'Pas de Quatre' - Alicia Alonso, Carla Fracci, Ghislaine Thesmar and Eva Evdokimova
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- 'Pas de Quatre' was originally choreographed by Jules Perrot in 1845 to music by Cesare Pugni.
The ballet caused a sensation with both critics and public, when it premiered in London in July of 1845.
One reason for its success was that it brought together four of the greatest ballerinas of the time. In order of appearance in the work, the ballerinas were Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito, and Marie Taglioni, with this order being according to age. This cast only performed four times together.
Fanny Elssler, the fifth great Romantic ballerina of the time, was invited to take part but declined the offer.
This filmed performance has Alicia Alonso, Carla Fracci, Ghislaine Thesmar and Eva Evdokimova take the roles of the four famous Romantic ballerinas.
Reconstruction and choreography are by Sir Anton Dolin.
Enjoy!
What I personally love about this recreation is as well as the performances by four great ballerinas Is how Dolin recreates the body carriage of the period ( It was a lot different than the present due to the shoes and training.) The body was pitched farther forward than now , Evdokimovas variation shows this to perfection.
yes, so important to get that right
As soon as you get used to the way they used to dance, it's lovely. And my favourite...La Fracci.
I danced the Lucile Grahn variation in Christine DuBouley and Richard Ellis' recreation of the Pas de Quatre in 1983 in Chicago. I had an inflamed muscle sheath in my left calf and shin splints in my right calf that Spring. I was dancing on a wood floor over concrete, then walking nearly 5 miles a day on concrete, plus dancing nearly 20 hours a week. Of course, the variation I was selected to do was the one with the most jumping. 🙃 I also learned the Marie Taglioni variation at some point. It might be 38 years ago, but I remember the music and the movements still.
that's lovely to hear - reminds that dancers sometimes just go on when injured
Excellent recreation both aesthetically and technically of the piece -how the dancers danced with their bodies pitched slightly forward Plus the opportunity to watch four great dancers of recent times
hi Siegfried. yes, the stylistic choice of the bodies pitched slightly forward - seems 'right'.
How absolutely delightful. My God, what a cast. Thanks so much for posting this.
If this Grand Pas de Quatre was performed in november 1984 Mme Alonso was 63 years old, because she was born Dec 21 1921.....And we have to consider she has been blind most of her life.
hello jose ignacio Miranda.
yes, Mme Alonso had an extraordinarily extended career, and performing well, within the limits of her technique.
she was on stage in 2012 doing a few steps even in 2012 - Alicia Alonso 2012 Retrato del Recuerdo Fest. Int. Ballet de la Habana:
Retrato del Recuerdo - Alicia Alonso 2012. Fest. Int. Ballet de la Habana.
John Hall Yeah lil ole Alicia build the Cuban ballet. ty for lead.
Wendy Verdades yes, a great legacy!
Alonso! I have been passionately in love with her since I was 14 and saw a black and white film of her in Giselle. Sigh.
Kevin Donohue a great great ballerina! whom i have followed devotedly for decades - yes, 'sigh'!
Thank you, John! I'm using this video to teach my students the variations. Thank you for posting it!
hi Jerry
great the clip is useful! i'm always very happy when a video can be instructive in this way.
cheers from Sydney.
@@JohnRaymondHallit’s been a while, John! I’m writing a historical fiction novel on the making of Pas de Quatre; it will be self-published unless I can find a publisher. When it’s done, I’ll send you a copy!
very good luck with the novel! do you have a sense of where you are in the process at the moment? i'd love a copy - thanks for the offer - much appreciated
@@notyourtypicalwatchreview2563
@@JohnRaymondHall I’ll have a full draft very soon.
