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Dancing well beyond the retirement age


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Held at the State Opera House of Georgia, the gala concert celebrated 35 years of Nina Ananiashvili’s (b. 1963) stage performances. She didn’t choose an easy option on this occasion but as I heard from a witness danced pas de deux from Don Q. with her usual virtuosity. http://agenda.ge/news/76004/eng

 

Any memories of her? and others dancing well beyond the retirement age?

Edited by Amelia
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I have vivid memories of Ananiashvili in the Bolshoi Giselle with Mukhamedov ... and of MANY ABT performances ... including a few blazing performances of Makarova's Bayadere opposite the stellar Jose Manuel Carreno,  Indeed I think the latter remains my very favourite performances of that version I have ever seen.  

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1999 - Ananiashvili dancing in Don Q (with Andrei Uvarov) at the Coli during the Bolshoi's Season in London. Breathtaking!

 

Yes, her chaîné turns were so fast she blurred.

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But what is "the retirement age".

 

Marion Tait was the most convincing 14 yo Juliet I have ever seen when she danced the role in her final season before moving over to the ballet staff at BRB.  She must have been in her late 40s then.  What a privilege it is still to be able to see her showing the way in character roles.

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Not to mention Alessandra Ferri. I feel so thrilled to have seen her again now, still displaying her unique and incredible qualities, having missed her (first) career almost completely after she left the RB.

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I still regard the performance Nina Anianshvili gave as Raymonda with the Bolshoi at the Coliseum as the greatest individual performance I have ever seen in a full length classical role. I absolutely floated out of the theatre. If she is still dancing I envy the lucky people who saw her. I would love a chance to see her as Marguerite.

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Marion Tait was the most convincing 14 yo Juliet I have ever seen when

 

Same goes for me and Marcia Haydée who was over 50 for her last Juliet. At one point in the balcony pdd, I still miss a certain expression in the port de bras with every other Juliet ever since...

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But what is "the retirement age".

At Opera de Paris dancers have to retire at 42. In the Bolshoi they are eligible for a pension after 20 years with the company, so at about 38. Some are waiting for this moment while others find it too cruel. The stars as we all know do continue dancing, to our delight. The wider world saw Ulanova for the first time in her 47th year.

Edited by Amelia
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I still regard the performance Nina Anianshvili gave as Raymonda with the Bolshoi at the Coliseum as the greatest individual performance I have ever seen in a full length classical role.

 

I think that was the one I saw, too :)

 

BTW, I'd add late-season Leanne Benjamin to the list of convincing 13-y-o Juliets.

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I have very mixed views on the idea that Fonteyn carried on for far too long. We all know now why she did and that in itself is a pretty tragic story. However, because she kept going until she was 60 I had a chance to see her appear live - not that I am assuming that would have ever occurred to her.

 

I saw her in Salut d'Amour and as the debutant in Facade and I can honestly say that less than 10 minutes of dance, none of it en pointe and not paticularly flashy, has stayed with me for almost 40 years. Not only can I say that I saw her live (and Helpmann) but I remember so clearly the affect she had on me. People may say her technique was lacking by modern standards and she did go on for far too long but very few people have bowled me over the way she did.

 

There is some film of Pavlova on another thread and it doesn't hold up that well but this is the dancer who inspired Ashton to the extent he put her in every ballet. Because I believe in Fonteyn I can believe in Pavlova. We owe them both a huge debt of gratitude for the works and the people they inspired.

Edited by Two Pigeons
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Nina's first ever Raymonda was in London and her control, technique and authority were unbelievable. But, many years later, she and her company were also remarkable in performances in Giselle, at the Edinburgh Festival, remarkable because their performances coincided with the development of violent civil war in Georgia, when they did not know how their friends and families were faring. Consummate professionalism.

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