I recently wrote about ballet dancer Violette Verdy, who died on February 8. At the time I wrote that post, I had not seen the following videos. In my post I mentioned Verdy’s astounding and unique musicality; I think these videos showcase it so that you can get at least a smidgeon of an idea of what watching her dance in person might have been like. Just multiply by 100 and you’ve got it.

And I’m even happier—I could almost say ecstatic—to see that the following video contains an all-too-brief glimpse of Verdy performing the role of the Girl in Green that Jerome Robbins created for her in the ballet “Dances at a Gathering” that I described at length in that post. It’s the only existing footage I’ve ever seen of her dancing that role since I saw the original production back in the late 60s and early 70s. Unfortunately, the Chopin music is missing in the video, which is a special shame with Verdy because her forte was expressing the secret heart of the music. But oh, how wonderful it is for me to be able to watch even this small and shadowy glimpse, a wisp and mere suggestion of the cherished long-lost memory (from 3:26 to 3:42):

Completely unique.

The first dance in this video, another clip I’d never seen before, is phenomenal (the beginning is distant and blurry, but it segues to a nice close-up after about ten seconds):

Let’s take a look at that excerpt from “Dances” again, and compare it to a more recent version, with the music. I’ve cued both of them up to begin at about the same place. First the recent one with the Paris Opera Ballet (watch till about 35:44, which is the same place that the Verdy clip ends):

Now Verdy. Night and day; night and day—her skipping, playful naturalness doesn’t emphasize each step as a step, it emphasizes the emotional tenor and flow of the whole:

[NOTE: Another thing about Verdy—in addition to her exquisite phrasing—that set her off from modern day dancers was the fact that she looked like a normal, albeit slender, woman. This only added to the magical effect, as far as I’m concerned.]