Dancers retiring "at the top of their form"

[bart]

Rachel Stroud writes the following about about Darcey Bussell's fairewell performance(s) in the Guardian Unlimited, May 25, 2007. Thanks, dirac, for the Link.

One thing is beyond contention, though. Bussell's retirement comes at the height of her abilities. [ ... ] Bussell, wisely, has left audiences and critics wanting more.

Have their been other major ballet dancers who have similarly left when "at the top of their form"?

Why have they done so? (Injuries in this case not being the major consideration.)

And was the "retirement" as permanent as they (or we) thought it would be?

[Mel Johnson]

Denise Jackson of the Joffrey.

She bowed out gracefully, at the perfect time, i.e., when she said it was time, and nobody else did.

And come to think of it, Francesca Corkle, same, only quieter. There were some of us who knew when her last performance was, but nobody outside. And the next day, she showed up to teach her class as usual at the Joffrey School.

[Farrell Fan]

Peter Martins retired at the top of his form as a dancer.

[carbro]

As, for that matter, did Kevin McKenzie.

[Paul Parish]

Nureyev danced so far past his day, and horrifyingly continued to try to dance in the old way, that many star dancers must have felt an inward pressure to retire before they looked deluded. Martins was taking on many extra responsibilities, but he retired while his polish remained uncrazed, and I remember thinking he didn't want to go out like Nureyev. He didn't say that, I don't think, at least not publicly; nobody SAID it; but it seemed that a lot of dancers retired a little early in that era. Since it's possible now to feel that that era has passed, and that younger dance-fans don't remember what it felt like to see Nureyev dance SO badly, and hear large numbers of people cheering for heroic things that they must have hallucinated.

[canbelto]

Alessandra Ferri?

[Helene]

In a little over two weeks, Patricia Barker will.

[leonid17]

Nureyev danced so far past his day, and horrifyingly continued to try to dance in the old way, that many star dancers must have felt an inward pressure to retire before they looked deluded. Martins was taking on many extra responsibilities, but he retired while his polish remained uncrazed, and I remember thinking he didn't want to go out like Nureyev. He didn't say that, I don't think, at least not publicly; nobody SAID it; but it seemed that a lot of dancers retired a little early in that era. Since it's possible now to feel that that era has passed, and that younger dance-fans don't remember what it felt like to see Nureyev dance SO badly, and hear large numbers of people cheering for heroic things that they must have hallucinated.

Not hallucinating, simply either obsessed or unable to see past the media glamour of the name which attracted them to see him rather than ballet in general. I was one balletgoer who stopped seeing him a long time before many of my friends. But, my memories of his first four years with the Royal Ballet are a cherished memory.

[bart]

Of course, I guess sit's possible that the definition of "top of one's form" may change over a dancer's career. Few dance at 40 as they did at 20, even if they have become greater artists to compensate for a natural reduction of sheer energy, stg rength and certain kinds of technique.

Has anyone compared current performances of, say, Ferri or Barker with videos of how they danced 20 years ago?

[Helene]

Barker's performance of Clara in The Nutcracker from 1986 is on film. I remember being knocked out by her, and for the first time in my NYC-centric -- i.e., only looking East to Europe -- view, I realized there were great Balanchine dancers west of New York, something that had never sunk in, despite Arlene Croce's reviews of PNB when they came to Brooklyn. Then in 1993, her performance of Polymnia was also taped as part of the "Balanchine Celebration." I remember thinking that it was one of the highlights of the four-part program, along with Darci Kistler in Theme and Variations, Stephanie Saland's farewell performance in Vienna Waltzes, and Elizabeth Loscavio's knock-'em-dead "My One and Only."

Her performances have richened over the years, with no visible diminishing of technique, and there's a bloom she's had in the last three years since Peter Boal took over the company. To me, it looks like she's dancing more for herself, which has given her more freedom.

[Hans]

Didn't Nicole Hlinka retire rather early?

[leonid17]

Didn't Nicole Hlinka retire rather early?

There is a saying that you should leave the stage before it leaves you.

This is not the case of Nicole Hlinka but it might have been the case of a number of other

well known dancers.