Kyra Nichols

[Lillian]

I started the Kyra Nichols bit on the other thread and thought I'd transfer it over here.

I have seen Kyra Nichols in dozens of ballets in New York and not once was I taken with her performance. Maybe almost once, in the Spring variation of the Four Seasons but Wendy Whelan is great in that too.

Her performances of Scoth Symphony, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, Allegro Brillante, Afternoon of a Faun, Raymonda Variations, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux all left me stone cold. I dread opening up a program and seeing her cast. The worst part is I can't figure out why.

Maybe it's because she isn't stretched out enough (I agree with Lugo) and she looks down a lot.

But I think all and all she is just so BORING. No surprises with Kyra Nichols. She also has this American school girl look that I don't find too elegant. And as I mentioned before, she always has her mouth open! Of her generation, I far preferred Maria Calegari, one of my all time favorite dancers.

I also found Merrill Ashley far more exciting in the virtuoso roles. Merrill Ashley in Allegro Brillante put them all to shame, even a few years ago when she was so injured she could barely walk.

Kyra Nichols is a huge star, so I'm probably wrong on all counts. It is just a gut feeling. Sorry to all the fans. I really want to like her...

[Leigh Witchel]

Lillian, about the best description of Nichols' virtues as a dancer was a piece from 1988 in Ballet Review by Claudia Pierpont. She talks about Nichols' musicality and her - it's hard to describe, I almost wish to say "reasonability" - I'm recalling the article from memory. It's exactly what you *don't* like about her, actually!

Having watched a good deal of Nichols, I can say I've seen her turn in more than one great performance. She's not inherently dramatic or tragic, rather, she is lyric and musical, so much so that one almost ends up listening to her performances as much as viewing them.

When I think of her, I think of her Mozartiana - totally different than Kistler's (I never saw Farrell, alas) or ballets like Allegro Brillante or Robbins' Spring from his Four Seasons. I think it is interesting in that she is one of the NYCB principals I have heard the most polar opinions on. (At this point, I think the other is Whelan)

[Kevin Ng]

Kyra Nichols is in my opinion the greatest classical ballerina in the world at present, and certainly the most musical. I am privileged to have followed her career since 1985, though I always regret not being able to see enough of her performances in New York.

I have happy memories of her over the years in many Balanchine ballets, especially in "Mozartiana", "Vienna Waltzes", "Cortege Hongrois", "Raymonda Variations", the Rondo section of "Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet", "Donizetti Variations", "Theme and Variations" of "Tchaikovsky Suite No.3", "Diamonds", "La Sonambula", "Serenade", "Walpurgisnacht".

In January this year, I saw her in "Liebeslieder Walzer" and "Concerto Barocco". In "Barocco" Nichols' dancing, which has a beautiful cantabile tone like a Stradivarius violin, was so heart-meltingly pure that it seemed to cleanse one's senses. Nichols also imparted an ineffable spiritual dimension to her exemplary dancing.

[This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited May 01, 1999).]

[Alexandra]

I've always liked Nichols' dancing, but never understood why so many consider her one of the Great Ones. For me, there has to be more than a pure technique. Some of the things Lillian mentioned have bothered me, too, although I've certainly never dreaded seeing her. I agree with Leigh that she's lyrical and musical, and there are certain moments of performances that thrilled me, but they are small ones. But there's ultimately a lack of polish that separates her from ballerinas like Platel or Guerin or Asylmuratova who, to me, are the great classical ballerinas of the day.

Alexandra

[cargill]

The first time Kyra Nichols knocked me off my feet was a number of years ago during the American Music Festival, when she was doing Liberty Belle from Stars and Stripes, which is a role usually guaranteed to set my teeth on edge. In her solo she has a series of three turns into a sideways jump (I don't know the technical name, but her legs extend to the side). Most dancers go full out on all three, like they are in a broad jump competition and get to keep the highest score. Nichols took them from low to high, so when it was over and she was at the side of the stage, you felt she could have kept going into infinity. I'm sure the final jump was no higher than any one else's but because of the phrasing and the change of level, it was so much more exciting than anyone else I have seen. After that I watched her intently, and I guess I can see why people might think she isn't exciting, but to me it is just effortless perfection. She is so centered and so stable, and so present in every role she does, but there are subtle variations of mood and timing without any pushiness that make her seem so much more grownup than almost anyone else at City Ballet nowadays, exciting though some of the younger dancers are. I just wish everyone could feel the pleasure I get from watching her.

[Kevin Ng]

Cargill, I wish I could see Kyra Nichols in "Stars and Stripes" as well! Actually, I just remember a review in the "New Yorker" of 8 July 1996, in which Arlene Croce described Kyra Nichols. I like to quote Croce.

