A Great Find
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- As you’ll know by now, I have a particular interest in the Ballets Russes, particularly the first Serge de Diaghilev period of 1909-1929.
And so I was excited to find this 1909 footage of Maria Alexandra Baldina (1885-1977) and Theodore Kosloff aka Fyodor Kozlov (1882-1956), her husband, performing ‘Valse Caprice’, a pas de deux created by Nikolai Legat to music by Anton Rubinstein.
The ballerina (variously known as Alexandra Baldina and Maria Baldina) appeared with Tamara Karsavina, Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova in ‘Les Sylphides’ at the work’s 1909 premiere with the company at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Baldina was the Waltz Girl.
Koslov also had a brief association with the Ballets Russes in 1909, from where it was said he stole the choreography for a number of ballets created for the company. The dancer went to America in 1909, extending his work to film and stage acting, choreographing ballets and for broadways shows and teaching. He famously appeared as Aztec in Cecil B deMille’s Hollywood film ‘Ballet Mecanique’ (vimeo.com/1912....
passionballet.topf.ru has most successfully added a music audio to this footage - the movement and the music coincide well - it's very well worth watching at • Озвучка
Enjoy!
They seem much more relaxed than more recent dancers. Not carrying any tension.
that hadn't occurred to me - thanks for that insight
Yes, because they more acting and dancing, enjoying their dance. They don't think much of positions as nowadays - more doctor-like controlling skill.
@@marthachriss6280 of course they did. they did more than we do now, in some ways. the rules have just changed and training along with it.
I was lucky enough to study with Maria Baldina! She was the most wonderful person.
When and where?
@@2degucitas I know that the Koslovs ended up in Hollywood with a lot of other Russian dancers. I actually called Maria Baldina-Koslov for private lessons in the mid-60s. The price? $15, "enough for a lunch", she said.
@@deborahhigginbotham7276 Wow! You are so lucky! How many lessons did you get?
@@2degucitas None. I was a young teenager and it would take me a long time to save for a private when I only made 25 cents an hour for babysitting. I remember asking her if she gave private lessons and what the cost would be. She then said that it would depend on my 'attitude'. I was a pretty shy teenager and I thought that she meant the position 'attitude', so it was an awkward conversation. I hope that the OP JoMarie answers what it was like to study with her, though.
@@deborahhigginbotham7276 Thank you for the reply.
What a gem! Those backbend lifts where her head nearly hits the stage are terrifying. LOVE her ports de bras throughout, as she makes a gestural phrase into complete, complex sentences! His turns on quarter-pointe with the working leg sur le coup de pied are fascinating, unseen today except in demonstrations of courtly dances and such. In contrast, his 'wasn't I wonderful!' second position of the arms at the end of those turns is utterly modern! When I started learning ballet as a child in the 60's, Russian teacher, our pirouettes were sur le coup de pied in the early levels. Wonderful to see every bit of this old video! It makes the Diaghilev era utterly come alive! I agree that .75 speed seems to show it at original tempo.
I hope that I am not to be late on my "balencoir" levels ( this time the miss on a for was purposed).
Oh my, those hops en pointe to the rear at 8:09 in those shoes! She must have been made of iron! yet looks like cotton candy,. Also she was teaching till age 95 per @JoMarie Indovina's comment. Remarkable dancer.
yes, shoes were far less supportive then. curiously Theodore Kosloff had a career in Hollywood as 'The Spirit of Electricity' in Cecil B de Mille’s ‘Ballet Mecanique’, 'Madam Satan' (1930). ruclips.net/video/bT1PEzvXLb8/видео.html
Was lovely to watch. Yes what a find.charming.
yes, and to see dancers of which there is so little footage tackle a ballet we know
I watched her feet throughout. How surprised I was that her feet often aren't turned out, especially when just walking from place to place. Her feet point to the front. Interesting how technique has changed over a century.
Amazingly sharp camera work for that time. Thanks so much for this.
i was surprised too - it means you get a depth of field and so the performance seems much more real and less flat
WONDERFUL ... THANK YOU.
pleasure :)
She is so fresh and charming and spontaneous! They are both DANCERS more than super- atheletes
i agree - the technique only there to make the art
she so cute and i love how he does not lose his wig in the pas but takes off for his solo dance number. :-)
Those backward falls at 2:14 and 2:22 were impressive; they were so low, her head was just inches from the floor! Lovely video.
