Leigh Witchel Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Being that it's August, perky's comment on Janie Taylor having the best hair in ballet made me realize this deserves a topic of its own. No way, sez I. Carla Korbes has the best hair. Enter your candidates, please! Link to comment
Petra Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Moira Shearer. In the old Technicolour pictures she just looks Link to comment
Old Fashioned Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 I second Shearer. It's difficult to tell when a majority of the time I see the ladies' hair up in buns, but Tyann Clement certainly stands out among a company of faired-hair dancers and mousy brunettes. Her dancer head shot certainly makes her look glamorous, and she was stunning in La Valse. Link to comment
Alexandra Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 I'd go with Korbes, today. But from the past, I'd nominate Nina Fedorova. Not to mention Andris Liepa. Link to comment
Juliet Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 There's a lot of scope here.... Do we mean longest? Then Janie Taylor is certainly up there in the pantheon..... Carla Korbes' is long *and* thick and beautiful.... I liked Shearer's, and Maria Calegari's.... a lot of dancer's have beautiful hair simply because they don't blow-dry, or do too much torturing it..... Also Ivan Nagy in his dancing days..... Damian Woetzel generally has good haircuts..... Link to comment
Farrell Fan Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Darci Kistler used to reign supreme in this regard. When she danced Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun, her hair turned it into a pas de trois. Link to comment
oberon Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Darci, Janie, Carla & Sarah Ricard are among the best... Link to comment
sandik Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Antony Tudor. Oh, now that's an answer appropriate to the season. Although I think that Patricia Barker might be a candidate for best hair outside NYC. Link to comment
Big Lee Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Janie's looks awesome in the Afternoon of the Faun picture in the new NYCB brochure. Julie Kent also has awesome hair; check out the pictures of her in the pas de deux section of Nancy Ellison's Ballet book. Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Antony Tudor. Together with skin before it was IN! Link to comment
carbro Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 (edited) What??? No votes for Maria Calegari? Lourdes Lopez, too. And on the subject of both these ladies, I used to absolutely adore the moment when the two-- as demi-soloists -- came blazing out from the wings in Raymonda Variations' finale. Never looked quite as good as it did with one red and one black head. (Editing to apologize to Juliet for missing her mention of MC.) Edited August 4, 2004 by carbro Link to comment
atm711 Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 I have always loved the over-the-ear coif of Tamara Toumanova. Link to comment
Farrell Fan Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 For the best group hair, there's nothing better than Balanchine's Walpurgisnacht Ballet, in which 24 women let their hair down. But as a member in good standing of the Joan Acocella fan club, I must point out that NYCB hair ain't what it used to be. Link to comment
Jacqueline Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 Ummm...John Kerry? Well, kidding aside, how about Peter Martins back in the day? Link to comment
Cygnet Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 For the best group hair, there's nothing better than Balanchine's Walpurgisnacht Ballet, in which 24 women let their hair down. But as a member in good standing of the Joan Acocella fan club, I must point out that NYCB hair ain't what it used to be. I forgot the name, but does anyone know the name of the other ballet where the NYCB ladies let their hair down? I remember seeing a performance where everyone had well conditioned bouncin' hair. It's a short Russian folkdance with music by Stravinsky. Link to comment
oberon Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 Elegie, the opening movement of Tchaikovsky Suite #3, features the NYCB ladies barefooted and with flowing hair...it is my favorite part of one of my favorite ballets. Farrell Fan, your comment on NYCBs hair not being what it once was is hilarious...but I beg to differ: Korbes, Darci, Ashlee Knapp, Faye Arthurs, Sarah Ricard, Janie Taylor, Alexandra A, Jessica Flynn, Teresa Reichlin...these girls can hold a hairbrush to anyone who ever danced there. However, I do miss Helene's luxurious & beautiful black hair... Link to comment
carbro Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 Sorry, Oberon, but I'm with Farrell Fan here. Too many of the current/recent ladies' hair doesn't reach the shoulder blades -- or even shoulders. It's so disconcerting when, e.g., six girls have hair halfway down their backs (or longer) and one barely skims the shoulders, and one is just below the chin. Chaconne's Dance of the Heavenly Spirits is hair-down, too. Cygnet, I don't remember the hair, but perhaps you're thinking of Scherzo a la Russe? :shrug: Link to comment
Cygnet Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 Thanks Cabro that's the one I was thinking of. When I saw it towards the end, the headdresses came off and the hair went down. Link to comment
Jacqueline Posted August 8, 2004 Share Posted August 8, 2004 Also, the hair is down in the Elegie section of NYCB's "Serenade" And it amazes me how the "Waltz Girl" unpins hers without detection while she is lying on the stage. However, it is my understanding that "hair down" was not always the case. This was a subject of debate when my dd's pre-pro company (directed by Yvonne Mounsey) performed Serenade (under the tutelage of Colleen Neary) earlier this year as part of their Balanchine tribute. In Yvonne's day the hair was left up so that's the way they did it. Does anyone know when the taking down of hair in Serenade came into practice? Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted August 8, 2004 Share Posted August 8, 2004 I believe that it was changed sometime in the early-mid 70s. First time I saw it after I got out of the Air Force, I remember thinking, "Why did she do that?" Link to comment
oberon Posted August 8, 2004 Share Posted August 8, 2004 My impression is that, when the ballerina is borne aloft at the very end of SERENADE, it looks quite striking to see her hair cascading down as she back-bends into the final pose. Her hair is held in place by two pins which she removes as the corps girls rush past her and she swoons. You are usually watching the corps in their sweeping exit and don't notice that she is letting her hair down. As the girls clear off, you are left with the stunning picture of the collapsed woman alone on the stage...the flowing hair adds to the feeling of vulnerability. The stage is thus set for the poignant drama of the final movement. By the way, how did the "characters" in SERENADE get their "names"? Russian Girl, Waltz Girl, Dark Angel...surely Balanchine never called them by those names, did he?? Link to comment
Leigh Witchel Posted August 8, 2004 Author Share Posted August 8, 2004 Per the catalogue of choreography, the change happened ca. 1977 (it's noted with a question mark). Ballerinas handle the hair differently; it's actually rather tricky and I've seen it more often go awry than smoothly. At SFB and POB the dancer came in with her hair too loose and looked like she was doing Giselle's mad scene. To add insult to injury, at SFB Yuan Yuan Tan's hair came completely undone as she was dancing well before it was supposed to. Lorena Feijoo had a better method of undoing her hair; she had it secured so that a single sweep of her hands to the back dislodged everything and she did it in the steps she tooked before she started to chaine. Most dancers try to pick out the hairpins as they turn; it doesn't always work. There's also the problem of how to deal with hairspray - usually a ballerina's hair is pretty thoroughly lacquered in a bun for security. But hair like that won't fall freely or flow when unpinned. I'll bet a ballerina needs to go through several practice runs with her hair to figure out how to negotiate that moment. Link to comment
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