Olga Spessivtzseva

[sillyboydeux]

Ex-squeeze me ladies and gentlemen. But Mme. S. is not fully up "en pointe" for her turns, and her port de bras looks like something from Miss Batten's Ballet Academy that I went to a half century ago. In other words, legends are made of two things: famous names and bullshit! There are others far better than her, believe me.

[xanglat]

C'est émouvant et prenant !

Respect !

Mille mercis pour ces apports superbes ! (interview et archive !)

[Unvraiparisien]

Peut-être la plus belle Giselle jamais!

[MBCHATON]

OUI

[ddchil41]

@mrlopez2681

I remember rehearsing this variation ...I think it was composed by MInkus.. (Drigo sounded very similar). The young woman at the end of the clip is New York City Ballet ballerina, Patricia McBride. I was piano soloist with NYCB when she danced there....back in the day...knew her very well.

[mrlopez2681]

@ddchil41 -The Mariinsky is the only theatre that has the solo in its original orchestration, & it is also in a very bizarre key (E) for Minkus, one he never used. The melody is typically Italian in the Drigo style, while the orchestration (i.e. the Mariinsky's) is vintage Drigo. Keep fingers crossed for the article!! :)

[mrlopez2681]

@ddchil41 - thnx for the comment :) I researched the origins of the solo & I hope to publish an article on it at some point - the Royal Ballet & the Harvard Theatre collection have copies of the Imperial Ballet's performance score for "Giselle". The solo is titled "Variation for Elena Cornalba", who made her debut in Giselle in December 1887, long after Minkus retired. Drigo was responsible for composing all of her novelty variations & even a new grand ballet, "The Talisman", in 1887.

[vagiam]

watched "red Gizel" tonight in Athens Megaron, so had to find out about the real ballerina immediately! thank you all for uploads and comments! very instructive!

no sense to compare her or other of her time with today dancers. they were the essence of ballerina.

yet, the dancer performing tonight was FABULOUS!

[tinydancer9898]

Thank you so much for posting this clip--It's so amazing to be able to see this, so many years later....

[nickwallacesmith]

hi katerinavander. i think you are right - the post i made i'm sure was a part of the kirov dvd - if i'd had the video here, i'd've posted the lot. but hopefully someone who has it will post it all - it can be that long so quite uploadedable in terms of YouTube's constraints

[Ilsayd4444]

Loooool the first Giselle!!

[nickwallacesmith]

hey katerinavander. thanks for the comment back - look, i was wondering if you knew more about the Spessivtseva fragment at the kirov? we've all noticed the four amateur clips from giselle from 1932. hope to hear. best. nick

[katerinavander]

Hi, Nick - I think it was actually a tiny piece from this film, after all. But the Karsavina clip, which I thought was from that Kirov history, was longer than the clip you've posted - a mystery...!

[nickwallacesmith]

hi jkircher314 - as i was saying earlier, i think the jury is out on this one. i mentioned my serious misgivings and then gave the background to the footage as i understood it from the information on the upload. and hoped to get others reactions, so thanks for conforming my suspicions. nijinsky moves in a perfectly regular way - unlike the changing and pulsating dynamics of real movement.

[qbendanny1]

Great Post Goldenidol, How fitting that the great Markova and Alonso paid tribute and honor to the difficult diagonal coda that Spessivtseva originated. The Giselles nowadays do that schoolish series of piques around the stage,and it shows...

[goldenidol]

I imagine she was the Zakharova, Guillem, Cojocaru, and/ or Semionova of her generation. Does anyone note how beautifully and extremely arched her feet are?

[Andante735]

I would say more accurately, that she was the predecessor of Chauvire, Alonso, Markova, and Ulanova -- the standard bearer really. I don't really consider the dancers you've mentioned as being in the same artistic class as she was - they have technique, she had that too, but it was combined with artistry and great presence. The only one I would compare with her is Alonso - very similar approach to the role.

[actor001]

When you see Spessivtseva and Alonso interpreting and talking about the role you can see that both were fallen in love with the character , It is like a very intense conection artist-character.

Also Bejart and Haskell noticed Spessivtseva and Alonso similarities.

So i completely agree with your accurate comment.