So nice to see this, though I hate knowing that Eva Evdokimova (the youngest of the four here) is no longer with us. Too bad that, somehow, they manage to not quite get together in the little 'mini-kickline,' bourrée section, that often, when performed just right, brings a swell of applause. Watch, just after 4:30.
and Alicia Alonso too
Eva's hands and upper body are out of this world. Absolutely amazing delicacy and expressive movement, port de bras, everything really. I appreciate and admire all four ballerinas but I can't help by eyes getting time and time again to her. Just look at her hands compared to the others from 4:35 onwards.
i agree completely. Evdokimova came onto my radar early on - when she competed at Varna and a friend, Charles Hedges, was her rehearsal pianist
@@JohnRaymondHall Похвалюсь: у меня больший, чем у Вас, стаж наблюдения за танцем Евы. Я влюбилась в эту балерину (ей тогда было 19 лет) с первого ее па как Одетты на сцене Большого в рамках балетного конкурса, где ее подло засудили, хотя она бесспорно была лучше всех! Скверная политика вечно вторгается туда, где ей не должно быть места. Но любовь и нежность, пробуждаемые искусством божественной Евы, неподконтрольны никаким внешним вмешательствам и останутся в сердечной памяти всех имевших счастье ее видеть.
@@ГалинаМатжанова приятно слышать хвастовство информированного человека :) да, политика и искусство не смешиваются - и имеют нехорошие последствия
alicia hermosa
I think this is Festival Cervantino Gala in Guanajuato, Mexico , is anyboby remebering what year,please ?
Delightful
personal note: 0:44
5:41
6:59
11:28
12:47
Bravo!! When did it performed? And where?
hi 加藤真理
i noticed someone from the Yuka Kodama Ballet Group has said of this film:
"Historical production where Eva Evdokimova, Ghislaine Thesmar, Carla Fracci and Alicia Alonso, four of the most renouned romantic dancers of their times, came together to dance this beautiful romatinc ballet piece. This was danced in a gala in Japan and I had the priviledge to see it live! I was still young, but I remember it very well! It was like a dream! I do not think they had a lot of time to rehearse together, so there are a few mismatching moves but their artistry makes you forget all that. Alonso was 60 years old when this was filmed!"
cheers!
It was during the International Festival of Ballet in Havana in november 1984...!!!
Jorge Aguilo thanks so much for straightening us out on this - though i read it was in Japan, as quoted, it seemed so very unlikely - thanks again! i seem to recall reading somewhere else that she was 60 at the time. i recall seeing Fonteyn in her mid-late 50s dancing but her technique had diminished so much it was not comfortable to watch. cheers
It was in mexico in 1980
@@JohnRaymondHall I saw Fonteyn when the Royal Ballet came to New York in, I think, the 1969 tour, when she reached 50. Saw her in (I think) variations from Raymonda (something Hungarian, anyway) and the next night as Aurora. (This was her birthday, and she got an extended tribute and ovation.) She was certainly not in the prime of her career--her balances in the Rose Adagio were noticeably a bit wobbly--but what was remarkable was her ability to give a convincing interpretation of a very young girl enjoying her birthday and the unexpected attention of her suitors. She was totally convincing. A special performer with that ability to reach across the footlights. That would have been a few years before you saw her. I read that she kept on performing so long in order to be able to support her husband and his political ventures.
molto bello
non è questo!
Šiandien 2024.04.29.Novero Gimtadienis Pasaulinio Šokio Diena.Esu Baleto Šokeja iš Lietuvos .Šokau Solo Daug Vaidmenų Baletuose .Tai Nepamirštama..,Gera Matyti Atgijusias Legendines Šokejas ir Jų Judesių Išraišką bei Techniką Choreografijoe Šiandien❤🎉😮😅😊❤❤❤❤❤🌹Belissimo Bravissimo🎉❤❤❤
How are you ..?!
This is so lovely ...
Hope you well and so Gaston ....!
Best wishes .
hi Masha
i am fine and hope very much you are too?
yes, i love this ballet too and the performances of the dancers as the famous Romantic era ballerinas.
very best wishes to you from me and Gaston - i've just posted another Gaston video - we're walking in the park - it's a warm late summer's day - perfection!
John Hall Yes I saw it ...warming the heart!
***** i am very glad my friend! to love of these fellow creatures of our planet is so enriching and warming.
hi bloodandwinearered
isn't the cast great - an ideal one in many respects
great you like this one too!
