I’ve never been a big Donald O’Connor fan, but it’s about time I remedied that failing. This video (from the 1953 movie “Call Me Madam”) goes a long way towards converting me. It features Donald, supposedly drunk, making impossible moves … Continue reading →
The other day I was taking a walk, listening on my iPod to some ballet music, and I suddenly wondered—for no particular reason—whether the Eliot Feld ballet “Intermezzo” might have made its way to YouTube. During the 70s I had … Continue reading →
“Fancy Free” was one of Jerome Robbins’ earliest most successful and appealing ballets—and since he’s choreographed many successful and appealing ballets, that says a lot. I’ve been looking for some footage of the original cast from 1944, and I’m happy … Continue reading →
I’ve seen the wonderful Balanchine ballet “Concerto Barocco” many times, but never with Suzanne Farrell, one of the greats. Despite the poor quality of the footage of her in the video later in this post, it is extraordinary to watch. … Continue reading →
George Balanchine’s “Serenade” is one of my very favorite ballets. It’s the perfect marriage of music, choreography, costumes, mood, and lighting, casting a spell on all who watch it. Here are two short but fascinating videos that feature some visuals … Continue reading →
I’d never heard of ballet dancer Zenaida Yanowsky before. But I idly clicked on a video while procrastinating about something-or-other, and what I saw puzzled me. It was the “Black Swan” pas de deux, and I didn’t love her dancing. … Continue reading →
No, not whiteface mime of the Marcel Marceau type. Ballet mime, which is quite different and more like sign language. Ballet mime is almost never used anymore, which I think a pity. Ballets used to contain a lot more mime, … Continue reading →
I know I’ve posted a video of this dance (“Partisans”) before, but I want to show it again. This video is of better quality than those that were previously available on YouTube, which makes me happy because it happens to … Continue reading →
You’ve probably heard about Christy Sheats, 42, the Texas mother who recently killed her 17- and 22-year-old daughters in front of their father, citing as her motivation a desire to punish him (she committed the murders on his birthday). The … Continue reading →
…is Nadezhda, a Russian ballet dancer who burst onto the scene in the 70s dancing with the Perm Ballet and then the Bolshoi, and who revolutionized the “look” of ballet. I remember the first photos I saw of Pavlova, she … Continue reading →
When I was a child there were a lot of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies shown on TV. I probably saw all of them (some, many many times), and I loved them. Most of these movies displayed Astaire and … Continue reading →
Ballet roles can be learned through video, but it’s insufficient. Most leading ballet dancers are taught their roles by coaches, ordinarily well-known retired dancers. It’s not usually a question of teaching technique; that is already firmly in place. It’s expression, … Continue reading →