Galina Samsova RIP

[Irmgard]

Copied from a posting on the English National Ballet Alumni page on Facebook.

 

The celebrated ballerina, choreographer, and former Director of Scottish Ballet, Galina Samsova, passed away peacefully in London last night, 11 December, following a short illness.

 

 

Galina’s international career started in 1961 with National Ballet of Canada. She joined London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet) in 1964, quickly becoming the Company’s Principal Ballerina. Her partnerships first with David Adams and later with André Prokovsky during this period mesmerised audiences worldwide for a decade.

 

In 1978, Galina joined Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet (now Birmingham Royal Ballet) becoming Principal Ballerina and teacher for ten years. During this period she staged a celebrated production of Swan Lake in collaboration with Sir Peter Wright, performing the principal role of Odette/Odile in the same production. In 1999, she collaborated with Birmingham Royal Ballet’s then Artistic Director, Sir David Bintley, in a much acclaimed production of Giselle.

 

In 1991, Galina became Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet, succeeding the Company’s founding Artistic Director, Peter Darrell, who had died in 1987. During this time, Galina placed huge emphasis on the Company’s classical repertoire and introduced many new and up-and-coming names to the British ballet world, including Daria Klimentová and Tamara Rojo who both went on to join English National Ballet, becoming Principal Dancers. Tamara joined The Royal Ballet in 2001, and has been Artistic Director of English National Ballet since 2012.

 

Galina was as gifted in her lyrical interpretations of the great classics such as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle and Cinderella, as she was in virtuosity in such show stoppers as the pas de deux of Spring Waters and Le Corsaire.

 

But we will also remember what a inspiring and hard working colleague Galina was, always interested in developing young talent, maintaining the highest standards, not to mention her unforgettable sense of humour.

 

Born in Stalingrad (Volgograd) on 17 March 1937, died London 11 December 2021.

 

[Jan McNulty]

RIP Galina Samsova.

 

I never had the privilege of seeing her dance but I greatly admired what she did when AD of Scottish Ballet.  Both her Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake were sublime productions.

[Balletfanp]

I was once selected at the age of 9 or 10 to present her with a bouquet at the BBO summer concourse, which would have been around 1975 or 1976. She and Andre Prokovsky came and danced the White Swan pas de deux for us in the studio. I have only the vaguest memory of most of that day but I do remember seeing their beautiful performance up close 😌.

[bridiem]

Very sad to hear this. She was a wonderful dancer and had a kind of grandeur about her that was thrilling. RIP.

[SheilaC]

She was a truly wonderful dancer, with a fabulous Russian back and epaulement. Her productions of the classics were very good, helping to develop the dancers of SWRB. The company she and Prokovsky founded, New London Ballet, was at a very high standard for such a small company, with excellent dancers and some really good new ballets.

[Lizbie1]

18 minutes ago, SheilaC said:

She was a truly wonderful dancer, with a fabulous Russian back and epaulement.

 

SheilaC, I'd love to know what this means!

[Mary]

RIP.

 

b. Stalingrad 1937- a tough start in life.

 

There are a few clips on youtube- Spring Waters is a delight, and the short snippet of the 1963 Paris Cinderella gives a fleeting sense of her obviously powerful stage presence (and many giggles at the rest of the production especially the chaps in reindeer outfits.)

 

[Pas de Quatre]

She was indeed an exceptional dancer with a wonderful stage presence. As well as seeing her perform I have amazing memories of her in open professional classes at the Dance Centre in the 1970s. RIP.

[Lizbie1]

Mary, thank you for the Spring Waters recommendation - lovely stuff!

[Sharon]

I saw her dance many times. She was I remember very technically accomplished, which really impressed me when I was young...But I also remember being terribly moved watching her Swan Lake partnered by the wonderful David Ashmole. And as someone mentioned earlier her epaulment / port de bras was really beautiful. 

My condolences to her family and friends and past colleagues especially all those who worked with her at SWRB.

RIP Galina 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

 

 

[LinMM]

I watched her in class in the early 70’s at the old dance centre in Floral st. The word would soon get around if there was a professional dancer either in class or taking a class. And there was a huge interest in anybody Russian! 
She did smoke quite a bit in those days and it always amazed me that dancers could smoke but still be amazingly fit. I saw her dance with Festival Ballet a few times with Andre Prokovsky....very strong and striking performances. 
It fascinated me then seeing the transformation of a dancer such as herself from just ordinarily standing in the wings and then suddenly out there performing on the stage. 

