Galina Samsova RIP

[JMcN]

Galina Samsova, ballerina and director has passed away. 

Although I never had the privilege of seeing her dance, friends always remembered her with fondness as a dancer.  I greatly admired the work she did when she was AD of Scottish Ballet.  Amongst other things she produced beautiful traditional versions of Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.

 

https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/khc9b19dz05a5zpiec7h7mw7yznn83

 

[volcanohunter]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galina_Samsova

May she rest in peace.

Macaulay mentioned the flexibility of her back. It was because of a back injury she sustained while trying to imitate Samsova that Veronica Tennant spent the year after she graduated from Canada's National Ballet School in a body cast before joining the National Ballet of Canada, which I always found to be a strangely remarkable tribute to Samsova's abilities. 

 

[Drew]

What a great photo! May she rest in peace.

[volcanohunter]

There have been tributes to Samsova from former colleagues.

A tribute by Marion Tait:

https://www.brb.org.uk/post/galinasamsova

[volcanohunter]

Samsova as Cinderella in Paris in 1963. (Also featuring Geraldine Chaplin.)

Samsova and Desmond Kelly in Spring Waters in 1984.

 

[Mashinka]

Very sad to hear this news.I saw her many, many times and she was a very rare jewel of British ballet.  So happy she chose to dedicate her career to Britain.  She was superb in all she did but her Giselle was among the finest.  May she rest in peace.