Favourite ballerinas

[BristolBillyBob]

It will surprise nobody that my favourite is Nancy Osbaldston, currently at Royal Ballet Flanders, [speculation] soon to be returning as principal to Birmingham Royal Ballet who are currently planning their relocation to Bristol [/speculation].

[Two Pigeons]

I really do hope that is a case of wishful thinking.

[Jan McNulty]

So do I!

 

Not that Nancy O isn't wonderful because she is but Bristol is 200 miles away for me!

[Tony Newcombe]

My list

 

Altynai Asylmuratova

Yelena Pankova

Lesley Collier

Belinda Hatley

Sara Wildor

Leticia Muller

Karen Donovan

Francesca Hayward

Yasmine Nagdhi

and of course someone who would not be viewed as a ballerina, the wonderful Leanne Cope

[Tony Newcombe]

Slight brain fade re my posting above, forgot Cuthbertson and Nunez

[Terpsichore]

The greatest ballerina I ever saw was Margot Fonteyn but the one I have loved the most is Antoinette Sibley. I also admire Elaine McDonald, Lynn  Seymour, Carla Fracci and Marcia Haydee.

 

As to modern ballerinas I admire Anna Tsygankova, Laura Morera and Natalia Osipova but the one I love most is Elena Glurdjidze.

 

Ernst Meisner has some real stars in the making. Michaela DePrince leapfrogged from eleve (apprentice) to coryphee in a single season but another young woman with real potential is Emiie Tassinari

[MAB]

I also love Elena Glurjidze the most.  It's her incredible musicality and the loveliest arabesque since Fonteyn herself.  One other has that level of musicality: Ekaterina Osmolkina.

[Balletfanp]

Yes, Elena Glurjidze - and I'm glad you mentioned Laura Morera! She is not, perhaps, the ideal ballerina shape or image, but she is just so good that she transcends that, and she is definitely one of my favourites.

 

Add to that, Daria Klimentova, Marianella Nunez, Alina Cojocaru, Yasmin Naghdi.

[Duck]

Yasmine Naghdi, Francesca Hayward, Lauren Cuthbertson, Leonore Baulac

[Terpsichore]

After last night's Giselle at Covent Garden which was one of the most extraordinary nights I have spent in my half century of ballet going, I should like to add Lauren Cuthbertson to my list.

[EM12]

On my list would have to be:

 

Altynai Asylmuratova

Lynn Seymour

Viviana Durante

Margot Fonteyn

Natalia Osipova

 

Unfortunately the only one I've been able to see live is Osipova as the others were all before my time.

[ENBlover]

First impressions are indeed something you carry with you for the rest of your life and therefore, Ekaterina Maximova and Maya Plisetskaya.

[Jillykins]

My first memory of that special tingle when you see something special was seeing Ulanova on the Bolshoi first visit to England. It was in the 1950's at the old Davis theatre in Croydon. She did the Dying Swan. Such beautiful arms, musicality and pathos. For me Fonteyn was perfection as I grew up and I was so sad at her final Juliet. Her feet didn't touch the ground as she ran down the stairs from the balcony. She will always be one of my favourites. Rojo was special in Marguerite and Armand, for me the only comparable ballerina I have seen in this role. Now we are lucky to have so many talented dancers to see.

[RuthE]

My first memory of that special tingle when you see something special was seeing Ulanova on the Bolshoi first visit to England. It was in the 1950's at the old Davis theatre in Croydon. She did the Dying Swan. Such beautiful arms, musicality and pathos. For me Fonteyn was perfection as I grew up and I was so sad at her final Juliet. Her feet didn't touch the ground as she ran down the stairs from the balcony. She will always be one of my favourites. Rojo was special in Marguerite and Armand, for me the only comparable ballerina I have seen in this role. Now we are lucky to have so many talented dancers to see.

 

I got chatting to my seat-neighbour a while ago at the ROH (during the Bolshoi mixed bill that included Marguerite & Armand, I think) who said she'd seen both Fonteyn and Rojo do it and preferred the latter.

[MAB]

I got chatting to my seat-neighbour a while ago at the ROH (during the Bolshoi mixed bill that included Marguerite & Armand, I think) who said she'd seen both Fonteyn and Rojo do it and preferred the latter.

 

As far as I'm aware M&A isn't in the Bolshoi's rep.  I am positive they have never danced it in London but the Kirov unfortunately has.

[bangorballetboy]

As far as I'm aware M&A isn't in the Bolshoi's rep.  I am positive they have never danced it in London but the Kirov unfortunately has.