She will always be associated with my first months living in London and the excitement of discovering the Dance Centre!! 
So sorry to hear she has died. 

 

[Odyssey]

I was fortunate to see her on several occasions when she joined Sadler Wells Ballet, including her Odette/Odile in the production of Swan Lake which she staged alongside Sir Peter Wright. A classical ballerina par excellence,  she had a striking stage presence, which, although I was then relatively new to ballet, I retained a sense of her total command of both the technical and dramatic interpretation of a role. Apart from her leading ballerina roles, I remember her as a majestically, haughty  and compelling Carabosse who was well pitted against Margaret Barbieri’s stately Lilac Fairy - a marvellous production, which Samsova again jointly worked on with Sir Peter. Looking at her biography, her contribution to ballet in the UK has been immense. So sad to hear of her passing.

[bridiem]

See Alastair Macaulay's obituary:

https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/khc9b19dz05a5zpiec7h7mw7yznn83

[Odyssey]

20 minutes ago, bridiem said:

See Alastair Macaulay's obituary:

https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/khc9b19dz05a5zpiec7h7mw7yznn83

Such a lovely tribute that celebrates her artistry. However, I dare to disagree heartily  with his assessment of Sir Peter Wright’s  Sleeping Beauty! 

[alison]

Thank you, everyone, for your memories of her.  I think I came in right at the end of her career, when she was performing in that short work by SWRB, the name of which still escapes me, but it was obvious that she was someone special.

 

RIP.

[Lizbie1]

2 hours ago, Odyssey said:

Such a lovely tribute that celebrates her artistry. However, I dare to disagree heartily  with his assessment of Sir Peter Wright’s  Sleeping Beauty! 

 

I don't think AM has ever approved of anything SPW has done! (Doesn't he call him Sir Peter Wrong?)

[Orlandau]

Galina Samsova was the first Odette/Odile I ever saw, it was my first ballet at the ROH, and my first time watching SWRB. Since then I followed her and the company vicariously through the pages of Dancing Times,  awaiting eagerly the company's visits to London, especially the Christmas visits to Sadler's Wells, what a varied repertory they used to bring! I especially remember her performances in The Invitation, Giselle, and Paquita, amongst many others. Very sad to hear she has died.

 

I had a quick look at Birmingham Royal Ballet's home page and Twitter page, and was a bit miffed to find no mention of her.

[SheilaC]

16 hours ago, Sharon said:

I saw her dance many times. She was I remember very technically accomplished, which really impressed me when I was young...But I also remember being terribly moved watching her Swan Lake partnered by the wonderful David Ashmole. And as someone mentioned earlier her epaulment / port de bras was really beautiful. 

My condolences to her family and friends and past colleagues especially all those who worked with her at SWRB.

RIP Galina 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

 

 

It's a pity there's no film of her dancing Swan Lake. I'm pretty sure it was filmed, I think in Manchester, soon after the production was premiered , but it was never shown on TV, I never found out why.

Re Orlandau's comment on BRB I guess that currently no-one even remembers that they once possessed such a star!

[SheilaC]

I'm delighted to say that there is now a tribute to Samsova on the BRB website. There are some beautiful photos of her dancing in Swan Lake (I didn't make it clear in the previous post that the film of Swan Lake would have featured her) and very warm and affectionate words from her friend, the equally  remarkable Marion Tait.

[Lisa O`Brien]

RIP. My first ever live performance of Swan Lake was at Manchester's Palace Theatre with SWRB and Galina Samsova in the dual role. Sobbed  my way through the white acts, and I remember thinking at the end of the performance that if I didn't become a ballet dancer one day I would just die. That feeling wore off me very quickly; within the following few days in fact. Wasn't that I didn't want to become a ballet dancer, but I didn't want to put in any hard work or effort whatsoever into getting there . 

[Two Pigeons]

On 13/12/2021 at 12:43, Lizbie1 said:

 

I don't think AM has ever approved of anything SPW has done! (Doesn't he call him Sir Peter Wrong?)

His openly published dislike of Sir Peter and his productions bordered on the totally vicious at times.  He wrote a diatribe about his Nutcracker for BRB in its very early days which was so wide of the mark I wrote to the FT to complain.