Just watched this again. Wonderful.
i must watch it again too now that you have! :)
She is gorgeous. Thanks for the history too. I love learning these bits of the story of BR. And really Baldina is such a pretty dancer. Amazing to see actual RB dancers!
isn't she lovely - her personality powers through the footage to the viewer - palpable even today.
speaking of actual Ballets Russes dancers did you see the footage of Lydia Loupokova and Stanislas Idzikowski in 'Le Carnaval' (1916) - from the company's North American tour of that year? ruclips.net/video/BfIHu7b8J4k/видео.html&spfreload=10
i have to restrain myself in the 'Notes' cos i can go on and on!! i have to say to myself at time 'stop! enough!' :)
@@JohnRaymondHall Some of the Ballet russe dancers told in an interview. Itzikovsky was as good than Nijinsky (perhaps better?)
@@susannevollmer2347 that's interesting - sometimes being a legend can magnify the talent a little unwarrantedly
@@JohnRaymondHall Jaaa, that´s realy true, sorry I cannot remember the artist...
@@JohnRaymondHall I beleave, I got it from a book or article from Horst Koegler, who quote...(?).
Wonderful film!! Her torso is wonderful to watch and his jump is so effortless... Thank you for posting!!
yes there are surprisingly good things about her technique - the turns are fast and good too.
They are lovely to watch! And I'm in love with the choreography. I would love to see a modern remake of it.
yes the chore is charming and deserves a modern revival!
It seems to me very very naive and so delicate. It´s astonishing. Thank you for posting.
yes, she manages to project so strongly - she is so alive in her character that i feel i know her by the end of the piece. :)
Love this so much! Thanks for posting!
pleasure Becca :)
Alucinante grabación! ¡ Que técnica! Maravillosos!
Rather more interesting than these dancers' affiliation with Diaghilev, is that they worked with Petipa himself (as members of the Petersburg Imperial Ballet). It is one of the very few - if not the only film - where you see a pas de deux with variations showing the style of the Mariinsky in that particular epoch, even if somewhat improvised.
that's interesting - with the focus on anything Diaghilev and the revolutions of the Ballets Russes, connections with Petipa can get lost - and part of the importance of what this film tells can be missing. thanks for that!
Thank you very much for this precious video!
Wonderful find. The dancing is superb. An older technique that is smaller than todays broader dancing. I actually never hear of these two dancers. 🙏
hi Gari - good to hear from you again :) i had heard of Theodore Kosloff aka Fyodor Kozlov from his appearance in Cecil B deMille’s Hollywood film ‘Ballet Mecanique’ - there is a link in the Notes with this upload to my uploadof his performance in that film
these videos are the best!
thanks!
There is a freedom to upper body movement that seems characteristic of the time and, I'm thinking, of Russian styling. One can see what an impact this would have. Also, there's an engagement between the dancers -one senses dancing rather than steps...quite a find.
yes, that is true about the freedom of the upper body - carried through in the athletic style of Bolshoi from the 1930s to the 1950s/60s and to today? yes expression and movement seem just two sides of the one thing!
They certainly seem to hit it off :-)
I think it's partly the impact of Isadora Duncan!
She is absolutl wonderful. I`m always thinking her dance and her body is living and breathing. Dont know how to say it better. Even the bows are more naturel!
said very meaningfully! :)
simply put faerie tale amazing:))))))))) thanks for sharing:)
pleasure - like entering a time machine the footage seems so antiquated.
What a treasure! Thanks for sharing!
pleasure :)
What a wonderful find. Thank you so much for sharing
I collect Ballet Russes memorabilia. Sadly though I have no film footage.
I do also have in my modest collection the wig that Fredrick Franklin wore in 'the Night Shadow' along with his personal provenance about it.
lovely to have that wig from 'the Night Shadow' ! we are collectors together of Ballets Russes things then. the only film of the company is amateur footage of 'Les Sylphides' rehearsed outdoors in Switzerland with Serge Lifar - you may well know of this
I studied with Baldina for ten years. She was 85 and I was 15 when we got together. She was the most wonderful Ballerina and person.
great for sharing this insight into the ballerina! the footage gives not a great sense of a dancer as a person. amazing to think she danced in the opening night of Les Sylphides with Karsavina and Nijinsky. thanks again :)
This was wonderful to watch- thank you for sharing 🤩👍🏼💖💖💖
BLESS YOU for posting these extraordinary artists- this rare footage, how do you tell the dancer from the dance, ah for a time machine, Namaste John
pleasure :) film brings these past dancers to life
It’s so weird to see ballet dancers walk on their heals and do pirouettes on a flat foot! A lot of turned in fort work too! Wow, very cool to see how different the early techniques were from modern day. 😮
extraordinarily Andre Eglevsky did pirouettes almost flat foot in 1952 in this footage ruclips.net/video/yNoS8ypWdDw/видео.html
Definitely try playing this at 0.75x speed!!!
