Cold dancers that you like

[canbelto]

The description "cold" is so often used to damn dancers that I was wondering if any of you had a favorite "cold" dancer. This does not mean a dancer that everyone thinks is cold, but you do not find cold. I mean a dancer that you acknowledge is rather chilly, but you like him/her anyway.

I can't think of that many, but two off the top of my head: Gillian Murphy and Darcey Bussell. Neither of them are the warmest dancers, but both of them have such a solid technique and a kind of coltish, energetic athleticism that is a joy to watch.

[sylphide]

Tatiana Terekhova, especially dancing Kitri. I am always in absolute awe of her solid technique. But I do admit that Kitri is a red-blooded role. Nevertheless, she does not cease to amaze me in that role. I could watch her turn, jump and move across the stage a million times. Always super strong and solid! She is more of an amazone to me, this is why I love her so much

[BalletGirl]

IMO---Maria Kowroski

[BalletNut]

Yuan Yuan Tan.

[GeorgeB fan]

Miranda Weese

[Fraildove]

yulia makhalina

[zerbinetta]

Peter Martins. Although maybe cool would be a better description.

Miranda Weese? Hmm .. actually I find her warm & womanly but with a reserve, perhaps, rather than a coldness.

[bart]

I wonder about that term "cold."

I assume this refers to the oppoite of dancers who establish close emotional rapport with the audience by embodying and projecting charm, light-heartedness or romantic angst, vulnerability, exceptional fluidity, long, aching extensions, etc.

But there are other kinds of "heat." I'm thinking of a dancer who maintained a very close emotional connection with her audience by being technically brilliant, by projecting an enormous sense of physical confidence and control, as well as by her daring and passionate commitment to every role she took on:

Cynthia Gregory.

On the other hand, a technically brilliant dancer who DID leave me "cold," especially since I only saw him in what were meant to be romantic roles, was Eric Bruhn. I've always felt that this was a real blind spot in my ability to relate to ballet dancing.

[Natalia]

Daria Pavlenko

canbelto - Is Bussell really cold? I get just the opposite feeling -- a 'warm & fuzzy' good-girl type. That's why I never could believe her Gamzatti in 'Bayadere' but she's perfect as Aurora in 'Beauty' or Princess Rose in 'Pagodas.'

[Cygnet]

Bussell was an excellent Aurora. I agree that Gamzatti was a miscast for her, and I'll add Manon to that too.

Now, if you mean cold as in technical brilliance: Tatiana Terekhova, Daria Pavlenko, Sylvie Guillem, Tamara Rojo, Auriel Dupont, and Gillian Murphy. If you mean 'cold' as in "deep freeze:" Olesia Novikova, Uliana Lopatkina and Natalya Bessmertnova.

[canbelto]

Bussell was an excellent Aurora.  I agree that Gamzatti was a miscast for her, and I'll add Manon to that too. 

Now, if you mean cold as in technical brilliance:  Tatiana Terekhova, Daria Pavlenko, Sylvie Guillem, Tamara Rojo, Auriel Dupont, and Gillian Murphy.  If you mean 'cold' as in "deep freeze:" Olesia Novikova, Uliana Lopatkina and Natalya Bessmertnova.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When I mean "cold" I kind of mean a lack of emotional empathy. I always found Bussell sort of a blank emotionally -- great atheticism, good looks, etc. But not much going on underneath that smile. But I always enjoyed her energetic dancing.

I forgot to add one more dancer that I mostly like, but I admit is as cold as liquid nitrogen: Svetlana Zakharova.

[MakarovaFan]

Natalya Bessmertnova

[nysusan]

Hmm.. I agree with canbelto’s definition of cold - a lack of emotional empathy or perhaps the inability to project emotional empathy. Detachment is a quality I associate with cold dancers, and in those terms I don’t think of some of the dancers mentioned here as cold. I’ve seen great, impassioned performances from Kowroski, Gregory & Pavlenko. All 3 of them are dancers that I think tend to forge a real connection with their roles & the audience and I really don't think of them as cold. If you take Cygnet’s definition of cold as technical brilliance than Gregory certainly fits the bill.

My shortlist of cold dancers that I like are Zakharova, Michelle Wiles and Gillian Murphy. Going down memory lane - Eric Bruhn and Peter Martins. I loved Bruhn but I'm not sure Martins fits the bill here since I never really liked him as a dancer. But he was the textbook definition of deep freeze cold!

[Philip]

How interesting. I found both Cynthia Gregory and Eric Bruhn to be -very- warm dancers. Indeed, I don't think that "warmth" necessarily needs to be defined as someone who wears a smile on their face, or emotes overtly in context of communication. If this were so, most Balanchine dancers could easily be considered to be cold.

I agree with nysusan. I personally find "cold" to be rather negative, in that it could define a dancer who does not communicate choreographic syntax, (emotional or otherwise), within the context of what the choreography demands from their hearts - as if withholding "who they are" from the audience.

When Fernando Bujones was young (may he rest peacefully) I found him cold. But, when Cynthia Gregory began to be partnered by him, he seemed to mature, come out of his shell a bit and give a little more to the audience.

Gregory? I found her warm and sweet. Bruhn? - an epitome of the Chekhov style of acting from beneath expressivity.

Each of us has his/her interpretation of what we perceive as trained observers of dance and dancers.

- Philip (my first real post on this site!)

[Hans]

Perhaps there is a difference between a dancer's technique or movement style and his or her stage personality. To take an example from the opera world, Renée Fleming achieves an icy vocal perfection, but her stage presence is said to be very warm. Are there dancers whose personality is warm but whose movement style is coldly correct?

