DIAMONDS (Pas, Scherzo, Finale)
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- I see so many postings of the DIAMONDS Pas De Deux that I feel morally obligated to post this. The original ballerina was the incomparable Suzanne Farrell, and she and Peter Martins, dancing this superbly, is easily accessible on RUclips. However...after Suzanne left the company in 1969 this role went to Allegra Kent who was much more petite and didn't have the long limbs as did Suzanne. None-the-less, Allegra made it her own and as usual brought her preternatural unique magic to this role. A tragedy that no films of her have surfaced (at least that I know of). After Allegra, this special ballet went to Kay Mazzo. I sometimes feel Kay has been overlooked and undervalued by history. This is not right, nor fair. Balanchine adored her and made many great ballets for her like DUO CONCERTANTE and STRAVINSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO (also on RUclips) She had extreme delicacy and musicality...and taste! Mr.B even revived his fiendishly difficult SQAURE DANCE and DONIZETTI VARIATIONS expressly for Kay. Her technique looked fragile but she was deceptively strong. So...here are Kay Mazzo and Peter Martins in their prime. Music has been added to give an idea, but it is not synced up correctly so if you know the score it's best to watch with the sound turned off so as not to be confused. Balanchine used to spend hours teaching Port de Bras...even down to our fingertips, and Kay beautifully shows how he wanted this done. Also note the way she looks at her partner. This is a non-specific love poem of the highest order. Plus in so many stagings and performances today...not all, but too many...I see unnecessary acrobatic effects...and almost without exception the tempi is too slow. Again I stress this isn't in every performance I've seen...but it seems to be a trend. This is NOT Swan Lake! The ballerina is NOT suffering! Also, as Suzanne and Jacques danced it the ballerina was not a "Queen" but more of a "Princess," and her partner was not a "Prince" nor an equal, but more of a "Cavalier." Here are Kay Mazzo and Peter Martins (the golden couple of their day) in the Pas De Deux, Scherzo, and Finale of DIAMONDS.
(also this is the correct length for her tutu)
Kay dances this with such lightness and softness but with quick, pristine style. She's wonderful. If only we had more tapes of her.
What a treat! This is beautiful! Yes, it disturbs me no end to see some, not all, productions mess with the tempi wearing huge stiff swan tutus, and disturbing the emotional simplicity of this piece with over emoting a la Swan Lake. This remains my most favorite Pas de Deux of his. Kay dances it beautifully with her own touch & style!
How splendid to see this. Kay is marvelous in the way she makes this piece her own. So many people try to imitate Suzanne and end up with a phony hautiness that is really hard to watch. Allegra must have been divine too. Wonder if video of it exists at the performing arts library?
John, your description of this ballet, the tempo, port de bras and Mr. Balanchine, are so valuable. Even though the film quality is a bit lacking, it still shows the lovely performance of Mazzo and Martins. Gorgeous ballet and score. Thank you for posting it.
Kay Mazzo was a stunning dancer. My favorite in the company. Never cold or distant. Beautiful lines, classic technique that expressed Balanchine’s work the way it was meant to be danced.
She was transcendent here. I had seen a number Kay Mazzo performances with Peter.
Thank so much for this!
Ottime le positure figurali attuate d'ensemble alcune delle quali inedite. Ottimi i passi sulle punte in eundo della ballerina. OTTIMO IL SUIVRE DELL'EURITMIA MELODICA Da parte del corollario danzante. MOLTO BRAVI TUTTI.BIGHIN GIULIO RENZO
Wonderful. The scherzo and those demi soloist with a folksy inflection in the choreography is for me the most beautiful part of Diamonds.
This music gets me every time.
love the way martins keeps his arms totally relaxed by his side prior to lifts with seemingly no preparation, contributing to the floating quality of the lifts don't see this with other male partners
This is incredible. It blows my mind
Very nice, I enjoy watching her and >Mazzo`s> "speaking arms"! , Mr. Clifford thank you for posting this
Yes! If you had this treasure, I feel that you were morally obligated to post this video of stunning dancing by the transcendent, unrivaled Susanne Farrell. To be fair, Martins was at his best. I recently saw online a beautiful young soloist whom I much admire at the Mariinsky dance Diamonds and while her lines were lovely and she performed the choreography with elegance, I could not help but think of Farrell. I often wonder if it was as magical and wonderful as I remembered Suzanne dance Diamonds and watching this reminds me that it was even more spellbinding than my memories. Thank you, John.
You know it’s not Farrell here, it’s Kay Mazzo.
Thank you for the correction. It does make me want to say that any tapes from these wonderful ballerinas has to be shared and I am grateful that you have been so generous. As I wipe the egg from my face, I did think when watching that she seemed a bit shorter and I did miss the unique accents and mystery that made Suzanne's dancing so special to me. But Kay's arm movements and fluidity are gorgeous and I was enchanted and entranced. I was fortunate to have seen Kay dance many times but never in Diamonds. I did see Allegra Kent and later Kyra Nichols dance the role magnificently but I would buy tickets in which Farrell was dancing. She was my long-time secret crush, who saved me from an a brief Oedipus complex sort of infatuation with Alicia Alonzo who seduced me from the stage in Carmen and made me fall in love with ballet. I am no longer living in NYC but try to go to the NYCB often when I visit and, as capable as the dancers are, I am not as mesmerized as I use to regularly be in those days. So these videos are thrilling to me.
Thank you John Clifford.
Her arms and hands ❤
Mr. Clifford. I could weep over your explanations of your videos they are so great. I drink in every syllable.