"Nichols has now reached the privileged moment in a dancer's career when she is doing less and giving more. I remember that moment in Fonteyn, in Tallchief, in Kolpakova, in Farrell; it's the ultimate refinement of classical style, the crowning achievement of a lifetime in dance.......she's not a model for steps; she's a vision of dance. An artist of sterling technique and shadowless temper, she is passing just now through unaccustomed territory; the romantic side of Balanchine.....

Of the generation of ballerinas born by the end of the sixties, Kyra Nichols is the only one with a completely formed, articulate technique and a distinguished repertory in which to deploy it. She ripened on the vine while her two great NYCB contemporaries, Darci Kistler and Maria Calegari, and the Kirov's Asylmuratova, the Bolshoi's Ananiashvili, the Paris Opera's Sylvie Guillem, and the Royal Ballet's Darcey Bussell all suffered disruptions and cancellations of one sort or another..."

[Guest Savoye]

Kyra is, in my opinion, a gorgeous dancer, but she's past her prime and needs to retire. Too bad. She's the last of the great Balanchine ballerinas, and NYCB and the dance world won't be the same without her. I think her greatest moments were/are in Walpurgisnacht Ballet--simply amazing. Now if only that corps would liven up in the coda, I would be completely happy. Kyra is so spiritual in her dancing!

[cargill]

I would hate to see Nichols retire (of course I love her dancing.) There is a lot more to ballet than just steps, even Balanchine ballets, and to me no one has as much grandeur and majesty, and intelligence in her dancing. There is so much to see in watching experienced dancers, and so many details that come with maturity. I do think that getting rid of so many older corps dancers at NYCB (I have read that the average age is 20) has flattened out some of the ballets, and for what its worth, I hope to learn a lot more from Nichols.

[Dale]

I think some find Nichols bland because she is very subtle musically. I don't think it's time to put her out to pasture. Last season, she was a joy to watch in In G Major, Liebeslieder Walzer, Dances at a Gathering, Glazounov Pas de Deux, Diamonds, and Goldberg Variations. I had liked her in the final movement of Vienna Waltzes but last season I thought Kistler gave the superior performance in that ballet. However, I was pleased to see she "retired" from Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet and Symphony in C. She still has a lot to give, and like Mary said, to show us.

Dale

[pdance]

I have never had the privelege of seeing Nichols dance, but I sure would like to. Are there any videoes that you know of? If so, please post it here or e-mail me. Thanks!

[This message has been edited by pdance (edited May 04, 1999).]

[Guest Savoye]

Dale--I agree that Kyra has a few more years left, but no tutu ballets, please! She looks best in something flowing...reminds me of Suzanne Farrell. However, her bent knees annoy me (and everyone else here at SAB )

Finally, can she ever balance! She stayed in arabesque en pointe for what must have been 5 seconds before she came down and moved to her opening position right on time and quicker than a 19th-century sylph's petit allegro! Go Kyra! (I meant to say that this was in Walpurgisnacht )

[This message has been edited by Savoye (edited May 05, 1999).]

[drb]

Maybe it is time to restart this thread in light of this amazing dancer's career coming to its grand finale in her Gala (since it is a specially scheduled, non-subscription performance of dances of her choosing, why not call it what it is?) on June 22.

In today's links there is a long article about her life from the Newark Star-Ledger. It tells a lot about her non-ballet life as a mother of two boys, the personal effect 9/11 had on her, her plans for the future...

Perhaps this is an easier link:

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/bas...ll=1&thispage=2

Depending on your browser, you may need to click "cancel" in order to read the whole article.

[Paul Parish]

THanks, drb, for pulling that up. It's a wonderful article -- really really touching.

I've seen her do Mozartiana with the kind of feeling this article gives you. She's a different kind of ballerina altogether from Suzanne, but she embodies the state of grace in another way. She makes the Preghiera about mother-love -- nothing fussy, nothing cloying, BUT she was totally aware of those children, all the way through, and didn't make her exit without FIRST THING gesturing to them, OK, let's go home now.

Suzanne did it like a saint in an old icon, where she's the tall one because she's the SAINT and the other folks are short because they're NOT the saint, and the dance was about her and Jesus. Which is of course the REAL truth of the piece, and why nobody else's will touch it - -but Kyra's way is really full of love, full of it, really floating on love -- which is totally appropriate, and a completely acceptable alternative. The Preghiera is a setting of the Ave verum corpus, which is a hymn about Jesus's unparallelled care for us, so it's essentially a meditation on the same thing, and REALLY beautiful -- and she sustained this state and carried it all the way through to the finale.

What a wonderful imagination.