Click the video, choose the settings menu (3 vertical dots, upper right corner on my mobile) and select playback speed -- 0.75x!!
This is likely quite close to real time. (0.5x speed is clearly too slow). You get a much better indication of their elevation and technique at 3/4 speed.
It's be possible to calculate exactly how over ranked the film camera was by analyzing the acceleration due to gravity, but as a ballpark, 0.75x on the RUclips player is very close indeed.
I did so. Excellent advice, thank you.
Great idea! I tried that!
Thank you very much for the advice!
Yes, it was better at .75, esp the part where she goes on pointe and drops backwards... Wow! 😮
thanks for the detailed instructions - much appreciated - will try now
I love this video............Tx!
me too! pleasure - and such clear footage for the period
Awesome! Thank you for posting this legendary dancer's!
my pleasure :)
Half a century ago I was a student of Irene Snow, who had been a student of Koslov in the 1920s. Miss Irene was a stickler for exact technique, which is interesting because in this short film neither Koslov nor Baldina seem to pay it much heed, at least not by modern standards. It's wonderful to be able to see what elite ballet dancers were like a century or more ago, but to be honest, no audience in the last eighty years would have paid to see this level of technique.
interesting the student, Irene Snow, was so concerned with technique and her teacher seemingly not
Very entertaining. Nice dynamic balance, between the male and female leads.
yes, more of a balance rather than the man being just the 'porteur' :)
Exellent, bravo!
:)
Watching it again, I notice some things that are lost now, but that I did see in clips of the 40's and 50's: ballerina's walking "normally" in between dance phrases, putting their heel down first > Plisetskaya in 1947 Black Swan. And the flat-footed pirouettes (almost looks as if he turns on his heel or the side of his foot)> Jacques D'Amboise.
yes, there was a long thread of discussion on a video of flat-footed pirouettes - they were not so uncommon in the past people - the discussion noted Andre Eglevsky's flat-footed pirouettes in the film 'Limelight' 1952
well for the time period her form is very good, sure its not like the dancers of today with their super form and almost mechanistic percision, but she actully looks like she is dancing , and though might look like childs play now in the 2010's she is doing something that would have been really hard for the untrained out there and her pointe work is at least over her boxes and does a good job at acting her dance out in mime like they used to do, not just slave to the music sheer technique like today.
yes, i think many the technique of many 'legends' of the past is less than that of today - and the dancers of tomorrow will be more developed in this sense again. for me it's the expressive power of a dancer that is interesting. and Alexandra Baldina is so alive and expressive in her charcter and dancing here.
yes back then they were more expressive, and if nothing else better it mimming out the story use of expression and would actually look like they were dancing or at least showing off how good they could control their limbs and execution of wicked cool tricks, like in the old newsreels, the girls that would tapdance in a backbend and cartwheel, or do acrobatics and toe tapping en pointe, things that people are often too scared to do today, or cossack kicks while en pointe or jump off a piano like Richard Barstow would do before he went on to be a ledgendary hollywood choreographer and also worked for Barnum Baily circus. just watch some of the old british pathe footage of the old dancers or the stuff from the hulton archive they did crazy dangerous but fun to watch stuff.
i agree, circus tricks are all very well and good (the 32 fouettees in Swan Lake can be exciting) but i like it more when technique is put to some expressive purpose. and tricks can be uncomfortable to watch - are they going to carry the chore off? - and you loose the meaning of the story
I'd like to see what current ballerinas would be able to manage wearing the toe shoes available in Baldina's time.
I strongly disagree that they were more expressive. The expression of the feeling is different. I notice that when I watch movies, the motions typical to express love in the 20s-30s now look ridiculous, in the 80s we express feeling still a little different than 20 years olds nowadays. And the ballet dancers act accordingly. Look Guillem, look Osipova, they are different from that time because of nobody in real live shows emotions like in Chaplin's movies. At the same time, we start to be interested in more philosophical abstract subjects. Look "racine cubique". I love it absolutely. Although it is very interesting to see the ballet as it was a century ago. I would never trade the modern-day ballet for that but it is priceless to see from the historical point of view!
The technique is important, it helps to express the emotions and philosophy in the dance without making the audience to focus on the technique and to feel the pain of the ballerina trying to keep balance.
