Photo identification. Alonso, Kaye and Eglevsky, 1948

[cubanmiamiboy]

Can someone shred some light by identifying the ballet in this 1948 photo...? Nora and Alicia look as if dressed for Grand Pas de Quatre, but then...why is Eglevsky there...?

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5236658

[bart]

The caption says: Kaye, Eglevsky, Alonso, and Markova. But there are only three dancers. Puzzling.

Eglevsky and Alonso were dancing with Ballet Theater a bit earlier than 1948, including Giselle. Nora Kaye was also dancing at BT, in a different rep primarily, at the same time.

Here's a NY Times review from 1946. Note that Maria Tallchief was the Myrthe. [Edited to note that atm711 corrects this in her post below. This was NOT Maria.]

http://query.nytimes...4DD405B8688F1D3

Alonso, Eglevsky, and Markova danced together, also in 1946. Here's a review of Les Sylphides.

http://query.nytimes...78FD85F428485F9

Possibly this photo (obviously a studio shot) is just a stylized representation of "ballet" but not of a particular work.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I got the subscription wall, bart...

[atm711]

I agree with you, Bart -- no particular work---Kaye in PdQ, Alonso in Syphides (I recall her Giselle tutu as having a thin black horizontal band down the skirt)--the Eglevsky costume completely throws me.....

A correction--- Marjorie Tallchief as Myrtha---Maria was not a member of the Company at the time--she was with the Ballet Russe

[bart]

A correction--- Marjorie Tallchief as Myrtha---Maria was not a member of the Company at the time--she was with the Ballet Russe

You are right. I scrolled down much more quickly than I can read. I skimmed through the capital "M" and assumed it was Maria. (I DID wonder about that date, however. 1946 seemed awfully early for her to have a role like Myrthe. )

Cristian: I didn't know you needed to be a subscriber merely to access a link posted BY a subscriber. Sorry about that. The review, by John Martin, provides a glimpse into a time when she was a young dancer relatively new to Giselle.

It is altogether understandable that with the supreme Giselle of Alicia Markova available the younger ballerinas of the company seldom have a go at this famous role, but it is eminently desirable that they should do so from time to time. Certainly this is true of Miss Alonso. She is one of the most extraordinary young artists in the field; her technical accomplishments are prodigious, she has an innate feeling for the classic style; as an actress she is resourceful, wide of range and emotional honest; as an individual she has beauty, warmth and a wealth of temperament."

He describes her Giselle as "superbly danced" -- "for the most part admirably played," lacking only a degree of romantic "spirituality" to make it a great Giselle.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Thanks, bart for the glimpse. For what I always heard in her interviews, it looks as if she venerates Markova's Giselle, the proof of it being that she never dared to change many accents in her portray and in general in the Cuban production that are considered to be Markova's. She also called Dolin to coach her in the role to reinforce the Markova/Dolin allure when she danced it with Vasiliev in 1980.

Alonso, Dolin and Kaye in Giselle.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cache3.asset-cache.net/xc/50388805.jpg%3Fv%3D1%26c%3DIWSAsset%26k%3D2%26d%3DE41C9FE5C4AA0A140FF88D406DE73261A7A5992D7AC34FDF5C8FCD990FCD5637B01E70F2B3269972&imgrefurl=http://www.life.com/image/50388805&usg=__k6ziYwgF6r-vmCS2e25KRMcg0qQ=&h=420&w=594&sz=38&hl=en&start=2&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=H0dfHMJ4haIGgM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dalonso%2Bdolin%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GWYE_en%26tbm%3Disch&ei=6jGjTYGKMZS5tgfX6oWcAw