Hans Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I just watched the Bojesen/Blangstrup performance that Helene linked to earlier in this thread (Bojesen is delightful--that soft port de bras combined with the speedy legs!) and noticed that Blangstrup does not do pirouette terminé en écarté devant in his 2nd variation but rather, from 4th, he does a quick little turn in plié and then a battement fondu at 90º in écarté devant. Link to comment
carbro Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 but can't resist. I love Bojesen's performance, too. As Hans noted, the quick, light feet and soft arms, but also her musicality and charm, all values I expect from a Bournonville work, are vividly displayed here. Link to comment
JerryS Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 3:49 - Fouetté sauté en dedans4:05 - Pirouette en dedans 5:43 - Double tour en l'air Thank you, gentlemen. Any way to describe the particular position of the legs (I imagine several varieties are possible for each?): 3:49 - Fouetté sauté en dedans: how to say his working leg is fully extended and pretty high from the hip? 4:05 - Pirouette en dedans: how to describe this particular flexion in his working knee, or alternately, the particular position of the working leg? 5:43 - Double tour en l'air: how to describe that the legs are straight, parallel and vertical (are all the tours executed this way? I doubt, but I don't know.)? Thanks. Link to comment
JerryS Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 but can't resist.I love Bojesen's performance, too. As Hans noted, the quick, light feet and soft arms, but also her musicality and charm, all values I expect from a Bournonville work, are vividly displayed here. In terms of arms, even better is Sizova from those in this thread, IMHO, but her and Soloviev are at a terrible disantantage because of the quality of the tape, but I would encourage anyone to muster the patience and to strain their eyes:-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr25NoQtWRE She's expressing a certain ethereality that none of the others have, perhaps because of the diaphanous dress. Link to comment
JerryS Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 Danish National Treasure Thomas Lund and Gudrun Bojesun in FF at the inauguration of the new theater in Copenhagen... They're so proud of these dancers, it brings tears to my eyes. Great mis-en-scene, the stage is quite small though, and crowded. That doesn't work in their favor. But that crowd is acting great, they seem to have been well stimulated for the occasion:-) Link to comment
bart Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 It's fascinating to compare these videos, and I thank those who have to linked them. Even the first 30 seconds of the women's part you can see striking differences. After her opening string of jetes, etc., to stage left, the ballerina switches direction and does a cross-over turn, then briefly jumpting and landing in fondu arabesque , at which point the torso and head tilted. This occurs twice. That particular tilt of the torso, and especially of the head, head is something I associate only with Bournonville. Bojesun has the Bournonville tilt. Cojocaru makes a good try, but doesn't quite get it. Sizova doesn't try. Link to comment
Alexandra Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 bart, you're right It's the smallest thing in the world, those little tilts, but it's there from childhood in Danes and a dead giveaway in anyone else. Link to comment
Hans Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 3:49 - Fouetté sauté en dedans4:05 - Pirouette en dedans 5:43 - Double tour en l'air Thank you, gentlemen. Any way to describe the particular position of the legs (I imagine several varieties are possible for each?): 3:49 - Fouetté sauté en dedans: how to say his working leg is fully extended and pretty high from the hip? 4:05 - Pirouette en dedans: how to describe this particular flexion in his working knee, or alternately, the particular position of the working leg? 5:43 - Double tour en l'air: how to describe that the legs are straight, parallel and vertical (are all the tours executed this way? I doubt, but I don't know.)? Thanks. In each of these, he is essentially doing the standard form of the step, so I don't really see a need to specify, except perhaps to say that the fouetté sauté en dedans is croisé. He does the pirouette in retiré position, which is standard, and the tour en l'air in 5th position, also standard. One would generally only specify if there were a deviation from these--for example if the fouetté were at 45º instead of 90º, or if the pirouette were to be done in cou-de-pied instead of retiré position. Link to comment
Paul Parish Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 and the HANDS -- the line of that arabesque has not only that tilt of the head but a very particular position for the fingers, curling slightly up, like wing tips of a bird landing Link to comment
JerryS Posted July 28, 2009 Author Share Posted July 28, 2009 It's fascinating to compare these videos, and I thank those who have to linked them. Even the first 30 seconds of the women's part you can see striking differences. After her opening string of jetes, etc., to stage left, the ballerina switches direction and does a cross-over turn, then briefly jumpting and landing in fondu arabesque , at which point the torso and head tilted. This occurs twice. That particular tilt of the torso, and especially of the head, head is something I associate only with Bournonville. Bojesun has the Bournonville tilt. Cojocaru makes a good try, but doesn't quite get it. Sizova doesn't try. I'm not sure we're talking about the same torso and head tilt, but watch Soloviev at about 1:15-1:29: The great Yuri Soloviev and Alla Sizova (wonder about the year?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr25NoQtWRE Now, that's a tilt! Call it a bell tolling! Kobborg, a Dane, is doing much less. Nureyev, just a bit less. Also, how about Soloviev at 1:16-1:19! (Double ronde de jambe saute, I believe. Peaking at 1:18). Now, that's what I would call high! Nureyev is even higher with the working leg and higher than the hip, I think! Link to comment
Hans Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 I believe the tilt they are referring to occurs at 1:51 and 1:53 of the Bojesen/Blangstrup video. Perhaps my favourite moments of that video are from there through 1:58, when she opens her arms and beams out radiantly at the audience. Sizova and Soloviev are two of my favourite artists, but it seems to me that Mariinsky and Bolshoi dancers frequently have trouble with Bournonville's style, particularly how soft and understated it is. Taken on its own terms, though, I think the Sizova/Soloviev performance is beautiful, even with the choreographic alterations. Edited to add: there is a similar step in this video of Evdokimova at 1:10, 1:14, and 1:18. Link to comment
JerryS Posted July 28, 2009 Author Share Posted July 28, 2009 There's a special slowness in Tallchief's interpretation which is especially enchanting. I think she asked the orchestra to tempo it down a bit. She really takes her time to enjoy it all. She was towards the end of her career (she retired just three years later, in 1965, I've just learned). Link to comment
JerryS Posted July 28, 2009 Author Share Posted July 28, 2009 BTW, asking the costume specialists here, I'm curious about what Kobborg's wearing in period language: cravat/neckerchief/bandanna, shirt, knee-long breeches, belt/cammerbund (doubt that?), white hoses/socks (tights today?) were/are these the right words? Link to comment
ami1436 Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 Just want to thank everyone for this thread -- I love the Danes, and thought I'd watched most of what there was on Youtube, and here is a whole new treasure chest! I will have to save this for after work!! Link to comment
JerryS Posted July 28, 2009 Author Share Posted July 28, 2009 Hi: Cojocaru and Kobborg in FF http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B31LC_htB4E How does one call the high lateral cross-over stepping which Kobborg does at 7:21-7:22? Thanks Link to comment
JerryS Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 That is a pas de chat. Thank you, Hans, I was indeed looking for a video with this step:-) Link to comment
Recommended Posts