It's marvelous watching these ladies interpret how these famous dancers from the 19th century might have actually carried themselves. And so funny watching their facial expressions as they interact with each other in character. The portes de bras, carriage of the torso, and low height of the legs was all in the appropriate style back then. What a well-done performance!
Sorry to disappoint you. What you're watching was made in the XXth century AND NOT by romantic ballerinas from the 19th hundreds. The choreography IS NOT ORIGINAL but a 'remake/reshuffle' by Anton Dolin well in the XXth century. And whereby this choreography should be public domain it's all copyrighted and cashing in...
Wow, such idiotic comment....
I saw them in Havana International Ballet in 1980. I great experience that I have never forgotten.
+Alfredo Eloy Lucky you! :)
John,
thanks for sharing this. Although it has been 35 years, it still brings back incredible memories for me.
I was lucky enough to see this performance live, and not from the audience, but from backstage. When the performance ended, Eva Evdokimova invited my friend and I into her dressing room and talked with us for more than half an hour, while all the international reporters and photographers waited outside. Then she took us to each of the other three stars dressing rooms so that we could get autographs of all four. All of this occurred by sheer coincidence.
This was the second ballet I had seen in my life (Nutcracker) and needless to say, at 27 years old, I was instantly infatuated with Eva and have been ever since. I can still close my eyes and see all four ladies dancing only twenty feet away and I can also picture Eva sitting on the couch next to me in her dressing room. No woman has ever looked so lovely or so feminine as she did sitting gracefully beside me.
I have never wanted to go to another ballet since. It would only be a huge letdown.
+Allen van santen what a fantastic experience - i knew Charles Hedges in London who was a great supporter and promoter of Eva in the very earliest days at Varna - he was a film importer but acted as rehearsal pianist for her at times. Eva is a mezmerisingly great ballerina.
What a lovely experience, and a memory to cherish for a lifetime! I am quite envious.
I was a student of Dulce Anaya, pupil of Alonso, and I have never seen alonso dance before seeing this video. thank you! one might call this the second grand pas de quatre
happily there is a lot of video of her dancing - and over the years :)
I wish there were more recordings of Dulce. I only know of the one.
I saw 4 times this performance. 2nd international Ballet Festival in Tokyo.
Thesmar substituted Marcia Hayde. Anton Dollin and Margot Fonteyne
were in the audience.
hi Yoshio
how lucky to have seen those four performances!
i saw Anton Dolin on stage once - he played the king and Alexandra Danilova played the queen in a London Festival Ballet 'Sleeping Beauty'!
Muchas gracias por rescatar está hermosa obra del ballet romántico. Quiero mencionar que la grabación se hizo durante el Festival Internacional Cervantino de 1978 en la ciudad de Guanajuato, México.
Thank you for this information.
Eva the sublime. One of the greatest romantic ballerinas ever. I have some of her used pointe shoes, they're like slippers, the only support is in the box. Her ballon is unmatched.
As it should be! The shoes today are a nightmare, absolutely unnecessary to have that much "support" and they are hideously huge because of it. If one's feet are so week they require that much support with a massive ugly box, they shouldnt be dancing ballet and I suspect these horrid shoes allow many more people who shouldnt be on stage to do just that. You can hardly call the shoes today "correct", or the technique, or the tempo of the orchestra, or the repertoire
yes, she was perfection
Четыре богини ушедшего танца! Пожалуй, это не менее круто, чем Три тенора! Замечательно, что хотя бы их тени на киноплёнке останутся следующим поколениям в качестве предмета восхищения, назидания и светлой грусти!
I love this! So great to see the Romantic style portrayed so beautifully. Please let's not make it a lost art! So glad we have this keepsake treasure of four superb ballerinas! Reminds me so much of the style I learned while studying with Krassosvska, who also danced in this ballet in her youth, may she RIP.
i think with this ballet getting the 'atmosphere' right is paramount. and with four great performances --- life is good! :)
Thank you for sharing this. I also studied with Krassovska in Dallas and miss my youth years of dancing with her group of young dancers back in the 80's. I love the romantic style !
@@ballet_by_neila6606 I also studied with Krassovska in Dallas, but in the 60's. She had a profound influence on me, not just as a dancer, but later on in my career as an artist and stage designer.
