Leigh Witchel Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 It's summer, so we get to muse on stuff like this. If you were Benjamin Lumley and could assemble four ballet divas of today together for a gala divertissement, who would they be? Do it your way - it doesn't have to stick to the Taglioni/Cerrito/Grahn/Grisi archetypes. Try to use currently dancing ballerinas for the heck of it. We can do a time-traveling pas de quatre in another thread. I'm putting Bouder and Osipova in mine. I haven't decided on the other two ladies. Maybe I'll just throw a knife onstage and have the two of them duke it out Who are in yours? If you'd like to score or choreograph it, go ahead. Link to comment
Mme. Hermine Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 i'm not a choreographer or musician even in my mind, but for the other 2 girls i might use gillian murphy and veronika part. now i wouldn't mind costuming them; hmmm..... Link to comment
liebs Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 I'd go for the heroic ballerinas: Bouder, Sylve, Maria Alexandrova and Zenaida Yanowsky (with Miranda Weese as the alternate) And for the princesses: Alexandra Ansanelli, Alina Cojocaru, Carla Korbes and Veronika Part Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 I do go for "Pas de Quatre". Then, there would be: Julie Kent (ABT) Alina Cojocaru (RB) Lorna Feijoo (Boston Ballet) Viengsay Valdes (Ballet Nacional de Cuba) Link to comment
Hans Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Are these supposed to be famous ballerinas or the ones we think are the best dancers, regardless of notoriety? Link to comment
adrika Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 I would try to have a little bit of different styles. I'd choose: Zenaida Yanowsky Agnes Letestu Julie Kent and Maria Alexandrova. By the way, I'd also love to have a time travel machine to cast retired dancers ( at their peak) ! Link to comment
sz Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Osipova Sylve Somova (just to irk you all....) Jaime Diaz (can I put him in drag, please......) or Kondaurova I think selecting four diva men would be easier in today's ballet world: H. Cornejo D. Hallberg Jaime Diaz D. Simkin (he'll be here soon!!! yeah!) Joseph Phillips or Sarafanov or Shklyarov or David Prottas or Jesus Pastor (I haven't decided yet, and I don't think I can....) Link to comment
Leigh Witchel Posted July 22, 2008 Author Share Posted July 22, 2008 Are these supposed to be famous ballerinas or the ones we think are the best dancers, regardless of notoriety? You pick. You're the impresario. But you have to cover their expenses and preferably not wind up bankrupt. No boys in drag in this version either. That's for another thread ("Boys we most want to see in the girls' parts . . .") and I think we should wait until August is officially on us for that one. Biological females only. Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Somova (just to irk you all....) OMG...is she and her annoying extensions still around...? Link to comment
carbro Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 When she was in New York, Somova did some lovely work (although it took her a while to hit stride) which could not have been predicted based on those YouTube clips. Great? No, but I wasn't left wondering how she ever became a Kirov soloist. Link to comment
Amy Reusch Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 How Nouveau? We can't mix eras? If we could time travel it would be... Bouder, Lacarra, Fonteyn, Ulanova with an alternate for contrasting ballerina styles: Whelan Link to comment
Hans Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Veronika Part, Larissa Lezhnina, Maya Dumchenko, and Michele Wiles are the ones I'd most like to see together. They're all so different, but united by style and training. I can't do any era-mixing because I'd never be able to choose just four! Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Jumping in the time machine...and again, doing GPDQ. Alonso, Spesitzseva, Fonteyn, Fracci. Link to comment
drb Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Going for matched pairs to perhaps encourage some structure in the choreography: Bouder, Osipova (yes, Leigh!) Reichlen, Kondaurova A two-part dance: Wheeldon could have the latter pair lift and bend the former pair around; Ratmansky could continue with his aesthetic blend of America movement and Russian spirit. Link to comment
Hans Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Here's an interesting one: Natalia Makarova, Margot Fonteyn, Suzanne Farrell, and Sylvie Guillem. Link to comment
adrika Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 And, with a time travel machine: Gelsey Kirkland Darcey Bussel Martine Van Hamel Ekaterina Maximova Link to comment
Leigh Witchel Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 A gentle reminder that the time travel machine is for other threads. Pick current dancers please! Link to comment
Jane Simpson Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 I'd go for contrast, in both experience and background as well as style: Silja Schandorff Lorena Feijoo Marianela Nunez Sarah Mearns I'd travel quite a long way for that! Link to comment
carbro Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 I like Jane's cast! Here are mine. Short cast: Bouder Cojocaru Lane Osipova Tall cast: Alexandrova Mearns Part Tereshkina Link to comment
papeetepatrick Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Here's an interesting one:Natalia Makarova, Margot Fonteyn, Suzanne Farrell, and Sylvie Guillem. I like this immensely, except Alicia Alonso instead of Guillem (I want to be sure sparks fly even if everyone is adult and imbued in the 'non-star system', having never known anything else...of course, none of these ladies even imagined anything else than disappearing out of their personalities into all things classical and enduring...NOT!) Link to comment
Lidewij Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 I'll go for Larissa Lezhnina, Maria Alexandrova, Ekaterina Shipulina and Yevgenia Obraztsova I'm not very familiar with the current non-Russian dancers, I'm sure some of them are lovely, but I don't know them so that's why I only have Russians in my list. Link to comment
bart Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 If you were Benjamin Lumley and could assemble four ballet divas of today together for a gala divertissement, who would they be? A gentle reminder that the time travel machine is for other threads. But, Leigh, if I were Benjamin Lumley and had no time travel machine, I'd be dead! I actually like the idea of casting Pas de Quatre using dancers of today. And I love carbro's impressive choice of both a tall and a short cast. However, I don't have the depth of viewing experience to pick 4 current dancers from around the world and put them either in Pas de Quatre or, indeed, in anything. So, I thought I'd stick to a SINGLE company I know well -- Miami City Ballet -- and choose from among their current principals. That means using the original 1845 cast as a kind of template. Taglioni: Deanna Seay (alt. cast: Jennifer Kronenberg) Grisi: Jennifer Kronenberg (alt. cast: Patricia Delgado) Cerrito: Mary Carmen Catoya Grahn: Haiyan Wu Any other one-company Pas de Quatre casts? Link to comment
kfw Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 Cojocaru Mearns Osipova Obratzsova Link to comment
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