Darcey Bussell

[Giannina]

On the Favorite Manons thread Bart mentions that Darcey Bussell is rarely mentioned/praised. So let's talk about her.

I reviewed her January 2005 performance in Cinderella and stated that I found her amazing. I read another review somewhere that said her pyrotechnics (spelling?) may have abated a bit but her stage presence and over-all ability are better than ever. I thoroughly agree. In Cinderella she was the complete dancer, so in control of her presentation that you could sit back and just enjoy her without worrying about possible mistakes.

In truth I have seen relatively little of her: a few times on stage, DVD performances, never in Manon. With the little I've seen I would say she is at her peak.

Bart?

Giannina

[bart]

Thanks, Giannina. I raised the issue on the Manon thread because a number of other dancers had been named as "favorite Manons," but no mention of Bussell -- who, it happens, was the only Manon I'd seen (MacMillan version).

I've also seen her in videos of a few set-piece pas de deux and as Gamzatti in the Royal 'bayadere with Asylmuratova and Mukhamedov. I've been impressed in all -- even in Manon, where she danced with a Hungarian partner whose name I don't recall -- by her presence, beauty of line, impeccable but also exceptionally graceful technique, and general air of pleasure in ... dancing !!. (This last is something that not all the famous ballet performers manage to convey.)

I know also that she has a huge and enthusiastic fan base in a number of countries. Why is she rarely mentioned here? What do people with lots of viewing experience think?

[ami1436]

I replied on the Manon thread before I saw this!

Darcey Bussell obviously has her fan base, and she's almost portrayed here as 'the people's dancer' (do other people here in the UK agree with me?), what with her Marks and Spencers adverts and the like.

I think she, as a lot of dancers do, also splits the fans a bit. She's a technically strong dancer, but I don't always like her in roles that require more acting. Her 'pyrotechnics' are indeed impressive, and her style has lead many people to wonder if she should have gone for NYCB instead (! and what do NYCB-omanes think of that?).

I really enjoyed her in Act III of Raymonda, performed here 2 seasons ago, I think in the Nureyev programme. She was strong, confident, and just a touch remote in a good way.

This season, I haven't seen much of her, somewhat on purpose. What I have seen her in has been a mixed bag. I also don't think the Ashton work that has been the centre of this season fully suits her.

[sylvia]

I was looking at the 2004-5 season, and she danced:

Requiem

Sylvia

Awakenings pdd

Cinderella

Manon

Pavane pour une Infante defunte

Symphony in C

A Month in the Country

I missed her Manon and Cinderella unfortunately, so I haven't felt I've seen her as much this year.

Given by own admission that she's not an Ashton dancer, I was very curious to see what she'd make of A Month in the Country earlier this month. Well either she's had it all along and I've been too blind to notice, or she's really absorbed all the Ashton epaulement throughout the season, because it was as clear as could be in her Natalia. All the swoops, bends, twists, and expressiveness in her upper body were there from her very first solo, and gosh she danced it so beautifully! I was very, VERY impressed and I think given how relatively little Ashton there must be in her rep, she must have worked hard to make it look so right. In fact it's probably one of the best roles I've ever seen her dance. I applaud her and I applaud her coaches too.

I also loved her in Requiem back in October - it's hard to explain why though. Apart from a technical abilities, there's something very open about the way she exposes herself to audiences dancewise. Anyway, I'm delighted it's back next season. I wish she'd danced in Song of the Earth in the last run.

I have to admit she isn't one of my favourites when it comes to dramatic ballets like Manon, although the last time I saw her Juliet a few years ago I was extremely moved by her act 3. Her Giselle with Jonathan Cope a few years ago was wonderful. I agree about the Raymonda divertissement, and I'll add Aurora too - she absolutely glows in it and is as perfect for the Rose Adage as anyone I've ever seen dance in it.

Will have to think of more - as she's had two children in the last 4 years, we probably haven't seen as much of her as we'd like.

[carbro]

Her 'pyrotechnics' are indeed impressive, and her style has lead many people to wonder if she should have gone for NYCB instead (! and what do NYCB-omanes think of that?). 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So Darcey Bussell is Marks & Sparks' spokesballerina! I am trying to imagine a US company launching a campaign around a ballet dancer. I am not succeeding.

Darcey danced the Agon pdd to huge acclaim for the gala which concluded the 1993 Balanchine Festival . It was THE buzz of the day-long event. Fortunately, it was captured (as were all the performances of that event) on video. Unfortunately, it is not currently available via Amazon. It's probably a safe bet, though, that it will be released on DVD reasonably soon. I hope so.

You might check libraries.

But it's safe to say that Darcey has a ready-made fan base in New York.

