tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5952033003883282556.post674606308055918029..comments2024-02-18T23:18:16.380-05:00Comments on Humbled and Overwhelmed: Alicia Alonso, Written Word and VideoIvy Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03626556117524314236noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5952033003883282556.post-19885054836159212272019-10-23T19:40:39.837-04:002019-10-23T19:40:39.837-04:00Or those fouettes which actually can fit on a &quo...Or those fouettes which actually can fit on a "golden ruble" the way they said Legnani's could!Ivy Linhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03626556117524314236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5952033003883282556.post-27999333358351132582019-10-23T12:17:20.701-04:002019-10-23T12:17:20.701-04:00Thank you for such a wonderful tribute! I cannot b...Thank you for such a wonderful tribute! I cannot believe Alonso is 48 in the Swan Lake video--or those hops on pointe in arabesque to penche in the coda!! Faye Arthursnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5952033003883282556.post-32684795083623216742019-10-20T09:32:48.851-04:002019-10-20T09:32:48.851-04:00This is my favorite Giselle Act 1 hairdo.
https://...This is my favorite Giselle Act 1 hairdo.<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1e86zTj_bE<br /><br />The flowers tucked at the end look exactly like something a fanciful girl like Giselle would like in her hair.Ivy Linhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03626556117524314236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5952033003883282556.post-6930078937596393352019-10-19T19:36:44.293-04:002019-10-19T19:36:44.293-04:00Janet I think the hair over the ears is Act 1 is b...Janet I think the hair over the ears is Act 1 is because many Giselles wear a wig. They unpin the wig for the mad scene and repin it for act 2. Certainly this was the case for Natalia Osipova who has very thin hair and uses a wig for Giselle.Ivy Linhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03626556117524314236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5952033003883282556.post-50356756996402735332019-10-19T19:30:17.296-04:002019-10-19T19:30:17.296-04:00I love the clip of Nacional's "Sylphides....I love the clip of Nacional's "Sylphides." The simplicity and directness of the dancing is indeed identical to Alonso's. I love the way the dancers do not emote and just allow the movement to embody the music. They enable the viewer to access the music so much more powerfully this way--I felt so at peace watching it...I was fortunate enough to see Alonso once at the Met when she was in her 50's--as Odette in the early pas de deux in Swan Lake. That's all. I was personally overwhelmed by her and I had not really expected to be because of her age. The sheer power of her thighs and feet and, in contrast, the tingling sensuality and femininity of her rippling, naked arms, which seemed drenched with some kind of heady, effervescent property--I had to tell myself she was the greatest ballerina that I'd ever seen. And I didn't want her to be due to loyalties to other ballerinas I had seen, but just for that short time that was what I felt...Anyway, I love the directness of her Giselle--no affectation. She creates so much drama in her bearing alone and in the intelligence with which she navigates the piece. In those days people just danced. They weren't thinking, "Oh, I'm going to really sock it to them with these moves." They weren't under the same scrutiny by the audience and they had joy in movement and a lack of self consciousness. She had the guts to just be on stage. Also, Alonso is always communing with the music. Which I think is why she can do those fast entrechats--because she's at one with the music. She's living it and it's as effortless as it looks...And when she is with Albrecht in Act II there is the sense of two totally separate dimensions coming together and two totally separate people finding each other indirectly in the material plane. Thus the almost careful, glacial approach to what is obviously a very delicate matter metaphysically. It may feel ceremonious and too plain, but it's a quieter, less affected approach to the drama...On a more pragmatic note I think that there's NEVER any need for Giselle to have her hair over her ears UNTIL Act II when she's dead. That hairdo signifies the altering of the her perception of the physical world with her entrance from the beyond--she no longer hears through her ears, she hears by supernatural means. The over-the-ears hairdo is so effective in Act II and it shouldn't be Giselle's hairdo in Act I when she's joyful and alive, albeit the heart condition, don't you agree?Janet Shannonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15666683606818372248noreply@blogger.com