Nicholas Johnson
OK, so I know no one has heard of Nicholas Johnson - but he was one of my favourite dancers in my youth, and I recently learned that he died in 2007, at the age of only 59.
In trying to find out more about his life, I was a bit saddened at how little information I could find. It illustrates how ephemeral a dancer's life is - even a relatively successful dancer's life. I daresay there are young dancers today who've never heard of Rudolph Nureyev, let alone a… Continue reading
Vladimir Vasiliev
I saw Vladimir Vasiliev and his wife Ekaterina Maximova in Spartacus in 1974 (showing my age again!). This is what I had to say about their performance:
"I cannot honestly say that I have ever seen better dancers than Maximova and Vassiliev...
Vasiliev had the physique and technique of the perfect dancer, with no idiosyncracies or affectations to blight it. I am only sorry we did not see more of his prodigious elevation, fully displayed in four sets of breathtaking leaps diagonally across the stage: three leaps took him perilously… Continue reading
Baryshnikov in performance (ballet)
I realize I've written several posts on Baryshnikov without including any clips of him dancing what he does best (in my opinion) - traditional, classical ballet.
I confess I never liked his later work: I respect his desire to work on more contemporary pieces, but I never felt he looked at home in that style.
The quality of this clip of Le Corsaire is awful, but the dancing.....
*
For a better image, the DVD on the left is a real find - it includes footage of Baryshnikov in his… Continue reading
Rudolf Nureyev
I have to confess, Nureyev is not my favorite ballet dancer, even though he's commonly regarded as one of the greatest male dancers who ever lived. Like many great artists, he had amazing charisma and a sense of showmanship which dazzled his audience, and meant you didn't notice his flaws!
Although to be fair, by the time I saw him dance he was already well into his thirties, and past his peak.
Here are some of the reviews I wrote, of performances I attended in 1972:
In Raymonda Act… Continue reading
Donald O’Connor
While we're in that era, I mustn't forget Donald O'Connor - though sadly, many do. If mega talents like Astaire and Kelly hadn't been around, I'm sure Donald O'Connor would have been much more successful than he was.
