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Another dying swan: Lil Buck and Yo Yo Ma — 14 Comments

1. I saw that video a couple of weeks ago, on Ace’s website (ace.mu.nu). I instantly knew you would get a kick out it.

   Lil Buck looks like he’s a classically trained dancer, whose fused modern dance and breakdancing into his own unique style.

   This is True Art.

2. Just what muscles do you develop to twist your ankle and lift your body weight on the side of your foot while doing it?

   Amazing.

3. I know nothing about dance, but deeply appreciate the incredible body control and fluidity of these great dancers. Bravo!

   Oh, to have but a bit of Lil Buck’s flexibility and strength. ‘Twould make moving creaky joints a tad easier.

4. Truly amazing.

5. My wife and I are big fans of So You Think You Can Dance; we plan our Wednesday and Thursday nights around it. It’s so much fun to see all the great young dancers and we love how they make them dance all sorts of styles. We don’t care too much about the Krump and some of the gangsta hip hop. We also couldn’t cake less about Dancing with the Stars, that seems so forced and dumbed down. Curious as to what our gracious host thinks about SYTYCD.

6. Yay for anti communist Latvian Baryshnikov..

   Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov (Russian: Михаил Николаевич Барышников, Latvian: Mihails Barišņikovs) (born January 27, 1948) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Baryshnikov

   is a Soviet-born Russian American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974 for more opportunities in western dance. After freelancing with many companies, he joined the New York City Ballet as a principal dancer to learn George Balanchine’s style of movement. He then moved to New York to dance with the American Ballet Theatre, where he later became artistic director.

   then you read lower..

   Born in Riga to Russian parents, now in independent Latvia, Baryshnikov began his ballet studies there in 1960.

   how about
   Maris Liepa (1936—1989) – ballet-dancer
   Māris RÅ«dolfs Liepa (27 July 1936, Riga — 26 March 1989, Moscow) was a Soviet Latvian ballet dancer. He graduated from Riga Choreography School where he was taught by ValentÄ«ns Bļinovs. He performed in Moscow for the first time in 1950. At the height of career, Liepa was considered one of the finest male dancers in the world[1] and one of the most versatile, at home in a wide range of roles.[2]

   and if thats not fun enough..

   Playboy Bunny
   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy_Bunny
   they have the origin only partly right..
   http://www.chibarproject.com/Memoriam/PlayboyClub/PlayboyClub.htm

   given that i memorize everything i have ever read, remembering the Facts comes easy!!!!!!!!!!

   Prior to the club’s opening, one last detail needed to be worked out: what would the waitresses wear?

   As it turns out, Lownes’s girlfriend and Latvian refugee, Ilse Taurins, suggested that they wear something in the style of the Playboy logo that would still incorporate the titillation of the Gaslight Girls.
   The major problem with this, however, was that the infamous logo, designed by Art Paul was distinctively male. This did not deter Ilse and she created a costume consisting of a strapless satin bodice (designed in 10 different colors), fluffy tail and satin headband with ears. Suzy Leigh, standing 5’2″ and sporting measurements of 37-23-32, was the original model for the Bunny suit as she was felt to possess the ideal Bunny figure. It was the tail that Hefner particularly loved and thus, the Playboy Bunny concept was born.

   others…

   Ed Leedskalnin (1887—1951) – builder of Coral Castle in Florida, claimed to have discovered the ancient magnetic levitation secrets used to construct the Egyptian pyramids.

   Nicolai Poliakovs (1900—1974) – Coco the Clown

   Jacob Davis (1834—1908) – inventor of denim

   Uļjana Semjonova (1952) – tallest female basketball player in the Olympic history, 3-time World Champion

   Leor Dimant (1972) – Turntabilist and member of the rock group Limp Bizkit

   Andrievs Ezergailis (1930) – historian of the Holocaust

   anyone taking the time to see the list will note that there are an awful lot of chess players, and such.
   tactics, strategy, etc..

   i remember going with maurice to play at the manhattan chess club. made famous by josh waitzkin. i never got to play against josh…

   famous photograher of Russian Ballet used to take me once in a while… i would sit and play with soviets and learn, and learn… most of the time, not chess. they loved playing with me for the inventive moves… and laughed as i would make brilliant moves, then not know enough to capitalize on them.

   but hey.. they were in their 30s-70s and i was 10

   now i dont play chess.. i play go….

