# Dana’s Personal Classic Faves



## Dana (Mar 11, 2021)

Don Quixote – Act III pas de deux (Marianela Nuñez, Vadim Muntagirov; The Royal Ballet)






George Balanchine´s The Nutcracker - Waltz of the Flowers


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## Dana (Mar 12, 2021)

When I was five years old I went with my Mother to see Coppelia, my very first ballet performance. It was a matinee and I was so excited, I could hardly breathe. I had just started ballet lessons and this was my Mother’s encouragement gift. The lights went down and then the magic began…

One of my favourite scenes from the ballet …dancing the Mazurka.


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## Dana (Mar 19, 2021)

I love string instruments and even considered learning to play the violin, but my Mother felt I should take piano lessons instead, she thought I would be more suited to that instrument…she was right! Anyway, my love of string continues to this day and one of my favourites is the cello.

I’ve only ever listened to cellos in large orchestras, then it all changed when Croatian cellist Stjepan Hauser burst onto the scene a few years ago. I have never seen anyone handle a cello the way he does. I do believe him when he says ‘I am in love with the cello’ see what I mean…






_*Caruso - 'Alone, Together' Pula Arena, Croatia*_






*Swan Lake, with the London Symphony Orchestra.*






*Ave Maria..Pula Arena, Croatia*

Without music, life would be a mistake.” ... Friedrich Nietzsche


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## Dana (Apr 7, 2021)

_One of my Father's favourites....





*Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart..” Pablo Casals*_.


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## Dana (Apr 15, 2021)

*Thinking of my Father today...three of his favourites..*


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## CinnamonSugar (Apr 15, 2021)

Ah, @Dana, we are kindred spirits!   I love ballet (well, really, any high quality dancing ) and orchestral music.  I look forward to comparing notes !  Traveling this AM but will check in later


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## Dana (Apr 15, 2021)

CinnamonSugar said:


> Ah, @Dana, we are kindred spirits!   I love ballet (well, really, any high quality dancing ) and orchestral music.  I look forward to comparing notes !  Traveling this AM but will check in later



How lovely CinnamonSugar...looking forward to comparing notes. I'm off to bed now with a little Bach for company


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## Dana (Apr 16, 2021)

Do you have a favourite ballet CinnamonSugar? Here is a glimpse of the Australian Ballet...


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## CinnamonSugar (Apr 16, 2021)

Well, @Dana, it's hard to beat ABT or the NYC ballet... however, when I was in Seattle I got to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet and I just fell in love.  I tried to find the "America" excerpt from their Jerome Robbins tribute (it brought the house down) but this is the closest I could find....


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## Dana (Apr 16, 2021)

Love that CinnamonSugar thanks for posting. I adore Jerome Robbins. I tried to find the clip you mentioned but to no avail.


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## CinnamonSugar (Apr 16, 2021)

My personal fave pas de deux from Don Quixote:  Angel Corella and Paloma Herrera.  Both great talents, with the added bonus of them both being Latino (he from Spain, she from Argentina), they were able to bring a very authentic level of 'sass' and liveliness to the piece.


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## Dana (Apr 17, 2021)

Gorgeous! I certainly agree with the "sass" they bring to the pas de deux! You may have seen this clip already, but what makes it very special for me is that I have seen both Marianela and Carlos dance in the UK at Covent Garden. She is also from Argentina and Carlos from Cuba...both making huge names for themselves in Europe..enjoy..


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## Dana (Apr 17, 2021)




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## CinnamonSugar (Apr 17, 2021)

Dana said:


> Gorgeous! I certainly agree with the "sass" they bring to the pas de deux! You may have seen this clip already, but what makes it very special for me is that I have seen both Marianela and Carlos dance in the UK at Covent Garden. She is also from Argentina and Carlos from Cuba...both making huge names for themselves in Europe..enjoy..


Oh my goodness!  Wonderful!   No I’d never seen that part of the ballet...


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## Dana (Apr 19, 2021)

CinnamonSugar said:


> Oh my goodness!  Wonderful!   No I’d never seen that part of the ballet...



So glad you enjoyed it CinnamonSugar


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## Dana (Apr 19, 2021)

*A little insight into the life of Dame Margot Fonteyn*







*Margot Fonteyn reflects on the life of Russian dancer Anna Pavlova*


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## CinnamonSugar (Apr 19, 2021)

It is so interesting to go back in time and watch the different styles of ballet and see how it has evolved.  But all beautiful.  Did (do) you dance, @Dana?  I took ballet and tap for about 10 years as a youngster... would have loved to do it at a higher level but alas, a long torso and short legs do not a ballerina make, haha.

