LinMM Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Wow what fantastic elevation. Did she dance in the UK with the Company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane S Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) Yes - in fact she danced on the first night of the Kirov's first-ever London season, in 1961 - in The Stone Flower, with Yuri Soloviev. (I was there - she was lovely and I only wish I could remember her more clearly.) Edited November 25, 2014 by Jane S 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 (edited) For the last two days with the friends who remember Alla Sizova we were exchanging our memories of her and were watching clips with her dancing. One of her recordings,which was produced commercially, was very popular for decades - “The Sleeping Beauty” at Kirov with her as Aurora, Yuri Soloviev as Desire and Natalya Dudinskaya as Carabosse. One of my friends who was doing research about Mariinsky’s dancers wrote to me today: “That is so sad - what an angel indeed. I spent 4 hours with her in her home in Washington in 1996. She was delightful and we spoke on the phone several times. A wonderful woman. She lived in a wonderful gated community and I had to obtain access. I walked along the driveway and she said she would wait at the corner. As I turned the first corner in the light breeze on a beautiful sunny autumn day she stood in a profile ballet like position in this pretty light dress which caught the wind. She just looked like Parasha from the “Bronze Horseman” ballet. This tiny fleeting moment is engrained in my mind's eye to this day and is a treasured memory. I found her a truly spiritual person. And not one ounce of ego...and through her quiet nature made a profound effect on me. Rest in peace, Alla.” Edited November 27, 2014 by Amelia 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 (edited) 65 years ago the ourstanding ballet dancer Alexander Godunov was born. This Bolshoi’s Principal, 6ft 1in tall, he with his athletic physique had a startling look of a young Viking warrior. His defection in NY in 1979 created a huge diplomatic incident. Godunov danced at ABT, appeared in Hollywood films and, sadly, died in rather mysterious circumstances at the age of 45. There are 5 videos here of him dancing. Click “Play all” and enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9327B0E18C3E12B8 Edited November 28, 2014 by Amelia 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 (edited) He was supposed to have died from the effects of alcoholism, wasn't he? Were there suggestions that something more sinister had happened? In the meantime, August Bournonville died in Copenhagen on 30 November 1879, aged 74. Edited November 30, 2014 by Melody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MargaretN7 Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 ROH have put out on Twitter that Alicia Markova was born on this day (1st Dec) 1910, and given a link to a charming youtube clip of her dancing a Giselle Act 1 solo. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 (edited) Here's the clip - unlike a lot of older clips, this one doesn't look dated; she could be out there doing that solo today and it wouldn't look out of place. Edited December 2, 2014 by Melody 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 And Dame Alicia died on 2 December 2004, a day after her 94th birthday. Couple of other British anniversaries: Harold Turner was born in Manchester on 2 December 1909, and Peter Darrell died in Glasgow on 2 December 1987, aged 58. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Been out of town so I'm a bit behind with this. Couple of Kenneth MacMillan anniversaries: His version of The Prince of the Pagodas premiered at the Royal Opera House, London, on 7 December 1989. He was born in Dunfermline on 11 December 1929. Also, of historical interest, Christian Johansson, Imperial ballet dancer, choreographer, and teacher, died in St Petersburg on 12 December 1903. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 The Nutcracker premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre on 18 December 1892, with choreography by Lev Ivanov and with Antonietta Dell'Era as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Pavel Gerdt as the prince, and Sergei Legat as the Nutcracker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 (edited) ..... and no doubt someone must have said it would never catch on! And, sure enough, they did ...... see link below! Edited December 18, 2014 by Ian Macmillan Afterthought 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Thanks to toursenlair for this link about Nutcracker premiere reviews: http://mentalfloss.com/article/60648/15-harsh-things-critics-said-about-nutcracker-after-its-1892-premiere 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl H Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 So interesting, I'll celebrate this tonight by watching a DVD, the Collier/Dowell one as I believe this has the moment where the SPF stands on a piece of gauze held by the Prince (as seen in the photo above) which moves along the stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 (edited) Alicia Alonso, Cuban prima ballerina assoluta, was born (as Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad Martínez Hoya) in Havana on 21 December 1921. Edited December 21, 2014 by Melody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Have just noticed that Natalia Osipova and Margot Fonteyn share the same birthday day...May 18th! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 The Dying Swan, choreographed by Mikhail Fokine for Anna Pavlova, premiered at a gala in St Petersburg on 22 December 1905. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share Posted December 24, 2014 Lev Ivanov died in St Petersburg on 24 December 1901, aged 67. