearsals" -- though that doesn't necessarily mean a partnership won't work on stage.  The real issue may be that they simply didn't dance together that much presumably in part because Baryshnikov fired him -- and he also pursued a career in Hollywood.  (From other things you have posted, I'd guess that you probably know the details of his career better than I.)

Link to the Kisselgoff article:

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/28/arts/ballet-cynthia-gregory-s-swan.html

Links to the Kriegsman piece:

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/28/arts/ballet-cynthia-gregory-s-swan.html

The LA Times had a later piece in the 1990s on Gregory's travails finding the right partner; its headline is, rather tellingly, "going it alone." That piece now seems to be behind a paywall, but it refers to Godunov's time at ABT being all too brief for a fully fledged partnership to develop:  https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-24-ca-3142-story.html   (Side note: I think lack of time together also kept Osipova-Hallberg from being anything like the partnership it could have been.)

I will add that Gregory emerged as a star at a time when many leading dancers were known for "partnerships" where the whole was considered greater than the sum of its parts--and the on-stage chemistry between the dancers could be absolutely remarkable; and those partners danced with one another very consistently across a great deal of repertory: Fracci-Bruhn, Haydee-Cragun, Makarova-Nagy, Sibly-Dowell--eventually Makarova-Dowell and, of course, Fonteyn-Nureyev, and--for a time--Kirkland-Baryshnikov; even at NYCB one might talk about Mcbride and Villella or Farrell and Martins as "partnerships." But for a very long time now I would say that companies mostly seem to mix it up more--so that even their best known dancers are dancing with multiple partners. (There are exceptions, but on the whole...) I wonder if Gregory's lack of one special partner would be remarked upon now the way it was during her career. I also think, from what she said in interviews, that Gregory was hoping for a partnership of the Fracci-Bruhn or Kirkland-Baryshnikov kind with Godunov and most of us were hoping for that too. I remember distinctly feeling disappointment that it didn't happen that way. But she had a fabulous career. His story is a sadder one.

Thank you very much for your opinion and links (the second one coincises with the first one, but it's OK, I remember the article by Kriegsman (to my mind he disliked Godunov). You mentioned a very interesting thing speaking about the careers of Gregory and Godunov. What is actually the difference between a fabulous career and a sadder one? How can we measure success in ballet? By a number of awards? A number of performances? A number of something else? Or is there anything measurable not in quantity? Godunov still has a lot of fans in different countries. They enjoy watching these few videos which are available now and dream of  watching other performances with him. How can we measure feelings aroused by such old videos as this one, for example?  

 

[Drew]

4 hours ago, Meliss said:

Thank you very much for your opinion and links (the second one coincises with the first one, but it's OK, I remember the article by Kriegsman (to my mind he disliked Godunov). You mentioned a very interesting thing speaking about the careers of Gregory and Godunov. What is actually the difference between a fabulous career and a sadder one? How can we measure success in ballet? By a number of awards? A number of performances? A number of something else? Or is there anything measurable not in quantity? Godunov still has a lot of fans in different countries. They enjoy watching these few videos which are available now and dream of  watching other performances with him. How can we measure feelings aroused by such old videos as this one, for example?  

 

We have wondered off topic -- which is "the Great American Ballerina" -- so I'll respond briefly: his story was sadder to me because he died so young. (I actually did not say his career was sadder, but his story, though I had referred to Gregory's career.)  And I believe the firing from ABT was at least unfortunate as well whatever the reasons.  None of this changes the dancer he was and it is great that videos of his dancing still give people pleasure. I do remember his Albrecht with admiration--other than Solor that is the only big role I remember seeing him dance with ABT; fixed in my memory is the way he walked across the stage at the very end of Act II. (You can open a Godunov topic under "Dancers" on this site. More people with memories of Godunov are likely to see it there, although there are no guarantees.)

Edited June 16 by Drew
Precision

[nysusan]

On 6/16/2024 at 6:44 AM, Drew said:

But though both Gregory and Godunov were great and exciting dancers, and I can easily believe their partnership has and had admirers, I don't think that everyone saw their partnership qua partnership quite that way.  (Personally I very much enjoyed Gregory with Michel Denard though I only saw them together once, in a contemporary pas de deux, and he did not become an ABT regular so that partnership didn't develop.)

 

Cynthia Gregory was a wonderful ballerina. Back in the day she was considered too tall for an ABT ballerina - and I think she was only around 5'6". I never saw her with Godunov but I saw her with Denard many times, I think he was an ABT regular for a few years in the 70's - probably the early 70s. I know I saw them in Swan Lake and a couple of other Petipa classics, as well as several modern ballets - Unfinished Symphony comes to mind. I always loved him, he was such a beautiful dancer with gorgeous line and very flowing musicality and of course, a great partner. Never a virtuoso he was more like Nagy, another favorite of mine from that era.

[lmspear]

Here's a short film of Gregory with Nagy from the mid-70s.  Early in her career she was often paired with Nagy and Bruce Marks.

https://youtu.be/96oAWkOOg9M?si=1_hd7UesEhqk2dj9

Edited June 17 by lmspear
Date correction.

[Meliss]

22 hours ago, Drew said:

We have wondered off topic -- which is "the Great American Ballerina" -- so I'll respond briefly: his story was sadder to me because he died so young. (I actually did not say his career was sadder, but his story, though I had referred to Gregory's career.)  And I believe the firing from ABT was at least unfortunate as well whatever the reasons.  None of this changes the dancer he was and it is great that videos of his dancing still give people pleasure. I do remember his Albrecht with admiration--other than Solor that is the only big role I remember seeing him dance with ABT; fixed in my memory is the way he walked across the stage at the very end of Act II. (You can open a Godunov topic under "Dancers" on this site. More people with memories of Godunov are likely to see it there, although there are no guarantees.)

Thank you very much, especially for your memories of Godunov. I am glad he danced with Cynthia Gregory, a great American ballerina.

[Meliss]

1 hour ago, lmspear said:

Here's a short film of Gregory with Nagy from the mid-70s.  Early in her career she was often paired with Nagy and Bruce Marks.

https://youtu.be/96oAWkOOg9M?si=1_hd7UesEhqk2dj9

A very beautiful film, I enjoyed watching it. Thanks a lot.