Много комичного и смешного Сейчас такое не смотрели бы
Baldina ended up as a well known ballet teacher in San Francisco after she and Koslov divorced.
yes, i was reading that she ended up in SF - did you have a sense of whether she was a good/loved teacher?
I never studied with her, but I had acquaintances who did. They were strong, solid, properly trained, and always found work. The Gold Standard as far as I'm concerned.
thanks for that - it's always interesting to learn what happens after dancers leave the stage. and get a sense of them as teachers if that's where they go.
Wonderful! If you watch it at 0.75 speed, it looks even better.
yes, it's good to be able to alter the speed of some of these old films to be more natural
this video from what l know (l already knew it ) is probabily the only one from which we can have an idea about male technique at nijinsky time being the only one where the male performs a solo on the contrary of some other videos of that period where the male just makes partner in pdd .kozlov had a great carrer later in USA in movie ambient and had a love story with natasha rambova before she married rodolfo valentino.
i hadn't thought about what this footage might say about the technique of Nijinsky - thanks for that - i'll go and look at it again with that in mind. a bit like Nureyev bringing the male to beside the ballerina in some of his classic productions, like 'The Nutcracker'
i understood Kosloff had had a career in Hollywood - and uploaded the dancer as Madam Satan in Cecil B deMille’s ‘Ballet Mecanique’:
i've uploaded vimeo.com/191254450
John Hall what l saw reinforces my opinion about nijinsky and his legend .the legend still exists only because he never was filmed ,kosloff was a good dancer often in alternative cast with nijinsky in his roles aslo if we guess that nijinsky was good the double of kosloff (and the double is not realistic) he would be equally weak in comparation with nowadays standard exactly like appairs pavlova or karsavina in their short videos and there is not reason that should or could be different .so better that he was not shoted so people still can dream about him .
yes, i agree - Diaghilev was shrewd in not having the company and the principals filmed - unseen legends grow in the mind. all we have to do is look at the development in technique from the 1940s and 1950s (which we can know from film) to know that if we extrapolate back 40-50 years technique will have been weaker still. of course the expressive power and phrasing and other things are not time or period dependent - and i think we can only use these to evaluate dancers of the past
Utterly fascinating! For me the first extended piece of dance from this era for a man that is recognisable as ballet as we understand it - compare the Tikhomirov/Geltser duet which is confusing to put it politely? Looking at this I feel like I have some idea of what Nijinsky may have been like for the first time?
something for you - the Ballet Mechanique starring Kosloff as 'Electricity' in 1930 -
ruclips.net/video/PJh4RTy-Lkg/видео.html
Kosloff worked closely with De Mille for years and the most important key in that interlocking ballet world of teacher/student is that he was Agnes de Mille's ballet teacher! This short ballet was to quote wp - "Theodore Kosloff, a DeMille regular who was better known as a dance director, was originally hired by DeMille to do the film's choreography, but MGM insisted on Leroy Prinz. However, some dance experts believe that Kosloff did choreograph the "Ballet Mechanicique", as it seems more representative of his work than that of Prinz."
Alan
yes, the footage puts us close to a Ballets Russes performance - particularly as Alexandra Baldina appeared with Tamara Karsavina, Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova in ‘Les Sylphides’ at the work’s 1909 premiere with the company at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Baldina was the Waltz Girl.
i knew of Kosloff connection with de Mille AND had uploaded the dancer as Madam Satan in Cecil B de Mille’s ‘Ballet Mecanique’:
vimeo.com/191254450
I didn't know that he choreographed the dance sequence - but now you mention it i see everywhere he is so credited - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madam_Satan - thanks for that! sometimes a person is given credit for something in film as the Front Office believes it will play better!
ГУГЛ ПЕРЕВОД ОПИСАНИЯ ПОД ВИДЕО: Как вы уже знаете, меня особенно интересуют «Русские балеты», особенно первый период Сержа Дягилева 1909-1929 годов.
И поэтому я был рад найти эти кадры 1909 года, на которых Мария Александра Балдина (1885-1977) и Теодор Козлов, он же Федор Козлов (1882-1956), ее муж, исполняют «Вальс-каприз», па-де-де, созданное Николаем Легатом на музыку. Антон Рубинштейн.
Балерина (известная также как Александра Балдина и Мария Балдина) появилась вместе с Тамарой Карсавиной, Вацлавом Нижинским и Анной Павловой в спектакле «Сильфиды» на премьере спектакля в 1909 году с труппой в Театре Шатле в Париже. Балдина была девушкой-вальсом.