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yury_Grigorovich Yuri Grigorovich celebrates his 88th bithday today! His first great ballet was The Stone Flower. Here it is with Yuri Soloviev and Alla Sizova: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya_rkm7iVJQ And later with incredible Galina Mezentzeva and Yevgeny Scherbakov: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbG0vLin4Cg Edited for typo. Edited January 2, 2015 by Amelia 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) Been ignoring this on account of the holidays (thanks for the input, Amelia!). Olga Preobrajenska died in Paris on 27 December 1962, aged 91. Leon Bakst, costume and set designer for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, died in Paris on 28 December 1924, aged 68. Nikolai Legat was born in Moscow on 30 December 1869. Maurice Béjart, founder of Béjart Ballet Lausanne, was born (as Maurice-Jean Berger) in Marseilles on 1 January 1927. Edited January 2, 2015 by Melody 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dance*is*life Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) Just wanted to say that in the article about the Nutcracker criticism it is noted that the ballet only became popular with NYC ballet's version in 1954. That may have been true for the US, but London's Festival Ballet first performed it in 1951 and performed it every Christmas in the Festival Hall for about 25 years. As ENB they still perform it regularly today, but just not every Christmas! Wish I could find out the actual date of the premiere - anybody???? Edited January 3, 2015 by Dance*is*life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 The Wikipedia article on The Nutcracker doesn't even mention the Festival Ballet production in its list. That's pretty shameful. There must be an archivist or someone of the sort at ENB who'd be able to look it up. In the meantime, I'm looking for some help with the year of birth of Caterina Beretta, Pierina Legnani's Italian teacher. The Oxford Dictionary of Dance has it in December 1839, but I'm reading a short bio online, translated by Google from the Italian, which suggests that she had a contract to dance in Paris from 1855 for three years, and if she was born in 1839 she must have been too young to sign contracts in 1855 (unless, I suppose, a parent signed it for her). That article says she was born in 1828, which makes more sense in some ways. I was just wondering if anyone has access to anything more definitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Allen Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I believe the first performance of The Nutcracker by Festival Ballet was December 26 1950 at the Stoll Theatre in London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) From ENB's Facebook page: English National Ballet October 24, 2014 · #OnThisDay in 1950 saw the first complete production of Nutcracker at Stoll Theatre, London. October seems rather early to be performing The Nutcracker but apparently that's when it was. Edited January 5, 2015 by Melody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 Couple of very prominent births on this day: Bronislava Nijinska was born in Minsk, Russia, on 8 January 1891. Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova was born in St Petersburg on 8 January 1910. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 (edited) Today, on the 105th anniversary of Galina Ulanova's birth, Vladimir Vasiliev organised a memorial event (with filming) at her flat in Moscow, which is a museum now. Here is an extract from a Russian programme introduced by Gennady Yanin. It shows a short scene from Act 1 of 'Giselle' filmed in late 1950s with Ulanova and Nikolai Fadeyechev: Edited January 8, 2015 by Amelia 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 You wouldn't think you were looking at someone well into her 40s, would you? She and Margot Fonteyn seemed to share the quality of being able to drop 30 years from their age when they were dancing toward the end of their careers. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 Roland Petit was born in Paris on 13 January 1924. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 (edited) Today, on the 105th anniversary of Galina Ulanova's birth, Vladimir Vasiliev organised a memorial event (with filming) at her flat in Moscow, which is a museum now. http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=2261503#/video/http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.rutv.ru%2Fiframe%2Fvideo%2Fid%2F1162072%2Fstart_zoom%2Ftrue%2FshowZoomBtn%2Ffalse%2Fsid%2Fvesti%2FisPlay%2Ftrue%2F%3Facc_video_id%3D632141 Vladimir Vasiliev organised a gathering of some people who were close to Ulanova in her flat, among them Nikolai Fadeyechev, Svetlana Adyrkhaeva, Nikolai Tsiskaridze and others. They were talking about Galina Sergeyevna and recalled some memorable moments. Fadeyechev remembered Ulanova's triumph in London in 1956 when he danced "Giselle" with her (clips of curtain calls). They were also looking at some items from the extensive collection, which was compiled by Rosina Viniarsky from Britain in the course of several decades: photos, cuttings, posters, her own drawings, etc. Viniarski's house has been burnt by fire but, amazingly, she managed to save her collection and presented it as a gift to the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum in Moscow. Edited to reduce the size of the script. Edited January 14, 2015 by Amelia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted January 24, 2015 Author Share Posted January 24, 2015 (edited) Anniversaries for two great Russians: George Balanchine was born (as Giorgi Balanchivadze) in St Petersburg, Russia, on 22 January 1904 Anna Pavlova died in The Hague on 23 January 1931, aged 49 Edited January 24, 2015 by Melody 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl H Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Mikhail Barishnikov is 67 today. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 Frederick Ashton's two-act ballet La Fille Mal Gardée premiered on 28 January 1960. Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his mistress Baroness Marie Vetsera committed suicide at the hunting lodge at Mayerling on 30 January 1889, the real-life event that was the basis for Sir Kenneth MacMillan's ballet Mayerling. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 If I'm to believe some Tweets with an Antipodean source, today is World Tutu Day. If so, who said so? And why? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melody Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Well, I suppose - February second - two two - tutu - if it had to be any day, it pretty much has to be today. It seems to have originated with the Australian Ballet School but I'm not sure if it's really a worldwide event or an Australian event hoping to draw worldwide attention for its fundraising. http://www.worldtutuday.com/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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