 

Out of interest, do you still refer to St. Petersburg as Leningrad?

[VickyPage]

As far as I'm aware M&A isn't in the Bolshoi's rep.  I am positive they have never danced it in London but the Kirov unfortunately has.

 

If it was M&A at the ROH, it was probably the revival in 2011. I don't think it's been done at the ROH since then.

[MAB]

Out of interest, do you still refer to St. Petersburg as Leningrad?

 

I try not to, though I haven't been there since the name change.

[RuthE]

Sorry, I did of course mean the Mariinsky Ballet, not the Bolshoi.

 

If it was M&A at the ROH, it was probably the revival in 2011. I don't think it's been done at the ROH since then.

 

The 2011 revival (in the mixed bill with Limen and Requiem) was not the most recent revival of M&A by the Royal Ballet - it later appeared in the Ashton mixed bill in February 2013 for which Rojo and Polunin returned to the company (for Rojo's official farewell performances), and of which there is now a DVD.

 

The Mariinsky then brought it to the ROH on their 2014 tour, in a double bill with The Firebird.

[VickyPage]

Sorry, I did of course mean the Mariinsky Ballet, not the Bolshoi.

 

 

The 2011 revival (in the mixed bill with Limen and Requiem) was not the most recent revival of M&A by the Royal Ballet - it later appeared in the Ashton mixed bill in February 2013 for which Rojo and Polunin returned to the company (for Rojo's official farewell performances), and of which there is now a DVD.

 

The Mariinsky then brought it to the ROH on their 2014 tour, in a double bill with The Firebird.

 

Thanks for correcting me; you're right. And I should have known better, because I have the DVD! 

[Terpsichore]

A couple of interesting topics on this thread have caught my eye.

 

The Bolshoi may not do Marguerite and Armand but they danced The Lady of the Camelias which was of course also inspired by Dumas. I enjoyed the HDTV transmission of that ballet very much.

 

The other topic was the suggestion that Birmingham Royal Ballet's might move to Bristol.  I have not heard about it anywhere else so I am sceptical but part of me thinks it would be great if it were true. Bristol once had its own ballet company but it moved to Glasgow in 1969. Good for me because I was at St Andrews at the time and I had the opportunity to get to know the company through John Steer who had known the company in Bristol immediately before he came to us.

 

The reason I sympathize with Bristol is that I am a Mancunian and we also lost our ballet company first to Halifax and then to Leeds. However, we do have a close link with English National who danced their first show in our city and will be premièring Akram Khan's Giselle there later this year.

 

Likewise Bristol can draw consolation from its proximity to Newport where there is a super company of which I am very fond.

[Two Pigeons]

As one of BRB's biggest fans I have concerns about the future of the company given that the Council is making such trenchant cuts into its funding. Having said that I remained pretty amazed that the company has had such a successful 26 (nearly) years in the city.

 

I know that this is BristolBillyBob expressing his dreams and any such move is unlikely to be supported in fact (at the moment). However, my feelings for the company are such that I would rather it was kept together and moved than disbanded.

 

Birmingham City Council has done a sterling job over the years to support both BRB and the CBSO which are sources of great pride in the city. However, as public money gets increasingly squeezed and the membership of the Council changes I can see lean times ahead.

[Jan McNulty]

 

The reason I sympathize with Bristol is that I am a Mancunian and we also lost our ballet company first to Halifax and then to Leeds. However, we do have a close link with English National who danced their first show in our city and will be premièring Akram Khan's Giselle there later this year.

 

 

 

 

And, of course, the reason they left Manchester is because Manchester City Council was withdrawing their funding.  Thank goodness Leeds has such a wonderful supporter of the arts in Sir Bernard Atha.

[Two Pigeons]

Going back to the original posting, it has just occurred to me that some ballerinas crop up in numerous responses. However, hardly anyone has mentioned Darcey Bussell.

 

I find this very interesting. Do people no longer think of her in those terms? Is she thought to be more of a media figure now?

 

Any thoughts?

[bridiem]

I noticed that too. I loved Bussell in Song of the Earth, both as a young dancer and before she retired. It suited her combination of strength and innocence and the boldness of her dancing. But although she had a lovely quality about her I didn't generally find her especially involving or dramatically interesting, and I didn't think one role warranted a place on a 'favourites' list. 

[LinMM]

Unfortunately for me most of Bussells career was in the ten years or so I didn't go and see any ballet but I did catch her towards the end and thought she was a lovely easy classical dancer but wasn't tempted to see her in anything dramatic whether this was a mistake or not I'll never know now!