[Two Pigeons]

On 13/12/2021 at 15:31, SheilaC said:

It's a pity there's no film of her dancing Swan Lake. I'm pretty sure it was filmed, I think in Manchester, soon after the production was premiered , but it was never shown on TV, I never found out why.

Re Orlandau's comment on BRB I guess that currently no-one even remembers that they once possessed such a star!

 

 

You need to appreciate that the successes and achievements of BRB have been recently reappraised.  Nothing of any value happened before Carlos assumed the reins of the company.

 

[Emeralds]

On 12/12/2021 at 21:28, Lizbie1 said:

 

SheilaC, I'd love to know what this means!

The Russian training puts a lot of emphasis on the use of the back and shoulders (epaulement, from the same origin of the word epaulets - those shoulder decorations on military uniforms) whereby which corner, direction or tilt, angle of tilt of the shoulders, and bending forward or backward a little, or how much, makes all the difference to the line of an arabesque or other positions, as well as the dramatic and emotional interpretation. The traditional Danish and French training also have some of this, but the Vaganova and other Russian schools take it to a whole other level.

 

You can see the difference In young graduates from schools in other nations/traditions do the steps well, jump high and do multiple turns but their backs are quite rigid and they only face forward all the time. Eventually with coaching and experience, they all learn the subtleties of epaulement to some degree, but the Russian graduates  always have lots of it. 

 

[Emeralds]

Rest in peace, Galina Samsova. A true legend of the ballet world, especially in the UK. I love the BRB productions of Swan Lake and Giselle she co-produced. Also remarkable how many talented dancers she discovered and encouraged to perform/study and settle in Britain: Viviana Durante, Daria Klimentova, Tamara Rojo. Thank you, Galina. 

[Emeralds]

On 14/12/2021 at 21:57, Two Pigeons said:

His openly published dislike of Sir Peter and his productions bordered on the totally vicious at times.  He wrote a diatribe about his Nutcracker for BRB in its very early days which was so wide of the mark I wrote to the FT to complain.

I find AM very biased - sometimes to the point of nasty - that I don’t bother reading his reviews any more. I will read reviews by Roslyn Sulcas and other dance critics in the New York Times but that’s it. He doesn’t even have any dance training- and it shows.

 

His publicised swipes at Edward Watson, Wendy Whelan, Jenifer Ringer -  three of the most accomplished, charismatic and versatile dancers (in terms of technique as well as artistry) of their generation  - and other dancers was unprofessional and spiteful. The “reviews” were personal attacks rather than a professional overview of the performance. 

 

And one doesn’t have to buy tickets for Sir Peter’s productions but dancers from various backgrounds and companies - from Dutch National Ballet to Stuttgart Ballet to Australian Ballet to the Mariinsky to the Bolshoi and others, not just RB & BRB - have pointed out what excellent renditions of the classics Peter Wright produces.

Edited December 17, 2021 by Emeralds

[alison]

As this thread had diverged so significantly from its original subject, I've moved the posts relating to Sheila's letter into a separate thread, here:

 

[Ballet448]

On 13/12/2021 at 04:39, bridiem said:

Very sad to hear this. She was a wonderful dancer and had a kind of grandeur about her that was thrilling. RIP.

Beautifully put!  She was the first ballerina I ever saw do Raymonda (Act 3, which often formed part of mixed bills at the old Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet) and I have never seen anyone do that great slow solo (the one with the hand claps) better than she did - and have seen very few do it anything like as well, she remains my benchmark for the role all these decades later.  Grandeur is the word.  She was also a wonderful dramatic dancer - another vivid memory I have of her at SWRB was in MacMillan's Las Hermanas.  She made a major contribution to the development of ballet in the UK during a key period  - and probably never got the credit she deserved for it.  Very sad to hear she has died - RIP.

[Two Pigeons]

5 hours ago, Ballet448 said:

Beautifully put!  She was the first ballerina I ever saw do Raymonda (Act 3, which often formed part of mixed bills at the old Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet) and I have never seen anyone do that great slow solo (the one with the hand claps) better than she did - and have seen very few do it anything like as well, she remains my benchmark for the role all these decades later.  Grandeur is the word.  She was also a wonderful dramatic dancer - another vivid memory I have of her at SWRB was in MacMillan's Las Hermanas.  She made a major contribution to the development of ballet in the UK during a key period  - and probably never got the credit she deserved for it.  Very sad to hear she has died - RIP.

 

Hear, hear!

[Lizbie1]

There's a lovely (though very belated!) obit in today's Times (see links).