Men's Dancewear

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 close to the footlights, although his first leap started from well behind the wings.  He had good stage presence and authority too.  At the same time, he ws a strong partner for Maximova and seemed to lift and hold her without effort.

Their pas de deux in Act III was, for me, the high spot, where Maximova's perfection of technique was displayed fully, and Vasiliev emerged not only as a brilliant dancer in his own right, but as the perfect danseur noble too.  The pas de deux was breathtaking and tragic."

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.....

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For a better image, the DVD on the left is a real find - it includes footage of Baryshnikov in his early career. It's called World's Young Ballet / Moscow International Competition and includes Baryshnikov, Ludmila Semenyaka and Anna Pavlova.

I have to confess, Nureyev is not my favorite ballet dancer.   In my teens, saw him perform with the Royal Ballet a couple of times (which just goes to show how old I am!).   Yes, he flew through the air - but he also landed with an almighty thud.  He pirouetted impressively but prefaced his turns with over-egged preparations, and was generally too "stage-y" for my taste.  I think Vasiliev could match him, without the excess.  However, that's just my opinion - I know there are many who still adore him.

We mustn't forget, too, that before he arrived in the West, no one had seen anything like him!

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.

For years, I had no idea that James Cagney could dance.  He was just one of those guys who played gangsters in old black-and-white movies.  Then I saw Yankee Doodle Dandy, and couldn't believe my eyes.

Jimmy Cagney was a brilliant dancer, with the daintiest feet I've ever seen on a man!  The routines in Yankee Doodle Dandy are his own choreography.

and some years later, he proves he's still got it in The Seven Little Foys: