Beautiful Time For Dancers by George Gelles - HTML preview

a be au t i f ul t i m e

f or da nce r s

A Beautiful Time

for Dancer s

Reflections on a Golden Age, 1970–1976

:

george gelles

© 2017 by George Gelles

ggelles3@gmail.com

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by

any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,

or otherwise, without prior written permission.

Articles were previously published by the Washington Star.

Printed in Canada on Rolland Enviro,

which contains 100% post-consumer fiber;

is ECOLOGO, Processed Chlorine Free,

Ancient Forest Friendly, and FSC® certified;

and is manufactured using renewable biogas energy.

frontispiece Patricia McBride and Conrad Ludlow after performing in the New York City Ballet production of George Balanchine’s Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet, 1966.

Photo: Martha Swope / © The New York Public Library.

For Franny and Clark,

the next generation,

and of course for Christine—

sources of manifold pleasures

:

Contents

Foreword by Melanie Bales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv part one

Treasures Past and Present

american ballet theatre

Ballet Theatre Troupe Lovely in 30th Opener . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Ballet Theatre Whets the Appetite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

ABT Inaugurates Ballet at Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Ballet Group Prizes Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

La Sylphide Indelicate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Two Samples of De Mille Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

A Spurt of Choreographic Genius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Alas—Only One Lilac Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Dark Elegies Meditative as Pure Comment on Gloom . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Tudor’s Dark Elegies: Gripping and Magical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Brilliance in Tudor’s Pillar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Tudor’s Pillar of Fire a Brilliant Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Shadowplay Opens Run of Ballet Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

A New Tudor Work That Stands Apart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

A Dream of a Coppélia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Baryshnikov: A Symbolic Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Superb Odette-Odile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

A Bournonville Classic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

vii

Contents

Wit and Elegance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Electric Gesture by a Great Dancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Billy the Kid and Other Pleasures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Fancy Free’s Pizzazz Is Classic Broadway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Les Noces Ballet a Modern Pageant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

New Star in the Ballet Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

He’ll Dance No More: Erik Bruhn’s Sad Announcement . . . . . . . 36

The Most Promising Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

A Potential for Greatness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Two Different Worlds Make a Smooth Blend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Baryshnikov: Eloquent Potential Realized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

A Union of Flawed Convenience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Baryshnikov’s Skills Are Akin to Marceau’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46