Home » And now for a change of pace: Giselle through the ages

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And now for a change of pace: Giselle through the ages — 19 Comments

  1. Yes. I saw Makarova (as opposed to Markova) many times as well, and she was quite good but never hearbreaking and all-too-human, like Fracci. Fracci, IMHO, was not only the best Giselle ever, but the best that could ever be imagined.

  2. Neo, what, no Margot Fonteyn? I know nothing about ballet other than I like what I see, but I’d be interested in your take on her, Giselle or otherwise.

  3. GeoPal: I would have tried to include Fonteyn, but You Tube only had a video of her in the second or “white” act of the ballet. I wanted to compare the same variation. Fonteyn occupies a middle ground for me: less restrained than Markova and quite charming and natural, but she’s not up there with Fracci in my opinon.

    Ulanova was another one I could have included, but the videos at You Tube are just too long, and I couldn’t find the variation in question. She is a trifle too mannered for me, especially in some of her coy head movements. But it was partly the era, I think. She has a remarkable airy lightness, as you can see in this clip. It’s from the 50s, when she was in her 40s.

    I haven’t seen a recent dancer to compare with either Fracci or Ulanova or many of the older interpreters of the roles. The technique is fabulous and steely, but the incredible acting and sense of magic just isn’t there. I haven’t seen too many ballets lately, though, so if anyone can guide me to a younger dancer who’s got the right stuff, I’d appreciate it.

  4. Enough already. Get some manly man’s dancing in here. Report on clog dancing!

  5. Venderleuen be careful, she may put up rahm..

    sad, but today, the kind of early discipline needed to create a prima balerina and change her bone structure would be seen as abuse…

    people believe that the drive is amazing in one so young, when whats really amazing is the lack of it in one that is older. in fact to many of them the kind of drive that it takes to exceed (i wont say succeed as there are many who are close in talent and certainly similar in drive and work, who basically are dead bodies on the highway that never got there).

    motivation

    even Maslow didnt hammer it down… though i do like chapters 11 and 12 where he takes a side bar to describe a special kind of person which the left thinks they actually are!!! but they arent, if they were, they wouldnt have such contempt for people, and they certainly wouldnt view them as things to control and hurt that way. the 50 character german word that he used to describe how like a parent they saw others as children. if those on the left who think they are this way actually were, they would be very abusive parents, soffocating and crippling in so many ways to their children.

    the old broad form of education (which i earned by myself), is what creates those kinds of people. edited, malformed, censored education is what creates people whose heads are so full of themselves that they think that they are that, and yet, are so not that.

    and said in my worst stilted shatner immitation:
    too compelling to write more – have – to – – go

  6. ack… a sentence or two got axed out by my over quick trying to edit.

    the kind of drive that it takes to exceed seem to be completely lacking and generally exists in a fantasy of themselves.

    and the book i was cryptically referring to was Motivation and Personality by abraham maslow…

  7. Pingback:One of those days… | The Anchoress

  8. I am entirely illiterate in the area of dance… Thanks so much for posting your commentary along with the clips, so I can notice the things that matter, and expand my horizons thereby. (Vocal music is my gig.)

  9. OK, so I’m just not refined and demure. Although I truly admire the skill, ability, and practice, practice, practice required to perform ballet on any scale (much less world class) it is just not my cup of tea.

  10. br549: Not all ballet is demure, by any means, although the older works tend to be. But some dancers are not demure no matter what they’re dancing. You might want to take a look at my posts on Maya Plisetskaya, here and here.

  11. artfldgr: Agree with you about the “dead bones on on the side of the highway” comment. My daughter is a dancer who is headed to college next year. I still appreciate the beauty of ballet, but as a parent I cringe when I think about the internal fortitude required to ENDURE unspeakable things along the way to a possible professional career.

  12. vanderleun: clog dancing you say? How about this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMn2TuvW_M8

    La Fille Mal Gardee is one of my all time favorites. It has all the essentials: clog dancing, thrown cabbages, etc. (what can I say, I’m an engineer AND a Morris dancer).

    This Royal Ballet version is fun, but Boston Ballet uses real wooden clogs – much nicer percussive sound, albeit trickier to dance on.

  13. …. and dancing chickens! How could I forget the dancing Chickens?!

  14. I wish her the best of luck ERB!!!

    I once went out with a choreographer whose body (yes she knew) was never what anyone would want for regular dance jobs given what is selected. but she ran her dance school and was upbeat and didnt have a bad life, though she didnt have it easy either.

  15. GeoPal, dance critics pretty much agree that Fonteyn didn’t shine in Giselle as she did in other ballets, such as Swan Lake, Ondine, Sleeping Beauty, etc. And yes Neo, I think Carla is just wonderful and I am glad others appreciate her.

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