@@michelleguillot4478 Yes, she was a remarkable person! I miss her!
Vhhjjjjhytyyyuuui and all 87jha
Breathtaking! This film brings back memories, emotions and even the smell of the Teatro García Lorca, right before I moved to NYC from Cuba. The performance was out of this world, I'm glad today that I was there that evening.
Thank you for sharing.
wow u were there!
Bravo! Thank you so much for posting .A wonderful history lesson for young dancers.
hi dancerfirst16
wonderful isn't it - and dance is so often a thing passed on from one generation to the next - which can also be done through film.
Alicia.. te llevas todas las palmas👏👏👏🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺❤️
:)
hi Penthesilea
i am lucky to have had some extraordinary experiences - most totally unplanned - life can be serendipitous! i've thought of a book - about those i've met as my own personal life has been wonderful but unremarkable in the general sense. and i now know one person might read it - thanks!
He buscado tanto este baile simplemente fabuloso. Gracias
Alicia Alonso.Tu eres la mejor del mundo.Te admiro desde siempre💖
¡yo también!
Yo la adoro
Божественная красота!
How absolutely delightful. My God, what a cast. Thanks so much for posting this.
Jóia rara do Ballet, interpretado por quatro Divas da Dança. Bravíssimas!!!!
Alicia Alonso dancing at that later age is simply amazing!!😳😳💐💐🌹🌹😍😍😘😘💝💝💝🎈🎈🎈
crazy good
and dancing in a way that is still very satisfying artistically
3:20 for my dance camp I did this part
how did it go? :)
Cuatro grandes!!!!
hi xanglat
glad you are still liking the channel and what i'm uploading!
hope you don't mind my using English sometimes as my French is so terrible!
cheers
hi I love Maria Shashkova
thanks - i try to have a lot of variety on the channel - i'm never sure whether this is a good thing or not - too broad and the channel can loose character
cheers!
hi bloodandwinearered
isn't the cast great - an ideal one in many respects
great you like this one too!
Que ano?
I have wanted for years to view this, and thanks to the wonders of such marvelous technology I can witness this ethereal performance at any time from the palm of my hand! Thank you for this upload.
hi Juan Franco-Amigo
thanks for the 1980 date!
pleasure :)
was this performance in Guanajuato Mexico, at the Servantino Festival?? and if so is there any more footage of that performance, I know every one of them did a romantic duet also. thank you for posting it is a great !!!!
+Rebeca Ramos yes, it's from that Cervantino festival - sadly i don't know of any other film from this event - the footage i have comes from a documentary on the Romantic era ballerinas
+John Hall thank you I was at that perfomance, and loved every minute of it.
+Rebeca Ramos how great to have been there - still looking about to see if there is other footage of the event. if i remember correctly, the first festival was in 1972?
+John Hall yes I participated in it for several years from 1978 to 1985 with the National Ballet from Mexico. I haven't seen footage of this perfomance, I know there was a book, but I remember Anton Dolin also choreographed a Pas de Quatre for the men that were partnerning the 4 prima ballerinas.
+Rebeca Ramos yes, i read somewhere about Dolin's choreographing - when you were with the National Ballet from Mexico did you have the sense that any of these performances were being filmed (the first stage of a search is knowing things exist) - cheers!
I have a friend who studied with Alicia in Cuba first time I saw her dance incredible
thank you nick for this further pd4 with this great cast .
Dear God this is priceless. Never lose this. Four Godesses.
yes, astonishing cast - i keep watching this footage
hi thenineteenth centuryballet
i was not keen on the term 'reconstruction' but used it as it was in the title to the footage as it appeared in the documentary 'the romantic era'
in fact i'm not even sure what Dolin meant by the term - the title in the documentary in its entirety is 'reconstruction and choreography by anton dolin' which i think is not at all clear and even misleading, don't you
cheers
hi pediatrapaola
i seem to be getting a bit stuck on re-uploading things that were lost in the channel closure rather than putting up new things - i'll try to do both as it might be a bit boring seeing the same stuff just re-appearing all the time.
but yes, this is a great cast!
