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Your Favourite Male Dancer/Dancers


Nanarina

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Marcelo, Marcelo, Marcelo!!! In addition to being a wonderful dancer in his own right he's the best partner in the world today, and it's not just his technical accomplishment. He always makes you see his ballerina through his adoring eyes. Also love David Hallberg (what line!), Shklyarov and Tyler Angle.

Don't get to see Tsiskaridze often, but he's another dancer I love who combines great technique with a compelling stage presence. I can see myself becoming a big fan of Ivan Vasiliev and Roberto Bolle as I see more and more of them.

In the past - Bruhn, Nureyev and Baryshnikov, but also Anthony Dowell (what grace & elegance), Michel Denard (gorgeous, lyrical, perfect line), Ivan Nagy (talk about a perfect partner!). From the recent past - Bocca, Woetzel & Boal, for sure!

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This is an interesting accumulation of dancers. Some (Gomes) seem to be universally praised, except possibly on an off night or in completely inappropriate roles. Others, (Zelensky, Bolle) have detractors even in their core rep.

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Some (Gomes) seem to be universally praised, except possibly on an off night ...
From Gomes, and speaking for myself, I haven't seen him on an off night.
... or in completely inappropriate roles.
The one role I saw him in where he didn't fully succeed was in Tharp's Rabbit & Rogue, a real mess for which it would be unfair to fault the dancers.
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I have not been lucky enough to see Gomez much in recent years, but when I saw him as Aminta in Sylvia I didn't think he was particularly suited to the role--that is, to the Ashton choreography. He did not dance badly by any means, but the quick shifts of direction didn't have the fluidity and casual ease that they need to be effective--everything was a bit overly emphatic in a way and subtleties seemed lost. I actually preferred Beloserkovsky as Aminta though I know he is nothing like the star Gomez is. (I did think Gomez did an excellent job partnering Ananiashvili last year--2008--in Act II of Swan Lake when he had not originally been scheduled to dance with her. The overhead lift in the adagio was especially beautiful.)

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All-time favorite is beyond question Vladimir Vasiliev. He had the rare package of a beautiful face/body, virile presence, dazzlingly brilliant technique and an eloquent, deeply sensitive artistry. Vasiliev was also a sublime partner and when he danced with his late wife, Ekaterina Maximova, his deep love for her filled every moment they shared onstage.

Another favorite of the past is Gediminas Taranda. He had tremendous authority onstage coupled with superb technique. His performance in Raymonda says it all.

My current favorite is Jean-Guillem Bart of POB. Beautiful performances in Diamonds and Raymonda.

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All-time favorite is beyond question Vladimir Vasiliev. He had the rare package of a beautiful face/body, virile presence, dazzlingly brilliant technique and an eloquent, deeply sensitive artistry. Vasiliev was also a sublime partner and when he danced with his late wife, Ekaterina Maximova, his deep love for her filled every moment they shared onstage.

Another favorite of the past is Gediminas Taranda. He had tremendous authority onstage coupled with superb technique. His performance in Raymonda says it all.

My current favorite is Jean-Guillem Bart of POB. Beautiful performances in Diamonds and Raymonda.

:smilie_mondieu: I could not agree more. Vasiliev in The Stone Flower, Taranda, wonderful as Abderam in Raymonda, as it should be danced. instead of the namby pamby Nureyeev version, and Jean Guillamine Bart, the male solo in Act 3 Sleeping Beauty, Don "Q", and Diamonds looking very much in the style of a Balanchine dancer. But has he retired as you do not see him cast nowadays?

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I'll cast another vote for Bujones (also my childhood crush). Such purity of line, yet so virtuostic. We may sometimes forget that he was one of the only male dancers to rival Misha's virtuosity for many years.

Bujones, yes, me too, so elegant every step placed with precision but technique and virtuiosity that sent a shiver down your spine.

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:smilie_mondieu:

I'll cast a vote for Fernando Bujones, among other things, for his port de bras. Nanarina asked for video evidence, so here is an excerpt from La Bayadère.

:thanks: Volcanohunter for posting this video, Bujones is superb as always. What a terrible shame and waste of a unique artistic talent both as a dancer and director due to his untimely death.

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I still miss David Blair, with his accuracy of classical technique, uniquely combined with projection of personality.

Well, you'd know, of course I mean that, about the 'accuracy of classical technique', but I've only seen the film of 'Sleeping Beauty' and I just don't find much charisma, if that's what you meant by 'projection of personality'. Maybe if one saw him live, I didn't get anything from that film, although I know that's not enough to judge from. Might be hard to judge on 'Evening with Royal Ballet', because there are two Nureyevs on it, and two other Fonteyns as well with Rudi, so maybe I'm comparing unfairly.

I do like Brian Shaw in Bluebird on that same video, and I never hear anybody say much about him. I thought he was a charmer, and he does the 'winged hands' the best I've seen.

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That didn't capture his dramatic and comedic ability, largely because Desiré is such a cipher role. His Coppélia, Fille mal Gardée and, on film especially Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet showed him to better advantage. Somewhere out there, there are home movies of him doing Lt. Belaye in "Pineapple Poll" - he's a hoot!

