Ram Gopal (1912-2003) - 'The Indian Nijinsky'

[SufitMusic]

So many familiar figures from the book Baron Of The Ballet, which I got as a Christmas present in 1956! You've brought them to life! Thank you! x

[nickwallacesmith]

@SufitMusic - i love that book - i bought it a young theatre goer in a small ballet bookshop just near trafalgar square - curiously i saw the owner now an old man being interviewed in a ballet context recently. cheers

[MrMoshebanai]

yoga is a use to learn to breath so you can actually start to learn to dance ((( : if you can control your breath... it means you can start to dance... all you have learned, you have put together so you can dance the Shiva Dance.. to find sacred love, it´s the first key

[nickwallacesmith]

hi MrMoshebanai - thanks for sharing - and yes to find sacred love is the real thing.

[pluto1928]

I visited Ram Gopal twice,not long before he died. I said I enjoyed his Eagle dance and he said that it was his favourite dance

That was way back. It was a great honour for me to meet him. He was so frail but enjoyed talking, and I gather meeting people.

Pat Hursey

[nickwallacesmith]

hi pat - how very lucky to have met Ram Gopal - twice - and that he was still happy engaging new people! from interviews he gave he had a bigness that crossed cultures - being Indian i guess he understood the British mentality and could cross this barrier - which i understand coming from a colonial situation too. cheers!

[pluto1928]

Thanks Nick for replying. Ram was wearing a huge topaz which he said was his zodiac stone. I think he put on his best attire for .me. He had very long fingers and demonstrated some arm movements,most elegantly. Indian dance is always graceful. I have tried Bharat Natyam..It was a pity that he was living in a retirement home and had to keep all his belongings in his room. There is a portrait of him in the Nat.Portrait Gallery in London, most colourful and well placed.

[Shnaggles]

many many thanks, never seen my great uncle perform!

[nickwallacesmith]

hi Shnaggles - very glad you enjoyed seeing the video - your great uncle was an amazing dancer, one admired greatly by ballet dancers like dame alicia markova - you know you can download videos from you tube so that you have them permanently? best

[pediatrapaola]

you did many great posting nick but this one is really fantastic,his dancing let speachless ,once saw him teaching in nervi during the summerballetfest but was already old .in the second part of this clip he really looks like a dancing god.viva nick for this post

[nickwallacesmith]

@pediatrapaola - yes and sad he's not more well known - you are very lucky to have seen him teaching - what was it like?

[pediatrapaola]

@nickwallacesmith NO HERE IN ITALY WAS RATHER WELL KNOWN ,AND WAS OFTEN AT NERVIBALLETFEST,WAS A KIND NICE FUNNY TEACHER ,AND A TRUE GENIUS , I ALWAYS REMEMBER

[nickwallacesmith]

hi pediatrapaola - ok, good that he's well known in italy - sadly he's not known here :< or in the US - but great to have come across the films of his work

[liviapj]

Impressive. Just perfect. I'm speachless. Thank u very much for sharing.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi liviapj - glad you liked it, best, nick

[Angeldelosingularr]

I've been searching "The Lord Shiva Dance" for ages!! Thank you so much.

Gopal's dance is fascinating as some kind of elegant snake...

[nickwallacesmith]

hey Angeldelosingularr - great - glad for you to have it now - yeah, his dancing has a wonderful fluidity - i guess you've seen the 3 interviews with ram gopal ('Ram Gopal Interview 1', 'Ram Gopal Interview 2' and 'Ram Gopal Interview 3) on you tube - lots of footage - early and late - the later stuff in colour. the 'Lord Shiva' footage is there too

[Angeldelosingularr]

@nickwallaces Thanks for the recommendation, had not seen the videos. I really enjoyed!

I'ts such a pity that in my country Gopal is not too famous. I have also taken a look at your channel and I found very interesting things ;)

[nickwallacesmith]

hi Angeldelosingularr - glad you liked the channel, best, nick

[Qbendanny]

LOVE this Post NICK! In the years 69-72, I attended the High School of Performing Arts in New York (FAME). A highlight for me were the Indian Dance classes taught by a teacher named MATTEO. This brought so many memories. Gracias Amigo!!!

[nickwallacesmith]

hi Qbendanny - great you liked it and that it brought back such good memories! i was with the ADT (Australian Dance Theatre) School just a little bit later than you were studying at the High School of Performing Arts in New York. my teacher was Rex Reid the teacher - a prodigy like robert helpmann - he too went to europe as a young dancer. good to hear, best, nick

[Qbendanny]

@nickwallacesmith -(off subject..) THE GREATEST production of Giselle I saw was the one Maina Giulgud did for the Australian Ballet( Specially the 2nd. Act when the wilis rise from the graves...). They haven't come to the MET in decades...Is it still in the rep in Australia and have you seen it? Also, what you think of it if you did.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi Qbendanny

i didn't see the Giulgud Giselle - i was living in europe when it was part of the rep - not sure that it is now - curiously the production you mention is still on sale as a dvd at the australian ballet shop

kelvin coe was in this cast and i knew him in London from the company's 70's touring Nureyev's 'Don G' - nice guy, not caught up in the fame of the moment

cya, nick

[Margosher]

Великий танцовщик. Нижинского не видела, но на Махмуда Эсамбаева он похож.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi Margosher

Да, он велик - Я удивлен, что он не более известных - я не знаю, танцор вы упомянули - Можете ли вы сказать мне что-нибудь о нем? лучше, ник

[Margosher]

@nickwallacesmith Mahmoud Esambayev-Soviet ballet dancer, a Chechen by birth (1924-2000) . Videos can be found on youtube.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi Margosher - thanks very much for replying to me - very kind of you. i'll check on youtube now for Mahmoud Esambayev. thanks again, nick

[Margosher]

@nickwallacesmith

"Mahmoud Esambayev in Indian dance" ("Махмуд Эсамбаев в индийском танце") you should look necessarily. :)

[nickwallacesmith]

hi Margosher

i just saw him in a nightclub performance doing what the poster said was the 'first moon dance' - posted by DJIGIT

thanks very much for telling me about the indian dance - i'll look now

best, nick

[nickwallacesmith]

hi again Margosher

couldn't find anything in youtube under Mahmoud Esambayev indian dance

:<

nick