I have so many youtube clips of dancing I love... hard to know which to share next lol

Here's one of Angel Corella dancing to Duke Ellington... proof again that ballet training and a sense of musicality equips good dancers for many styles and roles...


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## Dana (Apr 20, 2021)

Loved that CinnamonSugar…oh, I certainy agree ballet training is a superb bonus for any dancer’s versatilty. Angel Corella I believe , but not a hundred per cent sure. was the first Spaniard to have prominent roles in the NYC ballet. He is noted for his extremely fast pirouettes and jetés.
Here he excels in Le Corsaire with Julie Kent. Yes..I studied ballet for many years starting out with the Cecchetti method, but my Mother was not too keen, so when we moved from Hampshire to London, she enrolled me in the Royal Academy of Dance, accepted after a gruelling audition!


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## Dana (Apr 21, 2021)

*A day without my opera fix..no way!*


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## timoc (Apr 21, 2021)

Will this do?


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## Glowworm (Apr 21, 2021)

I've been fortunate enough on some of my trips to Russia to have seen Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theatre in St.Petersburg and Don Quixote and Swan Lake at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

One of my favourite parts of swan Lake is the Coda in which Odile performs 32 fouettes. I've never had any dancing or ballet lessons - for obvious reasons so I can't speak as an expert on the technical points so please correct me if I'm wrong. However I imagine this must be difficult to perform as I suppose the ballerina isn't meant to "wander" all over the place but stay in one spot. I guess it's made even more difficult if the stage slopes from the rear down towards the orchestra ditch like the stage at the Stockholm Opera.

I found this clip and looking at the background the ballerina seems to move very little. 

I think it's beautifully performed.


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## CinnamonSugar (Apr 21, 2021)

Glowworm said:


> I've been fortunate enough on some of my trips to Russia to have seen Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theatre in St.Petersburg and Don Quixote and Swan Lake at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
> 
> One of my favourite parts of swan Lake is the Coda in which Odile performs 32 fouettes. I've never had any dancing or ballet lessons - for obvious reasons so I can't speak as an expert on the technical points so please correct me if I'm wrong. However I imagine this must be difficult to perform as I suppose the ballerina isn't meant to "wander" all over the place but stay in one spot. I guess it's made even more difficult if the stage slopes from the rear down towards the orchestra ditch like the stage at the Stockholm Opera.
> 
> ...


@Glowworm, the trick in doing any # of turns is to snap your head around to a fixed point each time you turn    And, of course, practice practice practice


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## Dana (Apr 21, 2021)

_That technique is called “Spotting” and to follow on from what CinnamonSugar said, it focuses the eyes on a set spot and keeps eye contact with it while turning the body. At the last moment, the dancer whips the head around and reconnects eye contact with the spot._


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## Dana (Apr 21, 2021)

Elina Garanca's fine interpretation of "Mon Coeur S'ouvre à Ta Voix" (My Heart Opens Up At the Sound Of Your Voice) from the Opera "Samson and Delilah" by Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns








The water nymph Rusalka has fallen in love with a human...the Prince...when he came to swim in her lake. Now she wants to become human herself and live on land to be with him. Rusalka's father, the Water Sprite, is horrified and tells her that humans are evil and full of sin. Composed by _Antonin Dvorak_ sung by Lucia Popp.


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## Glowworm (Apr 21, 2021)

Dana said:


> _That technique is called “Spotting” and to follow on from what CinnamonSugar said, it focuses the eyes on a set spot and keeps eye contact with it while turning the body. At the last moment, the dancer whips the head around and reconnects eye contact with the spot._


@CinnamonSugar and @Dana Thanks for the information. I guess that this technique also prevents the dancers from becoming dizzy? This clip was also on Youtube and I think the ballerina wanders a long way down and across the stage. Would that mean she hasn't perfected the art of "Spotting"? Also noticed she doesn't perform any double fouettes at all. Most comments were very positive but one written in French was quite scathing.

Interested to hear your comments.


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## Dana (Apr 22, 2021)

Glowworm said:


> @CinnamonSugar and @Dana Thanks for the information. I guess that this technique also prevents the dancers from becoming dizzy? This clip was also on Youtube and I think the ballerina wanders a long way down and across the stage. Would that mean she hasn't perfected the art of "Spotting"? Also noticed she doesn't perform any double fouettes at all. Most comments were very positive but one written in French was quite scathing.
> 
> Interested to hear your comments.