What a gem this film is--priceless!
hi Janet
yes, isn't it! and Alonso so beautifully captures the Romantic style.
Indeed. The span of generations in the group is unbelievable.I never had the pleasure of seeing Eva Evdokimova dance but am amazed by her artistry. She was one of Nureyev's favorite partners and was ahead of her time in that although a prima ballerina assoluta in the 50's onward, she danced with multiple companies all over the world like the celebrity ballerinas of today. I saw Alonsa in her early fifties do the white swan pas de deux at the Met when she was in her fifties and was utterly blown away by the sensuality dripping from every limb. (I believe she must have gone with Castro not long after this clip was made!). She was an even more stunning as a woman of that age, for she had the type of large facial features that a woman grows into in maturity and become beautiful in middle age rather than in her youth. You can feel her authority throughout this piece. I saw Carla Fracci numerous times throughout her career and enjoyed her a great deal, although I found her somewhat affected at times. You can trace the beginnings of this type of thing in her dancing in this clip. Although the others all wear a garland of flowers in their hair she has chosen not to, distinguishing herself in a singular way by removing ornamentation from her coiffure, which suggests purity of spirit. I doubt it made her popular with the others that night, or perhaps they didn't give a hoot! When dancing as part of a group, it strikes me as a childish ploy for attention on Fracci's part..
Janet Shannon i had a little contact with Eva Evdokimova through Charles Hedges, an importer of foreign language films into the UK and sometimes rehearsal pianist - they'd met at Varna.
i only saw her once on stage - in 'Sleeping Beauty' in 1975 with London Festival Ballet - wish i'd seen more.
you are lucky to have seen Alonso on stage, very! i agree about at times being slightly affected from what i see of her on film.
i saw Fracci several times - a 'Giselle' wit Nureyev at La Scala, and at the 1973 CG gala in London for the country joining the EEC - she and Paolo Bortoluzzi performed a pas de deux from Act 2 of ‘Coppelia’ and finally in a modern work in Rome in 2003!
enjoyed your insight "Although the others all wear a garland of flowers in their hair she has chosen not to, distinguishing herself in a singular way by removing ornamentation from her coiffure, which suggests purity of spirit. I doubt it made her popular with the others that night, or perhaps they didn't give a hoot! When dancing as part of a group, it strikes me as a childish ploy for attention on Fracci's part"
Yesm Evdokomova was a superb artist. I would give my eye teeth to have seen her dance live. Her very accomplished husband, a conductor who managed her career, is hoping to write a book about her, although he is in such demand it seems a daunting task to add to his schedule. Anyway, it's funny who you see and who you miss. I've met Russiians in NY who never got to see Nureyev dance in their entire lives because they arrived he had stopped dancing.Ye I, as an American growing up in NY got to see Nureyev and Fonteyn repeatedly when they were at their height. Quel chance! Their chemistry was everything it's purported to be. A religious experience. Thanks, John, for your comments.
Janet Shannon yes, i have had the same serendipity in seeing performances - Fracci and Nureyev in Giselle in Milan, Maximova and Vasiliev in the same ballet in Paris on tour ... and sometimes it's just carpe diem - i was living in London as a kid and i would see a performance in Europe somewhere and airflights were cheap then even by 1970s standards ... and off we'd go.
I had seen deacades ago the Trocks foing this, with Paul as Ida as Alonso....so funny....
love the Trocks too!
本当に貴重なフィルムをありがとうございます🎉
バレエ史には、必ず登場する名作ですよね。
もうこの世にはいない方も写ってらっしゃるし、本当に貴重です。
大きな声で、何度も言わせて下さい。
ありがとうございます。
日本のバレエ大好きな、にゃんこより
I recognize Alicia Alonzo and Carla Fracci; is Evdokimova the first variation?
hi Jerry
yes, she is - a friend of mine, who had a foreign film distribution company, used to play rehearsal piano for her - he (and she) were multi-talented!
does anyone know how old Alicia Alonso when performing this?
+sunnyballet
hi!
the footage is from 1980 so Alonso was 59.