 

I've become a bit supportive of her in recent years just because she gets so much stick and I think,she has some attempted some brave things like the last major dance she tried on TV looking at .....and then trying to re create ....dances of stars she has admired eg Ginger Rogers. Not an easy thing to do so admire her for placing herself at this level of vulnerability.

I never saw her do a Macmillan role and I think he was the choreographer who liked her. Certainly cannot imagine her doing Fille but neither Juliet

Did she do these roles? If so did anybody here see her?

[alison]

She's never danced Lise, but I saw her Juliet debut.  I think it was rather overshadowed by Sarah Wildor's that afternoon, according to people who'd seen both.  I think I've only seen her dance it twice.

[alison]

Going back to the original posting, it has just occurred to me that some ballerinas crop up in numerous responses. However, hardly anyone has mentioned Darcey Bussell.

 

I find this very interesting. Do people no longer think of her in those terms? Is she thought to be more of a media figure now?

 

Any thoughts?

 

There are probably some thoughts in this thread: http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/2752-why-did-darcey-bussell-become-so-famous/?hl=bussell

[munchkin16]

I have loads of favourites but I feel like to truly judge them id have to see them all live. So from those I've seen in a proper live performance my favourites have to be Lauren Cuthbertson and Lauretta Summerscales. They are just such artistic dancers. I wish I could see so many more though. I really want to see Hayward dance, I feel like she'd probably join my list!

[sybarite2015@]

I've seen Naghdi mentioned a bit both here and in the UK press. How can I find which ballets she is in for the RB and whether she is performing in other companies and when?

[alison]

She doesn't dance with other companies, so you won't have any joy there.  She's scheduled to be dancing in the pas de six in the live Giselle broadcast on Wednesday.  Apart from that, she isn't often cast highly enough to feature in advance casting information.  Yet.

[capybara]

Going back to the original posting, it has just occurred to me that some ballerinas crop up in numerous responses. However, hardly anyone has mentioned Darcey Bussell.

 

I find this very interesting. Do people no longer think of her in those terms? Is she thought to be more of a media figure now?

 

Any thoughts?

 

I found this interesting too. I'm afraid that, apart from an early Song of the Earth (as mentioned above), I found her performances uninvolving and, eventually, did not book for her. For example, I did not want my Manon smiling at the audience rather than being involved in her own story within the stage.

 

So, no, I would not rate her as a great ballerina - nor, indeed, as a strong media performer.

 

However, it is interesting to note those who are emerging as the 'greats' on this thread. We vary on here so much in our tastes, our ballet-watching history and our memories yet certain names are recurring.

[Indigo]

As my interest in ballet is relatively recent & still developing, there are many dancers being listed as favourites (both in the male & female thread) where I have little knowledge of what they were like in performance, as they're now long retired. It's motivating me to start searching out some good recordings online & get better acquainted over the quieter summer months.

 

Of current female dancers, I keep hoping to see Alina Cojocaru (ENB) when they're on tour at the Mayflower, Southampton. But at the rate it's going, I'd better book a London based performance instead!

 

From the RB, who I see relatively regularly now, I greatly enjoy performances from Marianela Nuñez, Laura Morera, Lauren Cuthbertson, Yasmine Naghdi & Francesca Hayward. 

Also Sarah Lamb, Yuhui Choe & Natalia Osipova (but in specific roles).

 

Although I don't have a favourite female dancer, I have to make a special mention of Zenaida Yanowsky: she's been wonderful in a variety of roles I've seen, but also for another reason. 

 

Back in October 2012, I was looking for a way to remember a very dear, very close family member on an anniversary of their death. They had reminisced about doing ballet into their teens (a highlight of which had been dancing as a cygnet in Swan Lake), so when I spotted that the RB were doing a live relay of Swan Lake at my local cinema the evening before the anniversary, it seemed ideal. I'd not seen any ballet since primary school, but felt sure the RB would deliver a good performance. The anniversary is always a raw, emotional time for me & through Acts I & into Act II, I thought about my loved one, especially as the cygnets danced. But something happened as the ballet went on & I became totally immersed in the world of Swan Lake. It was a shock when the curtain fell at the end of Act IV & I found I was crying - but over the fate of Odette & Siegfried.

 

I had no idea ballet could have that power to move, or be so beautiful & involving. So thanks to Gary Avis (Von Rothbart), Nehemiah Kish (Siegfried) & all the cast, but most especially Zenaida Yanowsky (Odette/Odile), I left the cinema that night feeling uplifted & knowing I'd found an art form I wanted to see more of.  My love of ballet has gradually progressed from there.