Svetlana Beriosova and Rudolph Nureyev - Solos and PDD from Act 3, 'Swan Lake'

[balletnut]

Well, two of my favourite dancers in my favourite ballet. Thanks Nick.

I agree totally with you and Clement Crisp - what a jump!! No-one looks as if they're airborne - and intend to remain so - like Rudi. He's unique. And the rest of his dancing isn't bad either!

You lucky thing going to Cov. Gdn. so often. I couldn't afford to at their prices.

See you.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi balletnut

i could go on about nureyev. but beriosova had a grandure of movement and phrasing that curiously went well with rudi's style - something russian in both - photos of her show this off in gorgeous bold architectural line. rudi matched well with fonteyn too but in a different way.

i couldn't afford the prices either - i just compromised in other parts of my spending - and spent a lot of time in 'the gods'! and had a friend who worked in covent garden - family nepotism

[oldoperafan]

Thank you so much - I discovered this through linking from your latest Beriosova posting. It is amazing to see, in thie texbook performance, how contemporary they both look whereas many Russian performances on record from these years now look dated, particularly the male partners.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi oldoperafan - glad you found it. i think the contemporariness may also be in part because of the choreography - which still works today - what do you think? cheers from sydney

[oldoperafan]

@nickwallacesmith No - I did mean (even other) pieces which still work today can look dated as danced and recorded in the early sixties. Not this.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi oldoperafan - yes, i understood what you meant - things that still work today, may not have worked in the past in terms of how they were recorded. good to hear from you, cheers from sydney

[EvanescenceROCKSS]

@nickwallacesmith, nope, it finished with Lopatkina as odile taking her curtsey and then... Voila! Finished. Quite sad really. But a spectacucalar performance, what they did of it anyways :)

[nickwallacesmith]

hi EvanescenceROCKSS - how strange - i would have been left sitting there confused - not sure whether to go home or not!

[EvanescenceROCKSS]

07:08 is just beautiful. You never see lines like that nowadays, they just don't make them like that any more.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi EvanescenceROCKSS - yes, very beautiful - i think partly the beautty is due to the similar body types - full-figured and in a sense muscular

[EvanescenceROCKSS]

@nickwallacesmith definitely not the type of stringy flexirinas we see nowaydays. But ballet has to evolve with time I think, and nowadays the ballet is still very enjoyable. I saw Lopatkina live on Monday 25th at the Royal Opera House, and she was spectacular.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi EvanescenceROCKSS - you are absolutely right - ballet has evolved and is still very enjoyable - what was Lopatkina dancing it? i used to go to see the royal ballet at covent garden 2/3/4 times a week as a kid - it was more affordable then to go that often.

[EvanescenceROCKSS]

@nickwallacesmith She was dancing Swan Lake with Korsuntsev, it was beautiful. Though they missed out the 4th act for some reason, I'm not sure. It was the Mariinsky's 50th anniversary. I have the programme on my wall. Valeria Mrtynyuk was a Friend of the Prince and also a Cygnet.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi EvanescenceROCKSS - ok, so 'swan lake' - i wonder why the fourth act was missing? sometimes the whole is done in three acts - maybe this was the case?

[ddchil41]

So glad to see this. I had the opportunity to see Rudi in Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet with Fonteyn.. in San Francisco, and in London. and then worked for at least 3 years with Rudi (am a pianist) on various Balanchine works, as well as S. Lake...

Those were wonderful years....Thanks you for this post.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi ddchil41 - glad you liked to see it - i loved beriosova in 'cinderella' and 'enigma variations' and 'lady and the fool' - she was considered a possible other partner for rudi early. pity ther's not much on film. i've heard of rudi's intense work ethic and can imagine working with him as a pianist would have been very focussed - lucky to have had this experience! cheers, nick

[moushka26]

Thank you for posting this. It's wonderful see Nureyev again. i remember his jumps, how he used to seem to hang in the air an instant longer than anyone else. Beautiful! I saw him partner Margo Fonteyn in Swan Lake in 1962 or 3. My mom sat next to me an cried throughout most of the ballet! A truly memorable experience.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi moushka26 - you are lucky to have seen fonteyn and nureyev in the early '60s - i first saw them first in the very early 70s but fonteyn was a t a very different point in her career - nureyev was totally amazing still! Svetlana Beriosova was for me a very special dancer too - her aurora was supposed to be in the grand russian manner and magnificant - wish i'd seen it. good to hear from you

[ai51inn]

Thanks for posting this Nick! It's really clear too, I have only ever seen a really blurred version before. I love your write up too. He did have the most wonderful jump - and have just noticed how "bouncy" he is in this, not a balletic term I know, but I can't think of better way to describe. :-)

[nickwallacesmith]

hi ai51inn - glad you liked the video and my little write up about it - svetlana beriosova was very special for me when i lived in london - she was sp perfect in ashton's 'cinderalla'. yes, i don't know the term for that quality of her jump but i know what you mean. she had a bigness of movement that was quite un-englsih and unlike the other dancers at the royal ballet. good to hear from you again, cheers!

[ai51inn]

@nickwallacesmith Hi Nick, I don't get much time these days to browse YouTube, but I always find the time to visit your channel as I know for sure I am going to find another gem! Keep posting Nick!  Thanks :-)

[nickwallacesmith]

hi ai51inn - i'm very flattered, really, that you take time to look at my channel - it's comments like yours that keep me interested in uploading new things, so thanks very much for that, best

[ai51inn]

@nickwallacesmith You're welcome Nick, please keep posting :-)