ALICIA...ALICIA...ALICIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
@@JohnRaymondHall Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alicia Alonso was born on December 21, 1920
@@fabiennefertiti3017 thanks for that :)
63
Dolin staged this for Ballet Theater with prima ballerinas Nina Stroganova as Grahn, Markova as Taglioni, and I forget the others.
thanks for that - yes, he produced this ballet for a number of companies and talked about such mountings here ua-cam.com/video/owp5qhsJhvI/v-deo.html
Reconstruction!?
Please can someone tell me the year of this performance? Just beautiful. Carla Fracci was my idol growing up, still is, RIP. I saw her with ABT in the lare 60's-early 70's as much as I could. Coppelia, Giselle. Everything. I saw Alonso dance at the very end of her performing days, basically totally blind, amazing woman. Light as feather. Beautiful ballon.
hi Mary. i believe 1979. i loved Fracci and was lucky to see her onstage as much as i did, including Giselle in Milan in the early 1970s
I went up to Canada to the Montreal Expo (middle or late 1960s) and chose the date for when the Cuban ballet was appearing (embargoed in the U.S. then). Saw Alonso, who was not dancing like a young woman but still amazing, especially for her stage presence and, well, charisma. I was lucky enough to see Fracci with ABT in the 1970s--a beautiful dancer with such style! Even saw Markova when I was a child in London--don't remember much alas. And saw (also as a child in London) Anton Dolin as Saint George in "Where the Rainbow Ends," a rather saccharine and chauvinistic stage, uh, play. That would have been in the early1950s. He didn't dance, but stood looking so heroic and gorgeous that I fell instantly in love. My knight in shining armor, literally!
To Elaine. It was Expo '67. I was there as a 7 year old with my parents!❤
.
Hi John Hall - love this video - do you own the rights? Do you have a website or email contact? Thanks. R
+Rosie Wells hi - sorry i don't - i've seen it about on YT quite a lot but never had a sense of who owned the copyright. cheers, Alex
+Rosie Wells hi! i looked through my channel and don not seem to have an upload called 'Star of the Kirov' - are you sure this is the title?
What happened to Eva the youngist of the four
She died,many years ago.
She died in 2009 because of Cancer RIP💐
The choreography I saw in Cuba in the 70’s was more complicated, perhaps it was one of those “Alonso based on the original “. For my taste she should have retired by then, it’s anguish to see her lost and you know there are people calling her off stage because it’s true ahe could barely see, and her hands were horrible, so tense, that’s why she gave up The Dying Swan very early on
When/where was this performance recorded?
1980 i think in Mexico
In confronto all' eleganza e alla classe di Carla Fracci le altre sembrano tre tacchini
Please respect the others
era La ballerina romantica - l'ho vista dal vivo in "Il lago dei cigni" e "Giselle" e anche in un'opera moderna molto avanzata nella sua carriera - a Roma nel 2003
Thank you for sharing this video.
03:21 #2 Allegro marziale
05:32 #3
11:06 Variation de Mlle Cerito
12:46 Variation de Mlle Taglioni
14:34 Coda
thanks :)
Merci !
Yes John I remember an interview with Gillian Lynne when she was choreographing the dances for Phantom of the Opera which she had researched carefully to get them to look right for the period and she said because the shoes soles then were not as flexible as the ones today the body was carried slightly forward un- intentionally but there was no other alternative due to their construction
hi Siegried. very interesting about the changes to body posture due to the shoes. i wonder how other ballets of the midC19 would have in fact looked in performance given this.
Yes John it would be interesting to see them performed as they were- I remember seeing Canadian Ballerina Karen Kain dance Giselle on TV in the 70s and was fascinated by the shoes and how flexible her feet were-I think this was the first time I noticed the new more flexible type of soles
Siegfried yes, i recall Karen Kain's feet in the ballet - largish and flexible - didn't realise it was a new type of shoe. it made her feet so much more articulate.
cheers
Alicia Alonso R.I.P.
i can't find a record of her death - Wiki says she is 98?
She turned 96 last Dec 21.
she is still alive
she is still with us at 96
Alicia, eres, fuistes y seras la mas grande bailarina de todos los tiempos.