Козлов также недолго сотрудничал с «Русским балетом» в 1909 году, откуда, как говорили, он украл хореографию для ряда балетов, созданных для труппы. Танцор уехал в Америку в 1909 году, где начал свою деятельность в кино и на сцене, ставил балеты, участвовал в бродвейских шоу и преподавал. Он, как известно, появился в роли ацтека в голливудском фильме Сесила Б. де Милля «Механический балет» (vimeo.com/191254450).
На сайте Passionballet.topf.ru к этому материалу очень удачно добавлено музыкальное сопровождение - движения и музыка хорошо совпадают - его очень стоит посмотреть на
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Gracias!!!!!!!!!!no pude tener sonido!
Sí, es una lástima que no hay sonido - tengo la sensación de que Baldina es muy musical
Isnt this the guy "Theodore Kosloff, who had a dance studio in Hollywood in the 1920's? He was having an affair with his student/teacher Natacha Rambova (who later married Valentino and worked with Alla Nazimova.) When she left him he fired birdshot out of a shotgun at her. She was later picking the birdshot out of her legs at Metro.
yes, he went to America in 1909, extending his work to film and stage acting, choreographing ballets and for broadways shows and teaching. i hadn't heard about his connection with Natacha Rambova and their trials and tribulations!
зачетно видео
Kosloff was a wonderful dancer and choreographer, but he was, sadly, also a thief. When he came to America, he took a young student who was the daughter of a wealthy woman on to give her ballet lessons. He named her 'Natacha Rambova.' He proceeded to seduce Natacha and then stole her costume and design work, all while having a wife and young child back in Europe. This young girl, who was just sixteen when she met him, was my cousin. Nazimova rescued her from Kosloff's clutches after he shot Natacha and it was discovered Kosloff was taking the credit for Natacha's work in the DeMille films and in other areas. However, I recognize Kosloff for the talent he was.
Incidentally, the wife was Baldina, and they had a young, disabled child whom Natacha Rambova was sent by Kosloff to Europe to help his wife care for, and also it served to hide her from Natacha's mother. It was after Kosloff shot Natacha when she was trying to leave, after she returned to America because she and Baldina did not get along, that Natacha left Kosloff. There is always a story behind the story. Natacha and Kosloff did dance together occasionally, but Natacha was not a great dancer, although Kosloff told her mother she was so he could keep getting money.
thanks for sharing - i had no idea that about Kosloff
@@JohnRaymondHall ... The only reason I know is because Natacha is my cousin. I have done extensive research into her life and times. Even knowing what I do I also feel that Kosloff was, indeed, a great dancer and he left his mark on the art of ballet.
@@darkmumlast4908 i have followed Kosloff's career into Hollywood movies - Adam's Rib (1923), as 'The Spirit of Electricity’ in the Dance Sequence ‘Ballet Mecanique’ of Cecil B de Mille’s 'Madam Satan' (1930), and so on. which I'm sure you will know. i've just re-posted the ‘Ballet Mecanique’ sequence on YT ruclips.net/video/Ok0RdI4cTs0/видео.html
@@JohnRaymondHall I will definitely watch this again. I stopped looking into Kosloff's career after Natacha parted ways with him ... but I certainly recognize his talent! It is worth noting that Kosloff's entry into the movies was greatly facilitated by Natacha's talent, though. Had he not been able to claim credit for her set and costume designing work, which gave him a way to introduce his dance talents to de Mille, things may have gone a different way. Kosloff and de Mille were away on a long weekend at de Mille's hunting lodge which involved some underage girls when Natacha attempted to leave Kosloff ... and this angered Kosloff so much that he shot Natacha in the leg, ending her ballet career. However, Kosloff's movie career did flourish. It was a different time for women, but Rudolph Valentino was 'waiting in the wings' for Natacha Rambova shortly thereafter!
The figure of male role was definitevly less evelop than nowadays yet there it was.
Secret them
The jury is still out. And I am the jury. This is Nijinsky's odd shape - short, very thick thighs. And it is not him.
this is certainly not Nijinsky - in my notes attached to this video i identify the dancer as Theodore Kosloff aka Fyodor Kozlov (1882-1956)
and I am also a lazy viewer. thank you for clearing that up
no problem as i am a lazy viewer too :)
The male is better than the female dancer..
it would be great to be able to fit the music to it
Это - балет, как танец, а не как демонстрация физических возможностей танцовщиков.
именно - то, что мы хотим видеть :)