“The Dying Swan” is not my favorite dance – not by a longshot. It’s a schmaltzy little number that was choreographed by Fokine a hundred and twenty years ago as a concert piece to display the expressive talents of Anna … Continue reading →
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 — … Continue reading →
You might say that the turns in ballet known as fouettés are a sort of parlor trick. They’re neither beautiful nor interesting – at least, not to me – and are mostly a physical feat that requires great skill. In … Continue reading →
Statuesque Alvin Ailey dancer Judith Jamison has died at the age of 81. She was a towering figure in the dance world – pun intended, because she was very tall – and there are plenty of tributes. This is mine. … Continue reading →
I saw this the other day. It’s quite well done, particular by the male dancer: It’s actually an old trick that appears in many ballets, as well. For example, Coppelia (here she’s pretending to be a doll to fool the … Continue reading →
Or how not to film ballet. I admit it’s a very difficult task. Film flattens a three-dimensional highly spatial art into two dimensions of flatness. Dance’s impact can only really be made in space, which allows for perspective and weight. … Continue reading →
“Pas de Quatre” is one of the oldest ballets about which we have any knowledge. It’s from the Romantic era, when female ballet dancers first went up on pointe although in softer shoes than we have today. The aesthetic for … Continue reading →
I was shocked and saddened to read yesterday of the extremely untimely death of ballet dancer Michaela DePrince. To compound the sorrow, her mother died a day later. It’s an incredible tragedy for the family and for Michaela’s sister Mia … Continue reading →
A famous moment in the ballet Giselle occurs towards the beginning of Act II. In the first act of the ballet, Giselle – a peasant girl – has fallen in love with Albrecht, a nobleman who is disguised as a … Continue reading →
The other day I was watching a video about Margot Fonteyn, the most famous British ballet dancer of the mid-twentieth century. The video featured a few seconds of her dancing in Fokine’s Les Sylphides. It was a role I immediately … Continue reading →
Here he is, Fabrice Calmels, at over 6 feet 6 inches tall: Here’s a short article about him. He’s a fairly good dancer, too, although his feet are a bit scrunched in the toes rather than in the arch. A … Continue reading →
Gillian Murphy has been with American Ballet Theater for about 25 years. She’s getting close to retirement age (she’s 45), but this video was made at least fourteen years ago. Murphy is exceptionally strong and she is also tall for … Continue reading →