Alonso, Slavenska, Hayden, Kaye

[bart]

I came across, on YouTube, a remarkable 1960 Bell Telephone Hour performance of the Grand Pas de Quatre with (in order of variations) Nora Kaye, Melissa Hayden, Mia Slavenska, and Alicia Alonso. (This selection comes from a VAI video).

Unlike most televised ballet at the time, the dancers are well-lighted against a black background, so that every movement of head, arms, and legs is visible.

Kaye is dancing gamely, but very much against type, as -- to a lesser extent -- is Hayden. Alonso (very grande dame) and Slavenska are no longer young. There isn't much effort to portray the individualized styles of the 4 original ballerinas. But it's a wonderful document and somehow deeply moving in a way that more accomplished modern performances (on more dancer-friendly floors) don't seem to be.

I know that there are other posters here on Ballet Talk who had the chance to see all or most of these performers on stage. You might enjoy remembering them here.

The heading for the video on the Youtube website is "ALICIA ALONSO GRAND PAS DE QUATRE."

For comparison, there are some other versions available as well, including a much more recent Ballet Nacional de Cuba performance by Josefina Mendez, Aurora Bosch, Laipa Araujo, and Mirta Pla. It also shows the dancers quite effectively against a dark background. Among several other versions, there's one more from the BNdeC: with Marta Garcia, Ofellia Gonzalez, Maria Elena Llorente, and Gloria Hernandez.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I came across (on Youtube) a remarkable 1960 Bell Telephone Hour performance of the Grand Pas de Quatre with (in order of variations) Nora Kaye, Melissa Hayden, Mia Slavenska, and Alicia Alonso.

When searching on Youtube, look for "ALICIA ALONSO GRAND PAS DE QUATRE."

HI bart!...

Amazingly, i just also found this video this morning, around the same time you did!...(i search everyday for new Alonso footage online )...wow, what a performance... . I've always been particulary fascinated by those great ballet dames, their lives, personalities and dancing styles, so this video is just an amazing experience on the old romantic school in this era of spandex and sometimes sports-like dancing styles...I also found that it's included in the DVD "Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina Assoluta",available at Amazon.com , which also include some footage of the "Black Swan PDD" with Igor Youskevitch, another legend and Mme. Alonso's former partner . Of course, i ordered it right away...

I know that there are other posters here on Ballet Talk who had the chance to see all or most of these performers on stage. You might enjoy remembering them here.

I saw Mme. Alonso doing "GPDQ" many times, way past her prime ...first with the "four jewels" (Mme. Mendez, Mme. Plat, Mme. Bosh and Mme. Araujo) indistinctly, and then with some other younger figures...Mme. Alonso ALWAYS doing Taglioni ...

For comparison, there are some other versions available as well, including a much more recent Ballet Nacional de Cuba performance by Josefina Mendez, Aurora Bosch, Laipa Araujo, and Mirta Pla.

This version is also in that same DVD.

[atm711]

Thanks Bart, this clip is new to me. There is so little of Nora Kaye around, that even though it was a stretch for her I was so delighted to see her in anything. (she knew no limits as a dancer, she tried everything---i.e., Swan Lake, Black Swan and Giselle). Most of the ladies were past their prime, Alonso was 40 as was Kaye and Slavenska 46 to Hayden's 37. Alonso's technique held up best--oh, those feet, still so beautifully pointed on every small jump. I was privileged to have seen both Markova and Alonso as Taglioni in their prime. About 10 years before this particular tape I saw a live performance with Markova (Taglioni), Slavenska (Grahn), Krassovska (Grisi) and Danilova (Cerrito).

[bart]

atm711, thank you for the reminder to look at Alonso's feet. I went back to look again, focusing on feet primarily. It's quite a different ballet when you do that. Ditto when you start again and focus primarily on heads, shoulders, and arms.

When watching Alonso's videos, I am sometimes so overwhelmed by the austerity, ocasionally hardness, that often dominates her face, that I find it hard to get beyond them. Alonso in video often strikes me as having the movements of Giselle with the personality of Myrthe. I admire, but don't warm up to her. (Apologies to cubianmiamiboy!)

Maybe I need to take an Alonso review class ... What videos would you recommend?