[carbro]

Congratulations, Philip, and welcome! Once you've learned a bit about how to get around this board, I hope you'll tell us a bit about yourself on our Welcome Page.

I agree with nysusan.  I personally find "cold" to be rather negative, in that it could define a dancer who does not communicate choreographic syntax, (emotional or otherwise), within the context of what the choreography demands from their hearts - as if withholding "who they are" from the audience.- Philip (my first real post on this site!)

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This is an important point. Any performer who is "cold" would have to have an awful lot of something else if they get to the top in their discipline. The only one who has come to mind as truly cold since canbelto first posed the question, is Peter Martins, whom I, like nysusan, never liked. In my case, his coldness was very offputting. I simply couldn't connect with him. But he did show the choreography, if he rarely got beyond its surface.

But Peter has strikingly handsome looks, exemplified gorgeous technique and was a tall, strong, quick-reflexed cavalier -- no small consideration at NYCB. It would have been surprising if he hadn't become a major dancer in a major company.

I agree again with nysusan that Miranda Weese and Gillian Murphy (but not Michele Wiles) tend to be cerebral and aloof, but each consistently demonstrates her love of her art. The dancing matters.

But there are other kinds of "heat."  I'm thinking  of a dancer who maintained a very close emotional connection with her audience by being technically brilliant,  by projecting an enormous sense of physical confidence and control, as well as by her daring and passionate commitment to every role she took on. . . .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I expected your example here to be Merrill Ashley, not Cynthia G.

[bart]

How interesting.  I found both Cynthia Gregory and Eric Bruhn to be -very- warm dancers.  Indeed, I don't think that "warmth" necessarily needs to be defined as someone who wears a smile on their face, or emotes overtly in context of communication.

Welcome, Philip.

Your post made me think a bit more about Gregory, one of my favorite dancers of the 70s and 80s. Among the 20th century roles I remember fondly were Hagar (Pillar of Fire), Lizzie (Fall River Legend), and Miss Julie. These are intense characters, not easy to love. To carry them off, the dancer must project great underlying vulnerability, lyricism to balance the neurotic, and actually touch the audience's hearts. If this is "warmth" -- and we agree that these terms are relative -- Gregory was indeed a master of this art.

P.S. Oddly, Miss Julie was also considered one of Bruhn's great roles.

[FauxPas]

I might add Elisabeth Platel to my list of favorite "cold" dancers. However, she had a wide repertoire of which I only saw the tiniest fraction. Perhaps she got hotter in modern works or certain pieces she danced in Paris. Another potentially "cool" dancer none of us have seen enough of is Alla Osipenko who danced a wide repertoire and probably gave warm performances few in the West have seen. Bessmertnova actually has an inner quality of spirituality turned inward combined with a kind of totally assured technical mastery that can read as cold but isn't really. You kind of have to look in on her a bit.

Is Wendy Whelan a "cool" dancer? I think she is actually a bit of a chameleon. So in reality is Kyra Nichols who is like Cynthia Gregory in that she got warmer as she matured. What about Merrill Ashley? She also got warmer as she matured. I could add the wonderful Martine Van Hamel to this list.

[bart]

So in reality is Kyra Nichols who is like Cynthia Gregory in that she got warmer as she matured.  What about Merrill Ashley?  She also got warmer as she matured.

A very interesting observation. I wonder how many other dancers showed this kind of development as they grew older and more mature. And by what process.

[carbro]

I think there are two factors involved in the "older=warmer" phenomenon. First, a more experienced dancer will feel more at ease on stage, ergo more able to project out and draw us in.

Secondly, for home-towners, as we become more familiar with a particular (maturing) dancer, the more susceptible we are to her/his personality and more apt to perceive the warmth.

[Hans]

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned Suzanne Farrell. On video, at least, she is the epitome of a Deep Freeze.

[zerbinetta]

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned Suzanne Farrell.  On video, at least, she is the epitome of a Deep Freeze.

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Suzanne cold? Egad!!!

She was the hottest of the hot.

Maybe you did have to be there.

[carbro]

I can't imagine "getting" Farrell without having seen her in person. She was a jumble of paradoxes -- passionate/aloof, vulnerable/indomitable. Quite a combination of qualities, and what camera could capture them all?

[bart]

I've just been reading an interview with Balanchine as he was preparing for the Stravinsky Festival in 1972.

In response to something Balanchine has said, the interviewer, Louis Botto, asks: "Then, the ballet is not an emotional art, unless it moves you by the beauty of the dancing?"

Balanchine: "Naturally. A lot of people go to the theater to see their own life, their own experience. We don't give them that in the ballet. We give them something less. When you see flowers, do you have any emotion? You're moved by the color and the beauty -- but what does it mean to be moved? Some people think you have to cry to have emotions. Suppose you don't -- then people believe you're cold and have no heart. Some people are hot, some cold. Which is better? I prefer cold. I have never cried at a ballet. I never cry anytime. I don't have that type of reaction. Actually, when people cry they are only thinking of themselves. They think, I'm poor, I'm unhappy, I'm lonely, why did my girl friend leave me? And so, beautiful music that is sad or a stage situation that is ethereal suddenly attaches itself to your personal life and makes you cry."

(From Intellectual Digest, 1972, reprinted in Selma Jeanne Cohen, ed., Dance as a Theater Art).

[sylphide]

Interesting comment by Balanchine. Thanks for posting it.