It’s no secret how highly I think of the late and very great ballet dancer Violette Verdy (here’s a list of my previous posts). She was exceptional. I hadn’t seen this video before. It’s a production of Balanchine’s “Liebeslieder Waltzer” … Continue reading →
[Hat tip: Open Blogger at Ace’s.] When I was a child I used to greatly admire Degas’ dancer paintings. My family had a reproduction of one of them, and I used to study it and marvel at how well it … Continue reading →
Here’s a piece of ballet history that isn’t all that well-known anymore—the so-called “baby ballerinas” of the 1930s. I love these old clips. They’re blurry and short, but you get an idea of how much ballet has changed since then. … Continue reading →
I’ve written about the 1969 ballet “Dances At a Gathering” several times, and mentioned that I find today’s dancers, for all their fabulous technique, lacking the musicality and artistry of the past. A part of the ballet features certain lifts/throws … Continue reading →
In my relative youth, Edward Villella was one of my favorite dancers—and to tell you the truth I was more than a little bit in love with him. Here he talks—with his usual modesty—about what it’s like to be in … Continue reading →
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 … Continue reading →
In 1941 George Balanchine choreographed the ballet “Concerto Barocco” to Bach’s Concerto in D minor for Two Violins. When I write “choreographed to,” I really mean it, because the dance has virtually no plot except to express the music, with … Continue reading →
Last night I got the urge to see a clip of the ballet “Dances at a Gathering,” which is on the short list of my favorite ballets of all time. It was choreographed by the musical theater and dance genius … Continue reading →
A while back I wrote a tribute to a ballet teacher of mine, Stanley Holden. A little recap is in order: One doesn’t ordinarily think of comedy in connection with ballet dancers, but Holden was a master of it, best … Continue reading →
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 … Continue reading →
I’ve never much cared for the ballet “The Dying Swan.” It’s not really a ballet; more like a short vignette. It was choreographed by Mikhail Fokine near the turn of the century (19th-20th) as a vehicle for international star Anna … Continue reading →
[NOTE: This is a repeat of a previous post. It highlights one of my favorites moments in the ballet repertory.] Ballet specializes in transformations. After all, it changes the human body from a lumbering earthbound thing into an ethereal yet … Continue reading →