Glowworm said:


> @CinnamonSugar and @Dana Thanks for the information. I guess that this technique also prevents the dancers from becoming dizzy? This clip was also on Youtube and I think the ballerina wanders a long way down and across the stage. Would that mean she hasn't perfected the art of "Spotting"? Also noticed she doesn't perform any double fouettes at all. Most comments were very positive but one written in French was quite scathing.
> 
> Interested to hear your comments.


While Odile’s _fouettés_ are supposed to stay rooted to one spot, not many dancers are able to accomplish this, some even avoided fouettes altogether. If the incredible Margot Fonteyn was criticised for wandering around the stage as she spun, then the critics can be more lenient with Sharon Wehner, especially if they have not danced themselves let alone ever done a fouetté! Her “spotting” was spot on, or she’d be lying on the stage in a dizzy heap!


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## Dana (Apr 22, 2021)

Vienna, city of my dreams ... it really is!


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## Dana (Apr 22, 2021)

_André Rieu - Lippen Schweigen (from The Merry Widow)_


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## Glowworm (Apr 22, 2021)

Dana said:


> While Odile’s _fouettés_ are supposed to stay rooted to one spot, not many dancers are able to accomplish this, some even avoided fouettes altogether. If the incredible Margot Fonteyn was criticised for wandering around the stage as she spun, then the critics can be more lenient with Sharon Wehner, especially if they have not danced themselves let alone ever done a fouetté! Her “spotting” was spot on, or she’d be lying on the stage in a dizzy heap!


Ah, okay, thanks again for the information. I wasn't sure if it had to do with "spotting" or not. If staying in one spot is so difficult then would it be right to say that Marianela Nuñez performance was exceptionally good? 

Sorry to keep bothering you, but you said some dancers avoid fouettes altogether. Are they part of the original choreography and do some choreographers leave them out and replace them with something else?

I'll have to try to learn spotting because I'm about ready to fall out of my chair if my grandchildren spin me around a couple of times


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## Dana (Apr 24, 2021)

Glowworm said:


> Ah, okay, thanks again for the information. I wasn't sure if it had to do with "spotting" or not. If staying in one spot is so difficult then would it be right to say that Marianela Nuñez performance was exceptionally good?
> 
> Sorry to keep bothering you, but you said some dancers avoid fouettes altogether. Are they part of the original choreography and do some choreographers leave them out and replace them with something else?
> 
> I'll have to try to learn spotting because I'm about ready to fall out of my chair if my grandchildren spin me around a couple of times


_
The only two ballets that require 32 fouettes are Swan Lake and Don Quixote. Some dancers avoid fouettes and instead do piqué en dedans (turns in a circle) or even do a mix of both. Any changes are of course approved by both choreographer and artistic director._


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## Dana (Apr 24, 2021)

_This story makes me feel so warm inside. Little Audrey Nethery, loves dancing. She suffers from Diamond Blackfan Anemia (DBA). It is a rare disorder when the bone marrow is unable to produce enough red cells. Sadly, this is a life-threatening condition that influences the body’s ability to circulate oxygen, and it has resulted in many health problems for the young child. The New York City Ballet helped Audrey realise her dream to dance on the ballet stage! _


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## Dana (Apr 24, 2021)

_*Music for Sunday*_


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## Dana (Apr 27, 2021)




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## CinnamonSugar (Apr 29, 2021)

Only one word needed... *Baryshnikov

*


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## Dana (Apr 29, 2021)

Only one word is needed in his case...love him!! Is there a favourite clip of his dancing that you like CinnamonSugar? You may have seen this one before.....


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## CinnamonSugar (Apr 30, 2021)

Dana said:


> Only one word is needed in his case...love him!! Is there a favourite clip of his dancing that you like CinnamonSugar? You may have seen this one before.....


Yes, @Dana, I've watched just about anything I could get my hands on with him in it...  

You've probably seen White Nights...  This Roland Petit piece from the opening scene is so amazing...  He does the most incredible things and some so quickly, you're left like, "Wait a min, did he just do what I think he did??"  (For example, the--I believe--triple mid-air turn at 1:11)  The control of his body, the ability to dance at that level and give a believable acting performance as well...  Absolutely the best!


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## Dana (May 3, 2021)

Yes, CinnamonSugar…I have seen White Nights. I found it quite disturbing but also mesmerizing. It must have taken a great deal of courage for him to dance that opening scene considering his own mother died by suicide. Here’s a longer version of the opening sequence….


