Bruce Wall Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 (edited) It seems the Swedish born ABT dancer, Johan Renvall, has died. I'm not sure if he ever danced in London but certainly he did originate the role of the golden idol in Makarova's production of La Bayadere in 1980 such as is currently danced in the repertory of the Royal Ballet. If you pull through to 37.45 of the following clip you will be able to see him in that solo. Ms. Makarova danced all of the opening performance as Nikiya (opposite Sir Anthony Dowell's - then an ABT principal and, of course, later to be a director of the Royal Ballet - Solor). She would only dance the first act of the relay - the production's second performance - and would never perform in her production again although she had been scheduled. (The first part is also on youtube as it happens.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0-WFwU_-qQ Here is a short film focusing on Mr. Renvall He was a lovely and talented man. RIP Edited August 26, 2015 by Bruce Wall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismeneb Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 In the ABT Bayadere extract, the final credits and voiceover say that it is not Johan Renvall as the Bronze Idol but Danilo Radojevic. The Nikiya in that extract is Marianna Tcherkassky, who took over after Makarova hurt her knee in Act 1. This is Makarova in Act 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX2XZllu8SU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) Oh, I'm sorry. That may have been my error. I can tell you, however, that Johan Renvall was a wonderful Bronze Idol in that original production. Just to show that I've not gone COMPLETELY round the bend here is a (very poor) pirated film of him dancing it and segments from a Corsaire pas. Marianna Tcherkassky was a lovely dancer too, frequently partnered with Bujones (they had been students together at SAB) and - if I remember correctly - danced Giselle to Baryishnikov's last ABT Albrecht. She is now a ballet mistress with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre where her husband (Terry Orr, ex-ABT) is the AD. Edited August 27, 2015 by Bruce Wall 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 Here Renvall dances Harlequin in Balanchine's La Sonambula Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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