Dance Talks LIVE summer series
June: Ballerinas Then & Now
Mondays 7:30-8:20EST June 17-July 8th on Zoom (replays available). Take a look at the life and works of iconic ballerinas and how we are still dancing with their influence today!
Each class will have a lecture, we’ll watch videos of the works these dancers are known for and there will be time for Q&As.
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Chapter 1: Anna Pavlova and the spread of ballet throughout the world. Pavlova not only brought ballet all over the world, and to many places who hadn’t even heard the word before, from NY’s stages to the mountains of Peru. She collaborated with Salvatore Capezio to create the first international pointe shoe brand. She inspired the later influential choreographer Frederick Ashton to defy his parents and begin his dance career. She brought a heretofore little known art form to its rightful place in the spotlight on the world’s stage. She solidified the image of the ballerina as a mysterious celebrity to be revered and imitated.
Those of us in the ballet world today are in the studio and on the stage in large part because of her work and influence. Here we’ll take a look at how this came to be and we’ll see some of the works she’s most well known for and see present day dancers in her most iconic roles.
Chapter 2: The Partnership that Rocked the World Margot Fonteyn & Rudolf Nureyev
The unlikely pairing of veteran Royal Ballet Ballerina Margot Fonteyn, age 42, on the eve of her retirement (or so she thought) and the young Rudi, who almost never made it as a dancer, he started training very late and barely escaped the grip of the KGB when he defected at the airport in Paris, shook the world with their stories (which couldn’t be written better if they were in a James Bond film) and their gripping performances.
Let’s take a look at how they came together from the lens of geo politics and what their artistic legacies became. Which roles were created on them? What were they most known for? Who, if anyone compares to them today?
Chapter 3: The Paris Opera’s Brigitte Lefèvre & Sylvie Guillem From the oldest company in the world came 2 ballerinas who were at the forefront of modernism.
Brigitte Lefèvre, trained in the halls of the Paris Opera started her own contemporary company before coming back to forever alter the work and image of the storied institution during her almost 20 year tenure as the artistic director.
Sylvie Guillem, a celebrated Parisian ballerina, left the company and through her rock star level fame, lifted the voice of modern dance, dancers and choreographers on the world’s stages.
Modern Masters: From Sara Mearns to Ulyana Lopatkina
Who are the living legends and what is their legacy? From the pinnacle of old world grandeur meets phenomenal technique that we see in ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina to the textured, emotional and thrillingly unpredictable performances of NYC Ballet star Sara Mearns. While Ulyana has occasionally performed in modern works, her legacy remains firmly as a beloved empress of the classics. Whereas Mearns, a NYCB dancer which already puts her in the land of the neo classical, has a more varied voice and influence.
Course cost early registration $79 until June 13 afterwards $120
Mondays 7:30-8:20EST June 17-July 8th on Zoom (replays available).