(Edited to modify a Freudian slip-Blair did Mercutio in the film, I did Tybalt in a whole different production. Thanks leonid, for alerting me.)

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That didn't capture his dramatic and comedic ability, largely because Desiré is such a cipher role. His Coppélia, Fille mal Gardée and, on film especially Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet showed him to better advantage. Somewhere out there, there are home movies of him doing Lt. Belaye in "Pineapple Poll" - he's a hoot!

(Edited to modify a Freudian slip-Blair did Mercutio in the film, I did Tybalt in a whole different production. Thanks leonid, for alerting me.)

David Blair’s first leading role at the age of 22 was Frantz. He later danced the Poet in Les Sylphides, Caricaturist in Mamzelle Angot, Albrecht in Giselle with Violetta Elvin, Petrushka leading role, Aminta in Sylvia, created the role of Colas in Ashton’s La Fille mal gardee, danced Florimund in Sleeping Beauty and a host of leading roles in one act ballets.

With the retirement of Michael Somes as premiere danseur Blair partnered of Dame Margot Fonteyn in Swan Lake in the 1961-62 season but by February 1962, Nureyev performed Giselle with Dame Margot and Blair was relegated to principal partner with other leading dancers and only partnered Dame Margot on a few more performances.

He created Mercutio in MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet as Mel states and remains for me the best executant of the role both technically and dramatically.

I last saw him dance on November 1972 aged 40 after a performance of Birthday Offering which had the stellar cast of; Margot Fonteyn, Jennifer Penney, Svetlana Beriosova, Antoinette Sibley, Ann Jenner, Georgina Parkinson, Merle Park, David Wall, Michael Coleman, Donald MacLeary, Anthony Dowell, Gary Sherwood, David Blair and Desmond Kelly.

He moved to ballet companies in the USA and then Norway where he sadly died aged only 43.

David Blair had immense charm on and off stage and was much loved by the Royal Opera House audience.

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... though of course he'd had a whole career already even before he was 22, in the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, which he joined when he was only 15. He not only had a leading role created for him by Balanchine but also created the role Mel mentioned, Captain Belaye in Cranko's Pineapple Poll - one of the great male roles in English ballet. And Cranko made other roles for him later, notably the Prince in his original version of The Prince of the Pagodas. He came from Yorkshire (like a surprising number of other RB men over the years) and had some of the down-to-earth, no-nonsense manner and confidence often associated with that county.

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Blair's post-stage career took him to the narrator role on the Thames TV series "Ballet for All" - he speaks mostly comfortably for the camera and reads the scripts with some charm and wit, tho' some American students nowadays aren't necessarily plugged into his British delivery.

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All of these reports from London and New York about Blair very illuminating. I think I can understand what he must have been good at, and tried to Google something about his 'Pineapple Poll', but found nothing, not really expecting to though. Some kinds of roles probably require imposing presence by a certain kind of dancer, and another kind may have these comedic gifts, which is something I hadn't thought about very extensively before.

So what about Shaw? I know he's not a 'danseur noble' type, and once read he often had these 'character parts', whether animals or other 'cute parts', maybe that was what he was best at. Is he good in that Bluebirds video like I think? Nobody has ever responded when I mentioned him before, so I imagine he's considered a minor performer, although charming. One of the Nureyev TV documentaries has a lady from RB (can't remember who, it's been a few years) talking about Nureyev being like Shaw ('one of our teachers') in his natural gift for teaching--I'd never thought about Nureyev as a teacher, and most of us who are not real insiders don't. Is Shaw still a teacher at RB?

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So what about Shaw? I know he's not a 'danseur noble' type, and once read he often had these 'character parts', whether animals or other 'cute parts', maybe that was what he was best at. Is he good in that Bluebirds video like I think? Nobody has ever responded when I mentioned him before, so I imagine he's considered a minor performer, although charming. One of the Nureyev TV documentaries has a lady from RB (can't remember who, it's been a few years) talking about Nureyev being like Shaw ('one of our teachers') in his natural gift for teaching--I'd never thought about Nureyev as a teacher, and most of us who are not real insiders don't. Is Shaw still a teacher at RB?

Shaw was considered the company's best male classicist for years, though I only saw him a couple of times myself before he moved to character roles. You might like to look at a piece about him I once wrote on ballet.co. He comes from Yorkshire, too.

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Shaw was considered the company's best male classicist for years, though I only saw him a couple of times myself before he moved to character roles. You might like to look at a piece about him I once wrote on ballet.co. He comes from Yorkshire, too.

Jane, that was GREAT! Not only was I right about, his Bluebird , as you say, "He went on to be the Bluebird of his generation", but I was right to be bewildered that nobody ever mentioned him. Your whole article was wonderful, filling in all the gaps, although I am sorry to hear he's gone--I don't know why, it just never occurred to me that he wouldn't still be with us, although that Nureyev documentary I mentioned may be 20 years old. :pinch: I make the best medieval-style Yorkshire Pudding in town, always at Xmas, and usually one other time in the winter, so next week I will make it for someone, and we'll toast to all these Yorkshore lads (can you say 'lads' if it's still in England? I've never been north of Liverpool, I don't think they said it.)

Thanks so much.

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