P.I.Tchaikovsky Swanlake ,Margot Fonteyn,Rudolf Nurejev I

[tairanotomomori]

Completely baffled. I was floored by Alicia Markova's dancing, her lightless and agility, but this is embarassing to watch. I'd rather pay to watch today's ballet dancers. You might call them mere athletes but still they are more enjoyable to watch than THIS.

[fraskita]

So overall, completely overrated - only because truly magnificent Russian ballerinas were not let out of Soviet Union much. Now though there is a chance to see them much more.

[TanBarbieGirlxox]

Okay, so Ive been trying to find who was the "best" ballerina ever and everyone on the internet says Margot is one of them. I don't know whats wrong with me, but I don't think she's the best AT ALL. Have any of yall heard of yulia makhalina? She is the absolute best ballerina *I* have everrr seen but no one has ever heard of her!! She is just the definition of perfection and I don't understand why she is soooo under-rated. She blows all of these dancers out of the water. no one can beat her!!

[antisocialist87]

@TanBarbieGirlxox

What a lot of people don't understand is that ballet is not simply about technique. Many of the ballet virtuousas out there would be considered technically not so great, but the problem is that many people do not understand subtlety. Margot practically pushes herself into the characters, which is something that a lot of the Russian dancers do not do. The Russian Dancers are phenomenal to watch in regards to technique, but have all the emotion of a brick.

[teenovels]

@antisocialist87 i dont think so, margot fonteyn is a dancer with a lot of emotion, but SOME Russian dancers give so much emotionally, like Uliana lopatkina!

[nestersg]

No Rudolph, that's the black swan!

[mistercleopatra]

@nestersg i resent that ppl havent voted you up looool

[nestersg]

@mistercleopatra

Some people just have no sense of humor!

[EncoreLPYZ]

if only there were more dancers like her.. Dancing nowadays is only about techniques, when i'm going to the ballet i feel like those dancers did everything about their body's and forgetting to act. I could just as well go to the circus to see people with great techniques.

[sweetsugarpurple]

Fonteyn is an absolutely stunning dancer. But the round backs when she does the "Swan Lake" leaning over pose is so frustrating!!

[jack1951ful]

There's still so much beauty in her dancing in this extract. Do line, placement, phrasing and musicality count for nothing? I find her enchanting as Odile, using her own brand of elegance and glamour, even if she never actually does more than 12 fouettes at any one time!

[lere8]

Well, I'm hapy ballet is not only about tecnique but also about soul. And Fonteyne and Nureyeve were one pure soul dancing together.

[WolligesHangschaf]

Ich finde sie nicht so berauschend, sie war einfach nur Nurejevs Patnerin, aber es gab immer bessere Ballerinen und es wird auch immer bessere geben.

Ich habe mal gelesen das Nurejev und Fonteyn sich gar nicht grün waren, und das es sehr viele machtkämpfe gab, bei den proben!

[brewskyxxx]

I remember back in 1979 seeing both of them at The Greek and thought she was the most wonderful of all ballerinas. I watch her today and can't even compare the technical ability of todays dancer. She was lovely but almost painful to watch. I'm sorry. But she makes the dancers of today succeed even better!! How ballet has progressed!!!

[9415908]

I admit that technique has progressed but since you have seen her live you cannot deny her stage presence and just everything she brought to the role. 1979 was like the very end of her career, she was probablly close to 60 years old. Margot died before I was even born and Rudi died 2 months after I was born so I never got to see them live. I do love dancers dancing today but Margot is my favorite ballerina and to me NO ONE can compare to Margot and Rudi!

[brewskyxxx]

I understand how you feel. But did you ever check out Plisetskaya dancing at 60? Now there's a prima ballerina Assoluta absolutely!!!!!

[9415908]

I really love Plisetskaya too! She seemed ageless and she just kept getting better and more refined. But they were completely different in their style, and even though i love them both Fonteyn still is the best for me.

[zizzi96]

I saw the sleeping beauty live, and the swanlake as well... the sleeping beauty in the royal theatre in glasgow, and the swanlake in the king's theatre in glasgow... well actually I saw the swanlake yesterday...;pp

[TedMichaelMorgan]

I saw them dance these roles. I saw them back stage later. They were the two most beautiful human beings I have ever seen.

[glistergirl]

I know nothing about ballet, whether these were good or bad dancers. Also I have no idea what the term "bad feet" means.  All I know is that usually the dancers seem to bounce on their tippy toes constantly when not striking ridiculous and ugly poses. No offence intended, like I said I know nothing of dance. However, bad dancers or no, I loved watching these two. Every pose and movement inbetween poses was gorgeous! If all ballet was like this I would like it so much more...

[SugarTomAppleRoger]

@glistergirl Well said. You don't have to be an expert to know just how good these two are. Believe me, they are amongst the best there is.

[FyreBalletDancer]

@glistergirl i wonder what kind of "usual dancers" u watch, cuz i dont know any who match ur description ...

however, these two are amazing indeed

[littlelotty004]

can u post more of this performance, i would love to see the whole of the black swan with her.

thanx:)

[ohmirod]

Margot I love you but you just don't have pretty feet. Get over those boxes you're a PROFESSIONAL.

[nutballetfreak]

margot was famous for having bad feet and bad extensions but having a majestic and gracefulness that made you watch only her when she was on stage. that kind of thing cannot be taught in a studio no matter how beautiful your arches are or how high you leg goes. i think margot was brillient on every one of her performances.

[SugarTomAppleRoger]

@nutballetfreak You said "margot was famous for having bad feet and bad extensions". By whom? I was around at the time, and knew Rowena Jackson also, as I was from Invercargill, and she was our prima.

The only think that Fonteyn was famous for was being the only ballerina that people knew of other than Pavlova. She was as big a celebrity as England has ever had. That was in the days when celebrities were celebrities.

The equivalent in the US were Charles Lindbergh and Glenn Miller.

[befferina]

how can you say that?!

do you know nothing about ballet history OR Margot Fonteyn?

[befferina]

whoops, that was supposed to be a reply to ohmirod's comment.

I love Margot and Rudolf.

[qbendanny1]

Geniuses at the peak of their powers. Dancing the original black swan music(known also as Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux choreographed by Balanchine)I suspect Nureyev staged this Pas' which is stunningly danced by Margot.

[tigereyes5]

oh is this the original? i'm confused! i thought this was just an alternative and the music used by abt and royal ballet is the original one. also, i've seen t's ppd performed with a different variation for the female. was that variation ever used for the black swan?

[jetembrasse]

Always loved Nurejev's arrogance in interviews. Some say he was far from the best dancer yet his own believe of the contrary got him this far.

[tigereyes5]

yeah i heard that as well!

do you know who else would have been a stronger contender? i mean i know there's barishnikov (sp?) and vasiliev (sp?), maximova's partner, but if anything i'd say he was still in the top ranking!

[sportie06]

Nurejev- truly a legend:-)

[michaelfraydon]

Nureyev had THE most beautiful Figure and Physique in this production of the Royal Ballet - a pleasure to watch him!

[erwananny]

The best ever couple in dance, a legend!

[thaispf]

precise and clean (completely) yet beautifully artistic