Bunheads only?

[Farrell Fan]

The NY Times dance writing is full of surprises these days. Reviewing Peter Martins's "Chichester Psalms" Jennifer Dunning says, "beware female dancers with unbound hair." Since Balanchine frequently used female unbound hair for dramatic effect, starting with "Serenade," I wonder if anyone agrees with this dictum.

[doug]

Hair down in Serenade didn't begin until the late 1970s, yes?

[Dale]

Yes, supposedly Balanchine changed it so he could see Maria Calegari's lovely red hair down. Before that, there was Errante, Meditation, Suite No. 3. There's a scene in Don Q where Dulcinea washes the Don's feet with her unbound hair.

[Helene]

Yes, supposedly Balanchine changed it so he could see Maria Calegari's lovely red hair down. 

And what a sight it was in the pose in the last movement where the three women stand nestled with partly arched backs, featuring the cascading blond hair of Kistler, red hair of Calegari, and brown hair of Nichols, especially before she cut her hair.

And then there was the all-dark hair version with Saland, Hlinka, and Alexopoulos.

[Marga]

Walpurgisnacht Ballet -- long hair flying in resemblance to the fires of hell! How could it possibly be danced in buns ???

[Helene]

Walpurgisnacht Ballet -- long hair flying in resemblance to the fires of hell! How could it possibly be danced in buns ???

And the "hair" choreography, where the the women do port de bras all the way forward and back, just wouldn't be the same with buns

[carbro]

Sleepwalker in La Sonnambula.

Dance of the Heavenly Spirits in Chaconne. Interesting, because other than Suite 3, which seems to be governed by rules of its own, I can't think of another ballet where the hair goes from down to up.

[perky]

I recently saw a picture of Natalia Makarova with very short hair dancing the girl in Afternoon Of A Faun. It looked horribly out of place in that ballet. That loose sweeping long hair is part of the character. And I happen to love the ending of Walpurgisnacht with the flying hair and barely restrained edge of hysteria.

Long hair in a Balanchine ballet implies all sorts of mysteries and mystical doings. I love it!

[Alexandra]

Long hair, Romantic; bun hair, classical (in Balanchine). That's what I've always been told. "Suite No. 3" goes from Romantic to classical.

[Ari]

I have to say I have some sympathy for Dunning. In a hair-down ballet I find it hard to pay attention to the dancing with all that long hair whipping around. It's bad enough when it's just the soloists, but a whole mass of them --