ViolinConcerto Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I just saw this article in the NY Times online, that Darci has decided to retire. This is momentous for many of us for many reasons, some of which are touched on in the article. I didn't see this listed anywhere else on BT: Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/arts/dance/05ball.html Link to comment
sandik Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 "When asked what the departure of the last Balanchine dancer from New York City Ballet meant, Mr. Martins noted wryly that in Ms. Kistler’s absence, every dancer at the company will have been hired by him. “That is a milestone for me,” he said." I hadn't thought of it in that way, but those kinds of transitions are indeed very important. Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 So excuse my ignorance, but why the last muse if he didn't make roles for her,,,? Link to comment
Helene Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 She inspired him more than anyone at that point in his life, and he was reported to be pondering several ballets featuring her, including a production of "Sleeping Beauty". Link to comment
mira Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Darci is, and has been from a very young age, a supremely gifted dancer. If you haven't had the opportunity to see her dance, Balanchine's The Nutcracker with Darci as Sugar Plum is on dvd. Although, her retiring is a sad passage for her fans, I've seen her teach and she is just as devoted and gifted a teacher. Her students are so lucky!! vaya con dios, Darci. Link to comment
abatt Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 The article contains two beautiful photos of Darci in the early 1980s. Link to comment
Natalia Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Il-Hamdulilah! As as great admirer of Ms Kistler in her glory years, I have not enjoyed seeing the 'Nureyevisation' of her powers. I have been hoping for such an announcement but...stringing it out for - what - two or three more seasons? Link to comment
abatt Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Who will have had the longest career as a memberof City Ballet? Is it Darci, or does Kyra Nichols hold that record? Link to comment
ViolinConcerto Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 Not sure, and without checking it may have been Patricia McBride. Will check later. At any rate, the three form a very, very special triumvirate -- and of course, there is Dame Margot. I think many of those who have watched Darci over these last (very fast) 30 years agree with Natalia, with sighs of regret. Link to comment
Leigh Witchel Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 McBride entered the company in '59 and left in '89 Merrill Ashley joined the company in '67 and left in '97 Nichols joined the company in '74 and left in '07 - I believe hers was the longest career. Link to comment
carbro Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 . . . and of course, there is Dame Margot. If we're going beyond the confines of NYCB, there are the formidably lengthy careers of Mmes Plisetskaya and Alonso. Link to comment
ViolinConcerto Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 So excuse my ignorance, but why the last muse if he didn't make roles for her,,,? We can only speculate why he didn't act on his ideas, but his last pieces, were for the Tchaikovsky Festival in 1981 (including Mozartiana, his last major work), and the last Stravinsky Festival in 1982. His final illness began during that time. Many of those choreographies seem (we can't say for sure) to reflect thoughts on death and resurrection..... Bernard Taper's biography (someone please insert the correct title and a link to Amazon!) might be of interest to you. Those last years were inspiring and tragically sad even for those of us in the audience. Link to comment
ViolinConcerto Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 . . . and of course, there is Dame Margot. If we're going beyond the confines of NYCB, there are the formidably lengthy careers of Mmes Plisetskaya and Alonso. My ignorance is showing! Link to comment
bart Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Bernard Taper's biography (someone please insert the correct title and a link to Amazon!) might be of interest to you. Those last years were inspiring and tragically sad even for those of us in the audience.Taper's book is called Balanchine: A Biography.Towards the end of Francis Mason's I Remember Balanchine: Recollections of the Ballet Master by Those Who Knew Him there is a brief contribution by Kistler herself. I knew Balancine as a master, as a teacher. His teachings and his ballets, all of the things he said to me, echo. I didn't have a deep personal relationship with him, but I got enough to live a whole life on. We always like to recommend clicking Amazon at the top of Ballet Talk pages. The Taper and Mason books are listed under "books" / "balanchine". A portion of your purchase price goes to Ballet Talk, if you link from here. Link to comment
dirac Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 So excuse my ignorance, but why the last muse if he didn't make roles for her,,,? We can only speculate why he didn't act on his ideas, but his last pieces, were for the Tchaikovsky Festival in 1981 (including Mozartiana, his last major work), and the last Stravinsky Festival in 1982. His final illness began during that time. Many of those choreographies seem (we can't say for sure) to reflect thoughts on death and resurrection..... In his final years when his health was failing he worked mostly with dancers he already knew well. He was talking about Aurora for Kistler (much as he had done with Farrell in the sixties). I remember Nichols remarking in a Ballet Review that while Heather Watts and she were learning and rehearsing “Theme and Variations,” where the master’s presence might have been helpful, Balanchine was spending all his time in Kistler’s rehearsals. She is the last of the interviews in Robert Tracy's "Balanchine's Ballerinas." Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 If we're going beyond the confines of NYCB, there are the formidably lengthy careers of Mmes Plisetskaya and Alonso. A little , but Mme. Alonso's lasted 60 years. Her first job as a professional ballerina at 15, her last performance, "Farfalla", in 1995. She was born in 1920. But back to Kistler... Link to comment
ViolinConcerto Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 McBride entered the company in '59 and left in '89Merrill Ashley joined the company in '67 and left in '97 Nichols joined the company in '74 and left in '07 - I believe hers was the longest career. Francisco Moncion: 1948-1985. Shaun O'Brien: 1949-1991. Not that I'm counting or anything. They didn't have DANCING roles after a certain point. Like Kramarevsky who guests as Drosselmeyer, or Robert La Fosse, who guests as the Ringmaster in Circus Polka as well as Drosselmeyer, and a few others.Dr. Coppelius is another one of those roles. Moncion was cast, for example, as the "Death" figure in La Valse. Link to comment
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