I just found this extraordinary dancer: Evgenia Obraztsova
I haven’t really kept up with the Bolshoi and other Russian dancers during the last decade or so, but YouTube has allowed me to start remedying that condition. In the past, I’ve often talked about how the quality of balletic artistry has degenerated at the same time that ballet has improved in the technical sense, so that many dancers today seem to me to be mere performers doing amazing tricks but without the emotional resonance of the older generations. The latter might have made some errors, and their legs might not have risen quite to the sky, but so many of the great ones of the past could muster up a feeling of sublimity and transcendence in their audiences. And that, I submit, is one of the main goals of art, or at least it used to be.
However, Russian dancer Evgenia Obraztsova, whom I’ve just discovered, comes awfully close to combining the height of the technical and the artistic. I’ll probably write more about her in the future, when I’ve watched more videos, but for now I’m just enjoying her youthful exuberance, her light and airy ballon, her soulful expressiveness, and her astounding technique.
Here’s the “youthful exuberance” part, in a role in “Don Quixote,” made popular by the astounding Plisetskaya (see her here; no one can compare to Plisetskaya, and I submit that no one ever will compare, but Evgenia Obraztsova gives it an awfully good effort):
In the following excerpt from the second act of “Giselle,” you need to know that this scene occurs after Giselle has died and become a Wili, a spirit condemned to haunt the forest and lure and dance young men to their deaths, because she has been betrayed in love. The clip begins as the wraithlike spirit of Giselle has been summoned from the grave under a spell cast by the queen of the Wilis, who commands her to dance:
If you like the ballet “Sleeping Beauty”—and I’ve never been all that keen on it, myself—here’s Obraztsova in an excellent rendition of the famous pas de deux, where she manages to combine the extraordinarily acrobatic extensions of what I’ve called “extreme ballet” with a delicacy and freshness and charm that makes it all work as a believable whole:
There are a wealth of other Obraztsova riches on YouTube. Happy watching!
Oh, Im better than her.
You don’t have to be an aficionado, much less an expert, to understand that the true artist must first attain mastery of their tools, so as to master expression. Then, the depth and quality of their artistic vision, reveals the height, to which they have reached, in the accomplishment of their art.
> understand that the true artist must first attain mastery of their tools
I think the expressiveness comes first, but is improved with mastery of technique. The expressiveness is like story in literature, as opposed to writing ability. I’ve read poorly written books that still carried me through to the end because of the story, but well written books without a good story… somehow I never get around to picking them again up after the first couple of chapters. “Literary” works often suffer the dull story defect.
Well, I only know about ballet from ths site but I have to say that even I can see she is extraordinary.
You might be interested in a HBO documentary called “Bolshoi Babylon.” It is about the attack on Sergei Filin, artistic director of the Bolshoi. But it also looks at the past history and current circumstances of the Bolshoi. It next runs on Jan. 11, 2:00 PM ET, on HBO Signature East. URL: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/bolshoi-babylon
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Maggie’s Farm Says: Can Somebody Explain The Loathing Of The Successful To Me? Why Don’t Kids Address Adults as Mr. and Mrs. Anymore?
sure… back in the days your thinking of, merit ruled. but as long as merit ruled, women could not compete and win, so they forced the standards to be lower so that they could be equal. they decided their mates were evil oppressors, and kicked husbands out for the BBD of the state…
flash forwards years later, and who would teach a child to respect adults? adults are oppressors of children and dont want them to have sex. you cant treat people with respect, thats not real, and besides, hetronormative families are evil and give children the abilty to have manners and so on
from the time feminism took over, they have rotted out the family till the point was not to have a family any more… just read their quotes and realize they mean it, taught it, changed it, and solidified it…
merit is a myth.. beiung polite is a lie
being a feral child is now the norm.
just read what the future is telling you!!!
Reinforcing male privilege: The Trudeau cabinet, Andrew Coyne, and the mythology of ‘merit’
http://www.feministcurrent.com/2015/11/04/reinforcing-male-privilege-the-trudeau-cabinet-andrew-coyne-and-the-mythology-of-merit/
from geek feminism
Questioning the merit of meritocracy.
http://geekfeminism.org/2009/11/29/questioning-the-merit-of-meritocracy/
In short: meritocracy benefits not only those with skill and ability, but with the self-confidence to demonstrate their skill publicly and demand recognition for it. And self-confidence is highly gendered.
basically if they can win, its fair, but if they lose it myst be unfair and the standards are aainst then, otherwise they would win… so the losers invent ways to make winners cheaters and so negate their wins, marginalize their work, use affirmative action to deny them employment, and more..
[edited for length by n-n]
read the above, its too long and neo will kill it
ask easier questions.. these are too hard to answer in the space allowed… not to mention that the answer is not pc
Thanks to marxism and equalist feminism, and racialism, this is a dead artform. it shows clearly that some actually have more talent than others, and that is evil… so its dying out… and wont survive this century any more than the old dances of the time of henry the 8th exist today other than displays of old junk….
sad..
but hey, that was when others ruled the world and wanted constant improvement and uplifting art, and thought merit was best…
thats ended in 1968, and ballet wont last another 50 years other than as a remnant of patriarchal times gone by…
She is a star. Effortless extension and control as she floats across the stage. My wife, a former business manager at a ballet company, who knows what she is watching, is impressed.
You have your old stars, but new ones are always there to replace them. In opera, it was Placido Domingo and Luigi Pavarotti. Today, it is Dmitri Aleksandrovich Hvorostovsky, a stunning baritone who knocks the socks out of everything he sings. Here he is doing Figaro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85kFY4D55oE
Confidence, poise, vocal placement, and a great voice.
I`ve spent 25 years going to the ballaet and learningstudying ballet and I can tell you after watching Evgenia Obraztsova on You Tube and seeing her in person last Ju7ne 18th,2015 I can tell you Evgenia Obraztsove is my very very favorite ballet dancer of all times. I think she is such an amazing performer and such a delight tio watch on stage. You need to see her in person and watch how she dancer on stage. She has said the she is very devoted,focused and adances with all hear heart and soul. That is the kind of person she is. Evgeneia is more than just a dancer,she is also an actress too which to me is an extroadinary for a person of her stature. “I personally think she is just wonderful and I wish Evgenia all the best for all the hard work she puts into her art form. Evgenia Obrazsova is amazing!”