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## Dana (May 3, 2021)

*E. Waldteufel - Les Patineurs The Skaters Op. 183*






*Kuss-Walzer op. 400 - Johann Strauss II*


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## Glowworm (May 3, 2021)

The wonderful Swedish tenor Jussi Björling


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## Glowworm (May 3, 2021)

Dana said:


>


I was five when the Tales of Beatrix Potter movie was released. I remember wondering how animals could dance.


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## Dana (May 3, 2021)

Glowworm said:


> The wonderful Swedish tenor Jussi Björling



_Yes, one of my Father’s favourite singers too…he particularly liked this duet with Victoria de los Angeles_






_Shame The Culture and Leisure Committee in Borlänge have decided that they cannot be bothered to continue funding the Jussi Björling Museum. _


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## Glowworm (May 3, 2021)

Dana said:


> _Yes, one of my Father’s favourite singers too…he particularly liked this duet with Victoria de los Angeles_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How odd, I listened to that as well and couldn't decide on which one to post so I settled for Nessun Dorma.

Apparently Luciano Pavarotti said in an interview in a Swedish newspaper in 1988 that when he was going to study a new role he always listened to how Jussi Björling had sung it, that he hoped he would be compared to Jussi and that was how he strove to sing. He also said how he regretted never having been able to perform with that other great Swedish Opera singer Birgit Nilsson.


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## Glowworm (May 3, 2021)

Yes, sadly the Jussi Björling Museum closed at the end of last year. A decline over the years in the number of visitors and costs were the reasons given. Parts of the collection will be put on permanent display at the Borlänge public library which is small cconsolation for the Jussi Björling Society.

Odd fact. Jussi Björling is buried in the Stora Tuna church cemetery as is my Swedish great grandfather


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## Dana (May 5, 2021)

_*An Evening with Mario*_


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## Glowworm (May 5, 2021)

And this one


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## CinnamonSugar (May 5, 2021)

Beautiful @Dana and @Glowworm .... so much lovely music to lift the heart!
How about something to get the adrenaline pumping?  Classic dance/song fave from West Side Story






PS--wonder how the new version will compare???


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## Dana (May 6, 2021)

Thanks both of you! CinnamonSugar.. enjoyed that clip. I love the original West Side Story…simply enchanted with Natalie Wood and, of all the dancers, my favourite was George Chakiris. When I was little and studying ballet, our teacher said, she was good friends with him..lucky lady! I am not too sure if I would like the Stephen Speilberg adaptation of West Side Story.

I loved Cyd Charisse too..what do you think of her dancing? I loved her talent for being able to dance any style. Being classically trained in Russian ballet certainly helped. A clip you may enjoy, you've probably seen it already!


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## CinnamonSugar (May 6, 2021)

Dana said:


> Thanks both of you! CinnamonSugar.. enjoyed that clip. I love the original West Side Story…simply enchanted with Natalie Wood and, of all the dancers, my favourite was George Chakiris. When I was little and studying ballet, our teacher said, she was good friends with him..lucky lady! I am not too sure if I would like the Stephen Speilberg adaptation of West Side Story.
> 
> I loved Cyd Charisse too..what do you think of her dancing? I loved her talent for being able to dance any style. Being classically trained in Russian ballet certainly helped. A clip you may enjoy, you've probably seen it already!


Wow, @Dana, that was fabulous...  yes she was so talented.  I loved her comment about her partners in the musicals, "My husband could always tell who I'd been dancing with: if I had bruises all over, I'd been dancing with Gene Kelly.  If I had no bruises, I'd been dancing with Fred Astaire."    And if I could ever switch body parts with someone else I would want Cyd's legs! haha


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## Dana (May 7, 2021)

_*Translation: Songs my mother taught me,

In the days long vanished;

Seldom from her eyelids

Were the teardrops banished.

Now I teach my children,

Each melodious measure.
*_
*Oft the tears are flowing, Oft they flow from my memory's treasure.*

     

*A wonderful Mother's Day to all the Moms... Carers...all the people who look after children who do not have a mother...all the Dads who take on the mothering role...bless you.. enjoy your day...*


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## Dana (May 9, 2021)

*My Darling Mother loved Pavarotti…so in her honour today…*


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## CinnamonSugar (May 13, 2021)

Here's another dance fave from two different styles... beautiful how they can combine


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## Pinky (May 13, 2021)

CinnamonSugar said:


> Here's another dance fave from two different styles... beautiful how they can combine


@CinnamonSugar 
Wow! Love, love, love this!


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