[Drew]

I love Bussell's dancing, but although I agree (based on what I have seen) that she does not have much range as an actress--I don't think "pyrotechnics" is the right word for what it is she does so wonderfully on stage. She has an unusual sweetness and naturalness when she dances and her movements have a rich, "creamy" texture--she dances expansively, with high extensions and a flexible back, but also smoothly and lyrically. Wheeldon created a pas de deux for her that was entirely about her beauty and lyricism. I also find her, to use Sylvia's expression, a very "open" dancer.

I first saw her when she was quite young (twenty one or so) in Winter Dreams and in an enjoyable but still unfledged performance of Swan Lake--I was intrigued but not quite won over. Later, when I saw the telecast of the performance Carbro mentions, I was more than intrigued and some guest appearances with NYCB won me over entirely.

But I still think of Bussell very much as a Royal Ballet ballerina. I loved her Aurora, and thought she managed to grow from girlishly lovely to womanly lovely across the evening while remaining very much her own enchanting self. I also saw her with the Royal in a slightly less successful performance as Nikiya--she was soulful, lyrical and erotic in Act I--really fabulous--and even more dreamily so in Act III, but in the real Petipa challenge of Act II never seemed quite comfortably 'inside' the choreography.

I also thought she was simply dazzling in Macmillan's Prince of the Pagodas, and she did seem to bring out a neo-classical strain in Macmillan that was if not precisely Balanchinesque, at any rate operating in an analogous strain--especially in the final pas de deux. As mentioned above, I did hugely admire her appearances with New York City Ballet in Balanchine: Agon and the second movement in Symphony in C. I would give the Agon special praise for it's "open" or innocent quality...The audience at that performance was deeply appreciative--people could not stop talking about her at intermission--but, as I remember the written reviews of her appearances with NYCB that season, not all fans of the company were won over. (She was noticeably slower than the other ballerinas in Symphony in C during the finale...She looked beautiful but by no means like an NYCB ballerina.) I think I also saw her as a very fetching Titania in Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream, but my memory is less certain of that performance.

I was also lucky enough to see her in two Ashton roles--Cinderella and A Month in the Country. Ashton's Cinderella is in so many ways a modern refraction of Sleeping Beauty that it's no wonder that having loved her in the one ballet I would love her in the other. But I would add that although Bussell may not be an "actress" she was wonderfully touching and convincing as a fairy tale heroine. I especially remember the great tenderness or her final kind and smiling goodbye to the more pathetic of the ugly stepsisters (the one performed originally by Ashton).

Just last week I saw her in A Month in the Country and like Sylvia was very impressed by her Ashton dancing; the epaulement--the whole play of head, arms, shoulders in relation to the rest of her body--and the quick delicate shifts of movement were all articulate and expressive. (The moment she began the first variation--I thought, wow! she can really show, as if effortlessly, how Ashton is supposed to look.) I do think she is fundamentally miscast in this ballet--too "young," too "sweet,' even too "pretty" for Natalia: so, for example, when Natalia slaps her step-daughter I couldn't help thinking that Bussell looks as if she never said a cross word to anyone in her life let alone slapped someone! In general, I found all of the pantomime parts of the ballet rather unconvincing--the frustration with her husband, the nervous laughter when she is accused etc. But the performance was still moving, because the dancing was not only lovely and fluent, but expressive (expressive through the movement), and Bussell's temperament--while not exactly right for the ballet--is very winning in its own way. So, in spite of recognizing that she is, perhaps, not actress enough to bring out all facets of the role I found myself quite touched by the performance.

Anyway, I don't expect everyone to respond to her quite as I do--she is one of my absolute favorite ballerinas--but I do think she has a lot to offer and specifically a lot to offer in the Royal Ballet repertory...

[allegromezzo18]

What about Ashley Bouder or Gillian Murphy? I bet either one could have

a children's (or adult) clothing line and do well.

What do you all think?

[Helene]

Drew,

What a wonderful appreciation of Bussell's dancing.

[ami1436]

I didn't see Bussell's 'Month' this season, but have heard similar things as to what Sylvia expressed - people felt like they were even watching a different dancer! I now wish I had seen it. I did like her in Requiem as well, and Symphony in C (second movement - but not the finale), but still tend not to like her in more dramatic/acting roles.

Drew, your explanation of her dancing is fabulous, and I agree that 'pyrotechnics' is probably not the right word to explain her style. 'Open' is good - but there's something more to it as well. Will have to think....

[mohnurka]

I think these are the tapes (though VHS, not DVD) with Darcey in Agon carbro was talking about...

Balanchine Celebration Part 1

Balanchine Celebration Part 2

*oops, edit: I just looked at the tapes on Amazon again and noticed that they're out of stock. Sorry!

Edited June 27, 2005 by mohnurka