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A 'ballet/dance miscellany' thread

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Amelia

Amelia

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On 10/12/2023 at 20:16 Geoff said:
"Something different (apparently they were at the Olympics some years ago but I missed this) ……………………………...:
This is an absolutely amazing performance, Geoff.
I tried to find out something about these dancers and was stunned to discover that they all are DEAF! I also missed them, in fact 19 years ago, when they performed at the closing ceremony of Athens Summer Paralympic Games. At that time they performed as The China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe!
Here is another video where we can see how they manage to achieve this incredible synchronisation, not to mention their plastique and overall beauty. It is called Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva Dance:
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  • alison changed the title to A 'ballet/dance miscellany' thread
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Geoff

Geoff

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7 hours ago, Amelia said:
On 10/12/2023 at 20:16 Geoff said:
"Something different (apparently they were at the Olympics some years ago but I missed this) ……………………………...:
This is an absolutely amazing performance, Geoff.


Yet another inspiration for any choreographer who wants to break out from today’s clichés and surprise the audience. 

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Ondine

Ondine

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In order not to derail the RB Nutcracker thread any more than I already have (though there was a link to a previous post)

 

I'll put this here. 

 

Lucie Saronova.  What incredible lives some of these dancers / teachers had. All the work, the pioneering, the globe-trotting at a time when travel wasn't easy or rapid.

 

I do enjoy these bios on the Cecchetti International site.

 

https://cicb.org/lucie-saronova/

 

 

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Tattin

Tattin

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I would be delighted to hear about it if you were able to watch it oncnp. I couldn't in the end as it was limited to viewers in Italy. I love galas as they give one the opportunity to see so many different dancers.

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Sim

Sim

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15 minutes ago, Geoff said:

A lovely backstage moment from Swan Lake has just been put on Instagram by David Hallberg:

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1JHXxVpAXa/

Beautiful.  I love the way they start rippling at the end; like one of the comments, I would love to see more!

 

I was lucky enough to watch from the wings the Bolshoi do Swan Lake at the ROH the last time they brought it.  There's a little bench where you sit, literally right next to the stage.  The swans would all line up right in front of me, waiting to go on in Acts 2 and 4.  They were so close that their tutus brushed against me.  They would all be chatting and giggling...and as soon as their music started and it was time to move, they were transformed from giggly young girls to beautiful swan maidens.  The instant transformation was astonishing...and I will never forget it!

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Amelia

Amelia

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1 hour ago, Geoff said:

As we go into Russian Christmas, here is a gosh-well-really variation (from, I understand, the young Sizova’s graduation performance):-

 

She was a charming ballerina. The desired partner of all Mariinsky stars: Nureyev, Solovyov, Baryshnikov...   Here she is in  “The Sleeping Beauty” made at Kirov Theatre in 1964.

Aurora- Sizova, Desire - Solovyev, Lilac Fairy - I.Bazhenova, Carabosse - Dudinskaya, Florina - Makarova, Bluebird - Panov ...
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Amelia

Amelia

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On 06/01/2024 at 10:24, LinMM said:

Unfortunately my phone won’t let me access the above links for some reason 

It can be easily watched on computer if you have one. Try this link, the picture if better here:

 

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Roberta

Roberta

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On 09/01/2024 at 13:51, Geoff said:

Um, a film star tap dancing en pointe:

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C12OmRoJS5p/

 

 

This was quite a thing in movies and stage speciality acts at the time. There are many clips on YouTube from thirties movies.

 

The shoes were not ordinary pointe shoes but had strong metal shanks which propped the dancer up. Tough as old boots! 

 

 

 

 

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Geoff

Geoff

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Many thanks Jan. That’s a useful clip in other ways as well. At least he (just about) taps in time, which some recent widows did not manage. That throws off the main idea of the piece, the clog beats being part of the music.

 

But, goodness, the mugging and the uncontrolled flapping about in his “comedic” performance. This seems sadly to be the modern style (like many sisters in Cinderella). Perhaps today’s performers have little experience of how carefully husbanded economy of gesture, pointing and timing can get real laughs. Ashton, who of course knew the music hall with its famously tough audiences, was a brilliantly delicate performer and filled this number with a generous helping of “bits”, all of which need to be set up and delivered exactly if they are to work as he intended. Panicky gurning and hasty uncontrolled gestures are what a performer resorts to when they don’t know how to get laughs any other way. 
 

i was once present at a rehearsal when Sir Fred, by then an older gentleman, demonstrated a section of this dance. No unnecessary movements and brilliantly funny. 
 

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Roberta

Roberta

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More clogging! (I love the BFI refers to this as an 'Orphan Work', a film without an identified rights owner.)

 

 

 

If anyone would like a pair of clogs, there are still makers toiling on. 

 

https://simonbrock.co.uk/how-its-made

 

In 2023 Heritage Crafts released its revised Red List of Endangered Crafts.
Clog Making is still listed as ‘Critically Endangered’. 

Edited by Roberta
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Roberta

Roberta

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As Dame Margot Fonteyn is in our minds again with the repeat of Magic Of Dance here's a photo of her in her academic garb as Chancellor of Durham University. She was thrilled to be installed in the role. She always felt she had such a meagre education herself, apart of course from dancing.  I know she took being Chancellor very seriously and loved it all. 

 

 

 

 

"She came back to England at least once a year. She had become Chancellor to the University of Durham; each year, she addressed the graduating ceremony. For her inaugural ceremony*, all the academics had been curious about how this ballerina would cope; but she had astounded them by delivering, without any notes, an eloquent and passionate speech about the importance of education. The last time she went to Durham, she spoke personally to the students, thinking of all the gifts that had helped her with her career. The one she said that had been most vital had been tenacity: if there was one gift she in turn could bestow upon them, tenacity would be the one."  https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/stgba4kej960zatygdbfjjo0akr2vb

 

*I was fortunate to be in the congregation in Durham Cathedral on that delightful occasion and oh, how radiant she was. Among those also in attendance was Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, who was being awarded an honorary degree. The contrast between the two was marked as they processed down the aisle, Dame Kiri tall and statuesque and a beaming Dame Margot so very tiny. 

 

"Margot has had multiple spaces around Durham University named in her honour, such as the Fonteyn Ballroom which is located in the Student Union. In Durham Castle, the Margot Fonteyn Entrance, which is located in Screens Passage, is also dedicated to her memory. With an oil painting and her photograph hanging on the wall, this is the first space within the Castle which was built in honour of a woman. However, these spaces are not well recognised for what they are by the student population, and many are unaware of the legacy of Margot Fonteyn at Durham University." https://stories.durham.ac.uk/women-of-castle/#group-section-Margot-Fonteyn-0O7o8vojh4

 

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Geoff

Geoff

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To change things around a little here’s a historical quiz question for the weekend. Which member of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo went on to dance a number to a speech by Adolf Hitler?

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