Leigh Witchel Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 Well, she debuted in Aurora and she's a soloist now. Let's talk about her! What I find interesting about Bouder, and also Jennie Somogyi, is that they restore a certain type back to NYCB that's been gone for a few decades. We get either big and powerful or small and delicate. Both Bouder and Somogyi are small and powerful, heroic dancers. We got an Aurora from Bouder who could have as easily been christened Victoria. Are there dancers from the past you think of in Bouder's "lineage"? She's doing some of Tallchief's roles, and I wonder if there isn't a little Melissa Hayden in there, but when I was looking at the last issue of Ballet Review, what struck me was a resemblance to the photos of Danilova. Any comments from people who saw those dancers? Anyone placing money on when she gets Theme and Variations? What do you folks think of Bouder? Link to comment
dirac Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 As I'm on the other coast, I can't comment on Bouder, but Marie-Jeanne was another small dancer with a lot of oomph, going by the roles Balanchine made for her. Link to comment
Leigh Witchel Posted February 25, 2004 Author Share Posted February 25, 2004 Definitely. But I feel like that line got bred out in the early 60s. Anyone else agree? Link to comment
carbro Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 Dipping not so far back, the immediate likeness I draw is to Merrill Ashley. However, that's just a general impression. I was never a great Merrill fan (as I stated elsewhere recently); her upper body lost it for me. I think Bouder is a million times more musical and much more expressive, and she has the upper body ease and softness that Merrill never did. Where they are alike is in the clarity of their dancing and the aggressiveness of attack. Link to comment
dirac Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 Not to suggest that Tallchiefs come with the mail, but I wonder if Balanchine more or less allowed the line to expire once he was breeding enough tall girls with the speed and clarity he wanted? Although there was Kirkland, the one that got away. (I know, she looked waiflike as all getout, but on the films I've seen she's a tigress in disguise.) Back to Bouder, sorry. Link to comment
liebs Posted February 26, 2004 Share Posted February 26, 2004 I'm not sure the line was bred out - I'd qualify Heather Watts (in her early days, she was a strong verstile dancer) and Nicole Hlinka. Link to comment
Michael Posted February 26, 2004 Share Posted February 26, 2004 I don't know I would describe either Bouder or Somogyi as "small" in general, although it makes sense in Balanchine typology. There is at once a great sense of weightiness to her dancing and the explosive ballon that allows her to escape the earth. Juliet has more than once aptly remarked how she inhabits space, how she occupies the space around her. Bouder is actually slighter than Somogyi, in a Tutu Ashley has a very long and stretched line and appears taller than she is, a stretched and ethereal quality again in contrast to that innate weightiness. If she resembled anyone presently known to me in her Vision Scene last night it was Gillian Murphy, a much taller dancer, but the dancer above all made by Melissa Hayden in her own image, so your Hayden idea may be just, Leigh. I would not press the Murphy comparison any further, though. In classical terms, I think Bouder's range comprehends everything from Coppelia (which I hope to see some day) to an extraordinary Myrtha or an extraordinary Giselle. Her Firebird was wonderful. In the Balanchine rep, La Sonnambula would be within her range. I loved her Polyhymnia this past season, which she will reprise in D.C. next week. Theme and Variations will be natural for her and it would be lovely to see it as soon as this spring. She has danced 3d Movement in Symphony in C (although Fairchild's getting that in D.C.) but I think she could as easily or more easily dance 1st movment or 4th movement, all of them really. I find your comparison to Danilova extremely interesting and wonder what others think of it. Link to comment
oberon Posted February 27, 2004 Share Posted February 27, 2004 Could we just let Ashley Bouder be Ashley Bouder? She's only danced a handful of performances since, and has been a soloist for a week. Yes, she has many fine qualities. But comparing an active dancer to photos of dancers from the past is pretty meaningless..yes, their face, legs, arms, whatever may be similar but unless you've seen the photographed dancer in action, you can't really compare the two. Someone has aleady referred to her as La Bouder...Maria Callas must be getting a chuckle out of that up in Heaven. Just let the girl dance. Link to comment
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