Thank you so profoundly for being such a generous and un-stingy and such a knowledgeable and astute soul.
Your era is my favorite ballet era. I simply cannot get enough of it. The chance to get glimpses of these performers and performances fills me with an appreciation I can hardly express. Your are fulfilling life long desires to see certain performers and performances.
And it pains me so deeply not to have some of the great performers on tape in some of their unparalleld performances, such as Allegra Kent.
But at least your words about these great dancers honor them so greatly and give us the vision of them in our mind's eyes.
You are such an exceptional ballet observer and documenter and so many more things. You are an invaluable gem to the ballet world.
Bootleg video is so vitally important and incredibly wonderful. Thank you SO SO much Mr. Clifford. Words cant express my gratitude for what you are giving to all of the balletomanes. Your videos are sheer beauty.
You are very welcome. I'm glad my postings are so appreciated.
beautiful. Thank you, John.
I like the small variations in the choreography to highlight Mazzo's delicate look and emphasize how petite she is compared to Martins. But it is still Diamonds. Unlike the renditions today at NYCB and various other companies in which they do make it look like Swan Lake Part 2.
Peter Martins is so incredible here in Diamonds. His physique, his beauty, his everything is just sheer elegance and beauty. Also, the white tights are so superior to black. The standard for men is white top and black tights. How awful! You cannot see the legs and feet in black tights. Women's tights are pink. You can see every sinew of their beautiful legs. Can you imagine if women always wore black tights?
So Peter Martins, in white tights in his prime is a sight to behold. Just sheer beauty. A greek god fallen from the sky and dancing like a prince of chiselled flowing beauty and refinement.
pll n
The men's tights have always been white for this ballet.
Would have loved to see Allegra dance this. Interesting you wrote Balanchine taught Port de Bras right down to fingertips, because many of the early Balanchine dancers appear to have no concept of Port de Bras, ranging from idiosyncratic (Farrell, McBride) to totally unpolished (Villela). And to this day NYCB dancers have the reputation of not having the best port de bras.
Qacc6 Well I must respectfully disagree a bit. Yes, Farrell’s and possibly McBride’s were idiosyncratic, but if you look at much earlier dancers like Alexandra Danilova and Věra Zorina you will see a direct link. Balanchine style port de bras are not Vaganova style but harken back to before her. Vaganova took over the Imperial School after Balanchine left Russia. Also Maria Tallchief, Melissa Hayden, Jacques d’Amboise and Andre Prokovsky (whose port de bras was shaped by Andre Eglvsky) and Violette Verdy (French trained but a true Balanchine ballerina) and Kay Mazzo here, all had wonderful arms and hands. There is even (or was) a huge difference between the Kirov (Mariinsky) and Bolshoi style. After Balanchine died of course everything has changed.
Kay Mazzo is definitv my favorit in Diamonds! I try to be fair: I never saw Allegra and I also love Smirnova/Shudin and .Lopatkina/Ziskaridse.
Suzanne is now coaching this at NYCB due to Jon Stafford& Wendy Whelan, its glorious to watch, the couple are actually stepping in Diamond shapes,
Priceless footage! The corps were really bad in unison back in the day...Based on the footage, if this was not speeded up due to VCR recording, the music is much faster than most orchestra conductors would perform and actually faster than noted in the sheet music. I think it would be a bit rushed, if just speaking from the Symphony perspective.
Mr. B wasn’t that concerned with the corps being in perfect unison. He said they should be “like a field of different wildflowers all blowing in the wind at the same time.” Yes this is the tempo he liked. By the end the audience was breathless. Very exciting.
@@jcliff26 I agree with his philosophy with the corps, and in many of his other ballets that makes it full of life. But danced to Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 3 Finale, it looks more like a problem. This section of choreography is also so much about formation and that doesn't showcase the genius geometric movement so nicely. A lot of dancers doesn't seem to be able to finish a step before rushing to their position... And honestly, in this particular piece, I think composer's intention out-rules choreographer's, and from Mr. Balanchine choreography, you can see his awe for music as well. When music doesn't sound right, the dance doesn't look right.
I think the works of Mr. Balanchine doesn't really have a PERFECT version in videos - principal footages yes, but full body or work not so much. Ballet world keeps improving and loosing memories at the same time, much like the rest of the world, there is never a moment that's perfect. His works lives in the ideal world and lends themselves to limitless imagination and ecstasy. The inspiration it brings goes beyond the 20 minutes of stage time. True fine art.
I wonder how much it would cost to commission musicians to play a fresh and synchronized score?
💕🙂
John, I love this clip. Do you have any of Liebeslieder Waltzer?
Merrill Ashley mentions in her book that, she too, danced Diamonds after Farrell left. Any thought on her in that role?
Yvonne Leslie Merrill was perhaps the 3rd to dance it after Farrell (Allegra, Kay, then back to Farrell, then Merrill) and she had her own way with it. Merrill was a very “pure” dancer really known more for her technique than for her style. Like Kyra in that regard.
hard to watch with the music so out of sync!
What are your thoughts on Marianela Nuñez performing this role?
Haven’t seen it.
To me she is with her ideas and feelings too near by the black swan.
But the music is off. 🙄
Yes. Of course. I think I said it was a silent film and music added later to give an idea.
Yes. Did you read the note I posted along with this video?
Tutus these days are really getting out of hand.
I agree! Pancake/flying saucer are very distracting, plus, they tend to look slightly floppy...