9 replies to this topic

[rg]

this is a citation for a thorough article on LA SONNAMBULA:

Shaw, Alan J.
Balanchine's angelic messenger.
Ballet review. New York. v. 17, no. 4, Winter 1990, p. 56-61. ill.
Notes:Discussion of George Balanchine's La sonnambula.
:Includes bibliographical references.

here will be posted some historic photos, alas none are dated precisely but evidently date from the early period:
DANILOVA & FRANKLIN AS SLEEPWALKER AND POET - presumably in the original designs

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[rg]

NIGHT SHADOW
N. KRASSOVSKA & F. FRANKLIN - SLEEPWALKER AND POET

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•  NShdw2.jpg   23.05K   0 downloads

[rg]

NIGHT SHADOW
BLACKAMOORS' DANCE
FRANK HOBI & RUTHANNA BORIS (she originated the part opposite Leon Danileon)

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[Alexandra]

Thank you for those, RG!  I especially like the top photo -- I think it's the most elegant picture of Franklin I've ever seen.  And Danilova isn't a wan little ghost girl (and more interesting for that, I think).

And in the second photo, look at the wonder in Franklin's face!  Krassovska, too, isn't a cipher; there's a real person there.

While I understand that the current cultural climate in America makes it difficult, if not impossible, to do the Blackamoor's dance as it was written (it disappeared midrun in Washington, after a scolding review in the Post, during Balanchine's lifetime).  It wasn't intended as a racial slur, and the cruelty in the dance, combined with its daintiness, doesn't have the same resonance when performed out of make up.

[Alexandra]

I couldn't resist   I happened to have a few from the Royal Danish Ballet's production, with three different Sleepwalkers, over a 20-year period.

The first is of Kronstam with Margrethe Schanne in 1956.

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[Alexandra]

The second, Kronstam with Anna Laerkesen, probably in the mid-1960s, performance shot.  She looks as though she's floating in this photo.

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[Alexandra]

The last, Kronstam with Kirsten Simone, 1976, performance shot.  (This was what he considered his final performance as a classical dancer; it was his 25th anniversary performance.)

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[carbro]

Alexandra, on May 25 2004, 02:39 PM, said:

The second, Kronstam with Anna Laerkesen, probably in the mid-1960s, performance shot.  She looks as though she's floating in this photo.

And he looks as though he is approaching the brink of madness.  What a shot!

[rg]

no need to spell out how you couldn't 'resist' posting the kronstam et alia 'night shadow's; they are, well, irresistable images.
great ballets tend to lead to such pictures, when all is right with the camera and the cast, that is...

[Alexandra]

I think the first two shots, especially, show the difference between Kronstam's Poet at 20 and Poet at 40.  The younger one is all wonder -- "Who is this creature?  I've never seen anyone like her."  The older one is desperate.  He may not have seen her, but he's been waiting for her all his life and she will not pay attention to him.

I wish I could have seen Laerkesen's Sleepwalker.

If you find any more, rg, don't be shy.....  it's a good example, I think, of how there can be many different, equally beautiful, deep and meaningful, interpretations of the same ballet.