   Fricis ApÅ¡enieks (1894—1941) – chess player
   Karlis BetinÅ¡ (1867—1943) – chess player
   MovÅ¡a Feigins (1908—1950) – chess player
   Aivars Ä¢ipslis (1937—2000) – chess player
   Aleksandrs Koblencs (1916—1993) – chess player
   Hermanis Matisons (1894—1932) – chess player
   Arkadij Naiditsch (1985) – chess player, now resident in Germany
   Aron Nimzowitsch (1886—1935) – influential chess player
   Vladimirs Petrovs (1907—1943) – chess player
   Evgeny Sveshnikov (1950) – prominent chess player
   Aleksejs Å irovs (1972) – one of the top chess grandmasters in the world today.
   Mihails Tāls (1936—1992) – the 8th World Chess Champion
   Alvis VitolinÅ¡ (1946—1997) – chess master
   Aleksandrs Voitkevičs (1963—2006) – chess player
   Elmārs Zemgalis (1923) – chess player

   i never cared the names of who i played..
   but often people would watch…

   i was always good for a laugh…
   they would start off and i would play, and they thought they would have me, then suddenly, not.
   but that only delayed them…

   much like soviet champions i beat them by playing to more than 25 moves. good thing i didn’t play Fischer, he would have hated me as i couldnt win, but refused to lose.. Russians did that to him by design and he stormed out… maybe thats why they laughed when i screwed up someone..

   anyway.. one of the best days was when i decided to play differently… people watched and asked where did i learn that… learn what? the gambit.. what gambit?

   Latvian Gambit

   The Latvian Gambit is an aggressive but dubious chess opening, which often leads to wild and tricky positions
   This opening is uncommon at the top level of over the board play, but some correspondence chess players are devoted to it

   given that play with me was boring with sudden swings of wild moves that would foul them up.. i

   The opening was originally known as the Greco Counter Gambit, and some modern writers still refer to it as such
   That name recognised the Italian player Gioachino Greco (1600—1634), who contributed to the early theory of the opening. The new name ‘Latvian Gambit’ was made official by the FIDE Congress of 1937. The name was a tribute to the Latvian players, notably Karlis Betins, who analysed it in the early part of the 20th century. This opening was referred to in the pilot episode of The Cape by the villain Peter Fleming.

   given that i am always yelled at for cites, longer than sesame street post, and such.. i expect this to bring the haters of the tall poppy..

   in truth i can tell ya about lots of things from lots of places and tons of nooks and crannies of stuff.

   40 years of reading by the pound and memorizing everything kind of makes all this referencing easy (internet makes connecting to it fast)

7. by the way… since both my cousins went to juliard.. i turned it down… but did get to play at avery fischer hall (my cousin at alice tully hall)… my early days i got to circulate among the classical music and ballet world on the performance side..

   but that was before they declared me unfit for the future

8. 1) Lil Buck is a dying… something.

   Something masculine. Not a swan. Actually something leading a much more modern, human life than a swan – many of his “dying” moves immediately express the unbalanced, chaotic nature of modern life (and the urban dance style he’s using).

   Can a man portray a swan? Or am I just blocked by the learned expectation of what miming a swan will look like, based primarily on the ballet idiom?

   2) Boy is that 1905 clip boring – besides the technical achievement of constant pointe. It’s hard to smooth out the choppy rhythm imposed by the primitive film technology – but even so, the pantomime seems kinda broad.

9. Ben David: the dance was choreographed in 1905, but the clip is from 1925, when Pavlova was in her mid-forties. That said, films are an especially bad way to evaluate dance (although for Pavlova, they are all we have). They are a 2-dimensional record of an art that is 3-dimensional, and also involves an emotional connection with the audience that doesn’t usually film well.

   Old films are also particularly bad because of their herky-jerky quality. Also, styles in dance (and acting, and music) have changed; things in general used to be more histrionic, I think. Now we emphasize technique, which I don’t think is a good solution either.

   That said, I don’t like “The Dying Swan” particularly much, even when it is danced on stage by an absolutely wonderful dancer. I’ll take the word of those who saw her in person, however, that Pavlova was a transcendentally great dancer.

10. Artfldgr Says:
    June 22nd, 2011 at 4:32 pm

    Suzy Leigh, standing 5’2″ and sporting measurements of 37-23-32, was the original model for the Bunny suit as she was felt to possess the ideal Bunny figure.

    She calls those hips? 38 is more like it.

    Aron Nimzowitsch (1886—1935) — influential chess player

    His book My System, written in the 1920s and translated into English in 1930, is one of the best books about chess strategy and tactics ever written. Besides the useful insights about the game, it also sparkles with wit and even humor.

    I read it back in the 70s during a period of youthful immersion in chess. I don’t play much today and haven’t been following the chess world much. It may be that other books have since become more influential for the top players of today.

    But any amateur chess enthusiast cannot possibly go wrong by reading and studying it. He will have a tremendous advantage over those who have not.

11. Drat. I seem to have wandered off topic again.

12. I didn’t know the human ankle could move in the directions that Lil Buck’s do. Mine sure can’t. Videos like that are good motivation to start stretching again. I’m still fairly limber for my age, but I used to be able to do the splits when I was seriously practicing martial arts. Don’t know if I can get back to that, but it’s something to shoot for.

13. Wow. Lil Buck is *incredible.* He looks like he’s moving in slow motion. Just amazing.

14. Like other commenters, I am amazed at Lil Buck’s skill and artistry.

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