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RIP: Maya Plisetskaya — 11 Comments

  1. Wow. Incredibly athletic, powerful and yet graceful at once, with a simply perfect figure. Plus the natural charisma of one born to perform. A pure distillation of classic female beauty. Thanks for posting.

  2. It is infinitely challenging to appreciate the power, the grace, the athleticism of this art form.
    Nearly impossible to derive any joy in the lifetime of discipline and sacrifice which produces this performance.
    Why?
    Because, it is RACIST. Nary a black person in the mix. Just as the sport of ice hockey flaunts its racism towards blacks, ballet prances around like a proud peacock in all of its, whiteness.
    The choice of showing old videos of past performances is so apropos. This art form, by all present-day social standards, is so, yesterday.
    It deserves to be ridiculed for what it represents.
    Shunned and shamed for the sheer sham it shows.
    After the political performances laid bare in Baltimore this week, this is the (socio) path this country is seemingly taking.
    Pardon the satirical perspective. There is a time when I would not have even attempted such a dim view. Not now. Not after this week. Not after witnessing the ignorance of politicians in Baltimore in all of their political correctness, and all of their misdirected energies.
    Ballet racist?
    Pose the question to those such as, Cornell West Brown and his ilk, and see where it goes.
    What a thoroughly depressing week, this past one. Not unlike the past 6 years…

  3. Clarity seeker:

    Actually, you might be surprised to hear that these days there are quite a few black classical ballet dancers in the US. Maybe I’ll write a post on them someday.

  4. Death appears to have come suddenly, of a massive heart attack, although she had seemed in excellent health.
    It happened to a friend of mine. The first indication that he had heart problems was a massive heart attack that killed him. He had a physical a few months earlier that found nothing wrong.

  5. When it comes to ballet dancing I feel like Jed Clampett on the old Beverly Hillbillies TV show. I appreciate Neo explaining ballet dancing and introducing some of the greats.

  6. Thank you, Neo, for your posts on Plisetskaya and Ulanova, and your many exquisite and informed looks inside the world of ballet over the years. I have never seen a live ballet in my life, but I have always appreciated it and come to appreciate it even more through your writing, which has opened to me a greater understanding of how discipline — mental and physical — enhances even the most natural grace. You write from inside the art with a humble honesty that makes me better understand the pain, elation, tedium, exhilaration, courage, body and, yes, spiritual awareness (and much more) that is part of the pursuit of the dancer. And isn’t it wonderful that we live in the age when your insights can be illustrated with film or video of actual performances! Thank you!

  7. neo,

    Even I, as far from an aficionado of ballet as is possible… can see the beauty and athletic grace.

    Regarding ballet’s decline, might today’s Olympic ice skating be a modern substitute?

    Ray,

    The exact same thing happened to my closest childhood friend, our friendship never lessened. While grieving for him, my wise father (a doer!) offered helpful words. Years before, a former Jewish boss of his with whom he had been close, passed away suddenly. At the funeral, the rabbi related that, in the Jewish tradition, a very sudden death is referred to as being touched by ‘the finger of God”, the idea being that because the deceased suffers little or not at all, it is a profound blessing.

    In my friend’s case, his wife saw him rise to come to lunch, witnessed his eyes roll up into his head as he stood and is adamant that she knew he was dead before he hit the floor. He was in excellent shape, ate and exercised right but his DNA (family history, father and older brother both died of heart attacks) did him in.

    ‘Don’t take life too seriously folks, you’re never going to get out of it alive…’ (comedian Steven Wright).

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