About 10 years before this particular tape I saw a live performance with Markova (Taglioni), Slavenska (Grahn), Krassovska (Grisi) and Danilova (Cerrito).

I really envy your experience -- and your memory. Although I saw Alonso and Markova as a child, I don't remember Danilova -- and, the more I look at her pictures and remember her off-stage personality in later life, the more I regret that.

(Anyway, I blush to admit that in those it was the spectacle and the perfume that captivated me about ballet. I knew nothing about technique. The only distinction between dancers that I made was between those I liked and those I didn't pay attention to. Besides, we usually sat rather far away from the stage.)

[cubanmiamiboy]

When watching Alonso's videos, I am sometimes so overwhelmed by the austerity, ocasionally hardness, that often dominates her face, that I find it hard to get beyond them. Alonso in video often strikes me as having the movements of Giselle with the personality of Myrthe. I admire, but don't warm up to her. (Apologies to cubianmiamiboy!)

No apologies bart! , considering that i agree 100 % with your feeling, even being her hardcore fan. I started going to Mme. Alonso's performances when she was already way past her prime, and i also started noticing that kind of "harsh" look. Then i elaborated my own theory. She started loosing her sight even before her 20's so by the time i got to see her dancing,( and by the time she did this GPDQ), she was already almost blind. An extraordinaire ballerina that only could rely on a super technique (oh, those "battements", and "port de bras"...and that turnout!) paired with a perfect choreographic memory, but without being able to comunicate too much with her eyes...yes, there's definitely a hardish look on her face...but i always think that is a "looking at nowhere" expression due to her blindness...I have also have talked to her...and she definitely projects this "halo" of distance...

Maybe I need to take an Alonso review class ... What videos would you recommend?

there is not to much comercially released of her on the market. The most i own is from recordings made by my own from cuban TV back from before i left the island, but you can try this:

-"Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina Assoluta" (in amazon.com)

Tracks:

1. Opening Credits

2. SWAN LAKE: Black Swan Pas de Deux (Alonso, Plisetsky, Guffanti)

3. ROMEO & JULIET: Bedroom Scene (Alonso, Plisetsky)

4. GISELLE: Act II Pas de Deux (Alonso, Plisetsky)

5. COPPELIA: Dr. Coppelius and the Doll Swanilda (Alonso, Pares)

6. DON QUIXOTE: Act III Pas de Deux (Alonso, Plisetsky)

7. Pas de Quatre (Alonso, Pla, Araujo, Bosch)

8. LA FILLE MAL GARDEE: Lisette Keeps her Love a Secret (Alonso, Plisetsky)

9. OEDIPUS REX: Bedroom Scene (Alonso, Lefebre)

10. La Peri (Alonso, Esquivel)

11. CARMEN SUITE: Variation & Habanera (Alonso, Plisetsky)

Bonus Features - 1. "Black Swan Pas de Deux" (Alonso, Youskevitch) - December 4, 1958

2. "Pas de Quatre" (Alonso, Hayden, Kaye, Slavenska) - April 1, 1960

Additional Product:

Booklet in English - Track Listing, Essay - "Alicia Alonso * An Appreciation", Stills/Photos

"Giselle" 1964. DVD. A poor quality B/W release with Azary Plisetsky as Albretch and Mirtha Pla as Myrtha. (in Amazon.com)

Also, you can find some clips on youtube. Just type Alicia Alonso. (i just saw "La Peri")

[cubanmiamiboy]

When watching Alonso's videos, I am sometimes so overwhelmed by the austerity, ocasionally hardness, that often dominates her face, that I find it hard to get beyond them.

Hi bart: I thought of your perception when i found this quote from Mme. Alonso

"The difficulty was in dancing with partners, knowing where to find them without my eyes on the stage. They sometimes used special lighting effects to guide me. But the biggest difficulty was always coming off the stage, trying to find the wings and the curtain drops,"

[bart]

The thought of Alonso -- or anyone -- dancing complicated choreography while being so vision impaired is mind-boggling. It certainly would require an enormous amount of will-power and mental steel.

I feel the same way about the better dancers who prefer to take class without looking at the mirror. They can feel how the movement looks. I'm a mirror-slave who hasn't a clue where my body parts are unless I'm looking right at the reflection.