Favorite Ballet

[Guest Joanna]

My favourite ballet is "Swan Lake" - it's so beautyful, ale has a really great music (well, Tschaikovsky is also one of my favourite composers). I love the characteristic dances, and of course 'Black Swan pas de deux'.

 

I like "La Bayadere", not beceause of music (which is not very good), just beacause of theme. I think Nikiya is very interesing character. And wonderful 'Act of Shades'!

 

 

From contemporary ballets I love all Eifman's works. I like some ballets of Mats Ek, and "Zorba The Greek" - I don't remember the choreographer.

[Guest Martyna]

I don't think I could ever choose only one ballet.

From what I've seen...

"Swan lake" - I've watched it many many times (however, only on tv) and I can't get enough.

"La Bayadere" - I've also seen it on tv only, but the scene of Nikiya's death is breath taking.

"Romeo and Juliet" - I've seen it live and many times on tv. I liked the version when Alessandra Ferri danced Juliet I cried at the end.

"Carmen" - I adore that music a lot! I enjoied the book. Also we had to dance a few peaces, amazing.

"Giselle". No comments I just like it. So romantic, so sad...

[Gina Ness]

"Romeo and Juliet"....I love the MacMillan version and, especially, because I saw the original cast, Christopher Gable and Lynn Seymour... I also thought Michael Smuin's "R and J" was great. I LOVE the score of this ballet, Prokofiev's score. It is my favorite score of ANY full-length ballet. And the story...one of the most powerful and enduring love stories of all time.

[Hamorah]

Oh yes, Gina, definitely R & J and especially Macmillan's version. I just never tire of it. When I was a young pro and dancing in it in the German company I was with, I used to stand in the wings to watch the balcony scene, the bedroom scene and the tomb scene every performance. In recent years I performed the Nurse in the Israel Ballet's version and still found myself standing in the wings when I wasn't on stage. The music is just divine - it breaks my heart even without the beautiful dancing!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If you saw the original couple, Gina, perhaps you also remember the wonderful exhibition on the Opera House that they held at the Victoria and Albert Musuem in the 1960's? I remember entering through a door and suddenly you were backstage at the "Garden" with the little door keeper's booth and the "wings" - they even managed to make the "smell" of the real stage! Amongst other exhibits they had a screen where they kept showing the balcony scene with Fonteyn and Nureyev. I must have stood and watched it ten times and I kept going back to the exhibition just to see it! There weren't any DVD's or home videos then. It was a real novelty!

[Gina Ness]

Hamorah...Thank you for telling me about the special exhibit. I didn't know about this. I saw Seymour and Gable (also Sibley and Dowell, and Fonteyn and Nureyev as the star-crossed lovers) when the Royal Ballet toured to the Opera House in San Francisco, California, USA in the mid to late-sixties. The Royal Ballet was awesome at this time...I haven't had the opportunity or pleasure of seeing them recently. I do think so highly of this company...

[dance_through_life]

My favorite ballet was this amazing ballet (don't remember the name) performed by the boston ballet a few years ago, and it had an amazing death scene performed by Larissa Pomarenko. It was beautiful!

[Guest frappè23]

i can't pick one, but i would say my favorites would have to be Swan Lake, Nutcracker (of course), Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadere, and Prodigal Son by Ballet Magnificat.

i dunno if this is a real ballet, but in the movie Center Stage I really like Jonathan's ballet. I don't think it had a name...but i know that the music was Piano Concerto No. II. .. i would also like to see Coppelia and Gissele.

Edited June 21, 2005 by frappè23

[jayo]

Another vote for Romeo and Juliet (I think the version I saw was the Macmillan?). Prokofiev's score is my favorite piece of music - just listening to the CD in the car I can clearly follow the action in my head and I always get all fired up by the fight scenes and cry in the tender ones.

 

A second choice might be Ashton's Monotones II - I saw the Joffrey do this many years ago and it blew me away (I love Satie too!). I sure wish I could find a recording of this.

 

jayo

[BeautyforAshes]

The Nutcracker -the Bolshoi (1978) Ekaterina Maximova.I like seeing the older Clara.Maximova is my favourite dancer.She displayed a wonderfully elegant,graceful yet girlish Clara.I love her poise.

 

Anything Tchaikovsky is absolutely moving.

 

First ballet I ever saw and made me fall in love with it forever!!!

[Guest littlepiggy333]

I haven't seen many ballets live (and actually not that many more on video), but of the ones I have, I'm going to pick Don Quixote.

[Guest prettyINpointes92]

my favorites are the Nutcracker because I just love the story and how the main character is a child. and my other favorite ballet is Romeo and Juliet because i just love the romance and tragedy of that ballet and it was the first real ballet i went to see.

[Fairy]

Wow, very hard to choose!

 

I LOVE:

 

Sleeping Beauty- favorite part is the fairies!(my username, duh) they're all so beautiful and magical and uh, i just love them!

 

Swan Lake- I LOVE the music and the story line and everything. Especially when i saw ABT do Swan Lake!!! I got chills like a thousand times! I always get chills at the end when all the swans are on stage and they do that flutter thing with their arms and it's all in sync!!(sp?)

 

Nutcracker- the story, the magic of Christmas and the beautiful music it's so beautiful! I always feel so happy around Nutcracker...it's Christmas time!

 

Romeo and Juliet- I haven't seen the whole thing but in the movie, Center Stage they show an excerpt of it. Julie Kent and Ethan Stiefel...it was so captivating and breath taking and...!!!!!!!!!hehe i don't know how else to describe it

 

*Fairy*

[ABT Wannabe]

My favorite ballets are La Bayadere and Sleeping Beauty.

[angel_lissa_91]

My favourite is the Nutcracker, because it is a classic. And you can never get sick of seeing it!

[Guest somedaySAB]

My all time favorite ballet is Markitenka. It's something I saw the Kirov ballet do on a video with Yelena Pankova and Sergei Vikharev (sp? ) It's only with six people and it's so musical and the choreography is beautiful. It's sort of a peasant theme. No one seems to have heard of it, but I love it!!!