[goldenidol]

I agree with you completely Andante735. I just have noticed that there are several young ballet students that have not been lucky to see footage of(the beautiful)Chauvire, Alonso, Markova, or Ulanova, or even photographs. The internet was not around when these great ballerinas were performing. I am sure they have seen plenty of performance footage and photographs of the younger ballerinas I mentioned.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi katerinavander. i agree with what you say about the quality of nijinjky's movement - i was just surprised that that was the nature of the movement style of 'l'apres-midi d'un faune' - i imagined it differently - for no good reason of course! i don't know the other clip of Spessivtseva but would love to see it. i googled 'Mariinsky historical series' as you mentioned but didn't find a site. the Mariinsky Theatre site?

[katerinavander]

It was on the Kirov ballet youtube channel, which they have now deleted, tragically - just a few seconds of 3 ronds de jambes with arms in open 5th(?) but you could get the effect she gave of spontaneously just dancing for joy - incredibly rare.

[merluzasfritas]

My Solo!!and affter watching it there is no doubt that this is her Solo. God Bless her.

[Andante735]

Thanks for sending this Merlu! I've seen this many times before; I've the whole documentary that this is a clip from- owned it for many years msyelf on VHS. Dolin narrates and interviews most of the "Greats" on this, it's fantastic. I think it's still available from Amazon.

[jkircher314]

Hello. I would love to see this documentary. I looked on Amazon with no success. Can you kindly tell me the name?

[Andante735]

"A Portait of Giselle" - 1982. I realize now that it's out of print, which makes me really lucky to have the original VHS. You might try ebay, or alibris- they often have hard to find items. I'd sell you mine, but I'd never part with it for any amount.

[katerinavander]

o goldenidol, thankyou a million times! Incomparable - not just the technique, but the acting - she's so impulsive, a complete person. Imagine the second act......

[nickwallacesmith]

hello goldenidol, back again! look, i was wondering if you'd heard of or seen a video of tamara karsarvina doing exercises at the bar in the 1920's - i saw it on YouTube but then it was withdrawn. it gave a sense of the quality of her movement. cheers. nick

[nickwallacesmith]

thanks goldenidol for this, i knew it existed. have you heard of the discovery in 2006 in the Louis Maistre archive of 6 seconds of footage of Nijinsky in 'L'apres-midi d'un faune'? his movement is strangely fluid and less feminine than i imagined - tho this might be due to the way the film has been re-stored/stabilized. it's now on YouTube. it's as though the past has suddenly become present in one way. from richard buckle's book and every where else. interested to hear what other people say.

[katerinavander]

I don't know if it's restored or morphed from many stills. Either way, it's fascinating, and I imagine he did move in that smooth, powerful way. For some reason, the back of his neck in the last shot reveals vulnerability. By the way, have you seen the other tiny clip of Spessivtseva on, I think, Mariinsky historical series?

[goldenidol]

This is for katerinavander. Is Spessivtzeva in performance in the other clip?

[katerinavander]

Yes - 1st act in a short tutu, making me think it was from Paris Opera days. It was on Kirov ballet on youtube - whole thing has now disappeared - maddening - but maybe someone else will post it??? Tiny clip, but you could still see her complete feeling of spontaneity.

[jkircher314]

nickwallacesmith: do you think the footage of Nijinsky is authentic? It looked phony to me, yet I compared it - stopping the film - to photographs of Nijinsky and there was an eery similarity to body and posture.

[actor001]

and Markova of course!!

[Andante735]

You just saved the me writing the very same thing. Makarova's Giselle, which I've seen in live performance, is pure genius, and right in line with all the rest of the great interpreters.

[actor001]

Oh MY GOD!!!!

TO HAVE THAT TECHNIQUE IN 1932!!!

SHE DEFINETLY IS THE ROLE MODEL OF THE GREATEST GISELLES (ULANOVA ,ALONSO,FRACCI,CHAUVIRÉ,ETC.)

THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR THIS TREASURE GOLDENIDOL

[jkircher314]

You can see what a soft, beautiful woman she was, with that sharp, brilliant attack. Such expressive dancing, and so inside the part!

Thank you, thank you, such a gift to finally see this. Goldenidol, you deserve an award for historic preservation of the arts!

[jkircher314]

Heart stopping footage! Only moments before you posted this, goldenidol, I had searched for OS on YouTube, as I've done on a regular basis for quite a while. Imagine my joy at seeing this immortal dancer, this legend.

I would suspect she's on quite heavy psych meds - noticing especially the movements she makes with her mouth, poor woman. Such suffering.

When Dolin mentions London, she lights up 'yes, my solo', her eyes illuminate, she looks at Dolin and the soul shines through.