Ulanova was sui generis
Galina Ulanova was a prominent dancer during the USSR’s ballet heyday in the 1940s and 1950s. But she wasn’t typical of anything; she was completely sui generis. At her Wiki page I found this quote from Sergei Eisenstein:
Ulanova — cannot be grouped together with, compared to other dancers. In terms of what is most cherished, By the very nature of her secret…She belongs to a different dimension.
And Margot Fonteyn, probably the greatest British dancer of the same era, said this:
I cannot even begin to talk about Ulanova’s dancing, it is so marvelous, I am left speechless. It is magic. Now we know what we lack.
How did she do it? I don’t really know. Ulanova had a more delicate musculature than today’s dancers; it concealed the strength required and emphasized the artistry. It’s a rare quality although more common back then. However, Ulanova herself was always unique. She seemed to be dancing with some internal impetus that had little to nothing to do with performing for the audience or showing off.
Ulanova specialized in portraying people rather than otherworldly beings. And yet she could do the latter just as well. She could dance anything with a fluidity and subtlety that made you forget technique or tricks. I chose this short clip of her Swan Queen Odette, which she dances in a manner evenly poised between human and swan – unlike most modern Swan Queens who lean towards the swan, the better to show off their remarkable and almost inhuman flexibility. That’s not what Ulanova was about:
Even I, lacking insight and familiarity, sense a pure ineffable artistry.
neo:
I’d like to know more about Galina Ulanova. She was a contemporary of Maya Plisetskaya.
Your video led me to the Plisetskaya version, though I can’t quite sync the two.
–“Black Swan Pas de Deux (1957, Plisetskaya and Fadeyechev)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R72ggZAqCo
Ulanova’s version is slower and I know that slower can be harder. Both versions are great, though I’ve become a devotee of Plisetskaya, so I’m biased.
Was the Natalie Portman “Black Swan” (2010) film worthwhile? I started it a few times.
huxley:
I wrote this review of the Black Swan movie when it first came out.
Let see this Baby girl waits for her father every day with his truck to hug and help him.
https://x.com/TheFigen_/status/1898729437648024015
That video is not much to go on… so I went back to Youtube and found a clearer, longer video of Giselle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WQ_hCJ5S9M
(Sorry, I don’t know how to place time markers on videos)
She enters just before 15:00 – and it looks like she is taking a little jump just as she runs onstage.
In the grand pas de deux her solo passages are at 19:45 and 22:40.
Wow.
She is not as flexible and wild as Plisetskaya, but she does not have that artificial plumb-bob posture of modern dancers. She has perfect balance but her torso is always slightly curved or inclined in a natural way. And of course she has a normal woman’s proportions.
Her arms and positions are never symmetrical – never! – yet always graceful and expressive. A Youtube commenter mentioned that she has “rubato” – a musical term that means the performer is not always exactly on the beat, but pulls and pushes the tempo in a natural way. I agree with that comment – from that first run across the stage, nothing is mechanically exact. It is all musical and expressive.
Like Plisetskaya, she is a real person with feelings.
She also has a very good, expressive connection with her partner.
Ben David:
All true.
Ulanova was famous for her ability to run on stage, which is more difficult than one might think. Unfortunately I’m unable to find a video of that in Romeo and Juliet, the most famous example. There used to be one on YouTube; I wonder where it went.
@ > “There used to be one on YouTube; I wonder where it went.”
Where all the mismatched pairs of socks are?
Can you have mismatched ballet slippers?
You can’t trust anything to stay available; I’ve even hit 404s looking for some of Neo’s posts from only a few years ago.
The Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) is amazing, but they don’t save everything either, especially if a copyright owner requests something be taken down (which might be the case here).