What ballet is it?

[Meliss]

It is a photo of Alexander Godunov from an  ABT booklet.   I can't guess what role it is and what ballet it is. Can you? Thank you.

[California]

13 minutes ago, Meliss said:

It is a photo of Alexander Godunov from an  ABT booklet.   I can't guess what role it is and what ballet it is. Can you? Thank you.

Moor's Pavane? 

[Meliss]

2 hours ago, California said:

Moor's Pavane? 

Thank you very much. Yes, the costume is similar. However, for the ABT booklet, it would be more logical to choose one of the ABT ballets. Nevertheless I think you are right here.

[Helene]

Do you mean performed by ABT, or created for ABT?

The Moor's Pavane premiered at ABT in 1970:

https://www.abt.org/ballet/the-moors-pavane/

What a premiere cast:  Bruce Marks, Royes Fernandez, Sallie Wilson, and Toni Lander!  The program book I had from the early '70's had at least one of the men's featured photos from that work.  That book was full of photos of works that weren't created for ABT, but were performed by the company.

[Meliss]

1 hour ago, Helene said:

Do you mean performed by ABT, or created for ABT?

The Moor's Pavane premiered at ABT in 1970:

https://www.abt.org/ballet/the-moors-pavane/

What a premiere cast:  Bruce Marks, Royes Fernandez, Sallie Wilson, and Toni Lander!  The program book I had from the early '70's had at least one of the men's featured photos from that work.  That book was full of photos of works that weren't created for ABT, but were performed by the company.

I meant Godunov did not dance this role in ABT. But it is clear now that it is the Moor in the photo. The blond charming moor)).

[Helene]

Wow, I didn't know that:  it's the first non-classical role I would have thought of him for.

Ballet dancers don't perform it idiomatically like Limon dancers did, but, dramatically, he would have made an impression.  And I've never seen a short dancer perform it.

[volcanohunter]

Godunov did dance The Moor's Pavane with ABT. He initially danced it with the Limón Company at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1980, at which time Anna Kisselgoff expressed reservations about his blond hair.

"It was a performance not easily categorized. Mr. Godunov had the same tendency to balleticize the steps as do his other Russian emigre colleagues when they essay modern dance. But at the same time, he did not impose acting on top of the movement, allowing rather his face and a very individual sense of timing to express the drama. The result was a powerfully characterized Othello, even if not entirely Mr. Limon's.

"With his anguished facial expressions, this Moor was more suffering than vengeful and yet the way he beat Desdemona to death had an extraordinary brutality. Thankfully, Mr. Godunov did not make any additions to the choreography. Indeed, he delineated the movements so carefully that he tended to separate the choreography into steps rather than melt the gesture into the dance movement. Nonetheless, this freeze-frame effect could have its own dramatic force, emphasizing a single emotion." (2 June 1980)

When he danced with ABT later that year the cast included Kevin McKenzie as Iago, Martine van Hamel as Emilia and Cynthia Gregory as Desdemona, and Godunov darkened his hair. According to Kisselgoff, only Gregory grasped Limón's style. (I can believe that.)

"This is now the most balletic version on view and yet, in its wrong-headed way, it has a grand theatrical effect." (15 December 1980)

Edited Wednesday at 11:57 PM by volcanohunter

[Meliss]

On 7/4/2024 at 1:46 AM, volcanohunter said:

Godunov did dance The Moor's Pavane with ABT. He initially danced it with the Limón Company at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1980, at which time Anna Kisselgoff expressed reservations about his blond hair.

"It was a performance not easily categorized. Mr. Godunov had the same tendency to balleticize the steps as do his other Russian emigre colleagues when they essay modern dance. But at the same time, he did not impose acting on top of the movement, allowing rather his face and a very individual sense of timing to express the drama. The result was a powerfully characterized Othello, even if not entirely Mr. Limon's.

"With his anguished facial expressions, this Moor was more suffering than vengeful and yet the way he beat Desdemona to death had an extraordinary brutality. Thankfully, Mr. Godunov did not make any additions to the choreography. Indeed, he delineated the movements so carefully that he tended to separate the choreography into steps rather than melt the gesture into the dance movement. Nonetheless, this freeze-frame effect could have its own dramatic force, emphasizing a single emotion." (2 June 1980)

When he danced with ABT later that year the cast included Kevin McKenzie as Iago, Martine van Hamel as Emilia and Cynthia Gregory as Desdemona, and Godunov darkened his hair. According to Kisselgoff, only Gregory grasped Limón's style. (I can believe that.)

"This is now the most balletic version on view and yet, in its wrong-headed way, it has a grand theatrical effect." (15 December 1980)

Thank you very much. I thought Godunov danced this role only with Lemon's troupe. And what newspapers are these excerpts from? I would love to read the criticism fully. The New York Times?

[volcanohunter]

Yes, Anna Kisselgoff was chief dance critic of the New York Times from 1977 to 2005. She still writes dance-related obituaries for the paper.

[Meliss]

7 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

Yes, Anna Kisselgoff was chief dance critic of the New York Times from 1977 to 2005. She still writes dance-related obituaries for the paper.

Thank you very much.