I was wondering whatever happened to a lot of promising dancers in the 80's- people like Dierdre Carberry, Trinidad Sevillano, Cheryl Yeager, Cynthia Harvey, and others with ABT and Royal Ballet, ect. Are any still dancing?

Cheryl Yeager and Cynthia Harvey became principal dancers at ABT and have since retired. (IMO, Yeager was more interesting in her promising stage than as a principal. I liked her Amor in Don Q and Throw Up Girl (in Rodeo) more than anything I saw of her later on.) The last I heard about Deirdre Carberry was that she was in Miami, but I don't know if she's still there (I liked her very much, too. She and Nancy Raffa were my favorite "baby ballerinas" in the early 1980s.) We had some news of Sevillano on this board a few weeks ago, but I forget the specifics -- sorry [img]http://www.balletalert.com/ubb/frown.gif[/img] She had disappeared for a few years -- disappeared from English or American ballet, that is; she'd gone from English National to Boston to a few performances with the Royal -- but I think she's starting to come back.

Anyone else with better info [img]http://www.balletalert.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] ?

OK, what did ever happen to Nancy Raffa?

Cynthia Harvey also danced as a principal with the Royal Ballet for a time. When Anthony Dowell danced w. ABT he partnered her occasionally, and after he took over as director of the Royal he invited her to appear with them. I'm pretty sure she danced in a revival of Ashton's Ondine. Yeager never became a truly distinguished principal -- just an opinion of course -- but the last time I saw her, which was also one of her last performances with ABT, she gave a very well-prepared and, I thought, very nice performance in La Sylphide. (Baryshnikov danced James.) Since I had never particularly admired her, I was quite pleased and am happy to have this as my final memory of her dancing.



[This message has been edited by Drew (edited August 30, 2000).]

Cynthia Harvey was teaching in New York quite recently and I believe also recently had a child.

After leaving ABT Nancy Raffa went to Ballet de Nancy and from there to Miami City Ballet. I'm not sure what happened after that. I studied with her at the Darvash studio way back when. She had the most beautiful back (and a voice like a truckdriver!)

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Leigh Witchel - dae@panix.com
Personal Page and Dance Writing
Dance as Ever

Nancy Raffa danced with the Ballet de Santiago (Chile) for a long time following her ABT stint. Ivan Nagy was director of the Chilean ballet at the time. Lost track of Raffa after Chile.

Nancy Raffa is currently a teacher at the Miami City Ballet School. She lives in Miami with her husband, speaks spanish now, and sets Balanchine pieces for the school workshops. She is a wonderful teacher, so inspirational. She went through a lot of personal issues due to her young age when joining ABT. She has much valuable advice for her students.

I remember Nancy Raffa's voice, and that's exactly how I used to describe it, Leigh. Great minds think alike, and all that....

Thank you so much for your replies- keep them coming (any dancers from the eighties that disappeared)!

[This message has been edited by Nikiya (edited August 30, 2000).]

I have taken class with Nancy Raffa and have found her to be one of the most educated and helpful teachers that I have ever had and I have trained at School of American Ballet, San Francicso Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Houston Ballet. She truly devotes her time to making her students wonderful in every way. She has a love for everyone one of them and she truly loves what she is doing! She is an inspiration to me and to all of her students. What great stories she has to tell. I am always telling her that she should write a book because it would be amazing literature for all people to read. In addition to her teaching at Miami City Ballet she is also getting a degree in psychology. She is a role model for all and I believe one of the best teachers today with such little recognition.

I have never heard of Nancy Raffa; when did she join ABT and how old was she?

Nancy won the Prix de Laussanne sometime in the early 80's and was taken into ABT by Baryshnikov shortly thereafter. Her career stagnated compared to other dancers there like Alessandra Ferri, who I *think* competed the same year, (do you know the correct information, Jeannie?)

Here's where I get controversial. Nancy was a beautiful dancer with a beautiful back as I said before, but I think her association with her teacher (Gabriella Darvash, with whom I also studied) was both a blessing and a curse to her. Nancy would never have gone as far as she did, nor won Laussanne without Darvash. She was strong and could do double saut de basques with the guys, but her dance style wasn't as feminine, her body wasn't as delicate, and her footwork was not as brilliant as the women who were being pushed ahead of her. She excelled at the wrong things for the time. And Darvash was always telling her she deserved better, which she did, but giving a dancer a resentful attitude is no way to endear them to management.

Also, her win at Laussanne was (I *think*) considered controversial, and though Darvash placed many dancers into ABT in the early 80s, there was a backlash against her pretty shortly thereafter. I think Nancy was also caught in that crossfire.

This story is close to 20 years old and is just what my point of view was at the time. If anyone saw it differently or can correct my facts, I welcome it! I'd rather not be accused of character assasination of a dancer I liked!

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Leigh Witchel - dae@panix.com
Personal Page and Dance Writing
Dance as Ever

I don't think either Raffa or Carberry got the guidance at ABT that they needed. They were both a bit unusual -- the bodies didn't quite fit the mold. Raffa was an old-fashioned dancer, even when very young. I remember the first time I saw her, in the corps of Bayadere, and she was the only girl on the stage with a working upper body. Two older friends were ecstatic -- "She's a baby Danilova!!!!" "She must do Raymonda!!!" No chance. She was too short, too fat, too...interesting. She danced with Makarova's short-lived company. Makarova knew how to use her and how to coach, and there were quite a few people who thought she'd become a great ballerina.

This goes to several of our "care and feeding of dancers" topics. It's not just talent. It's being at the right place, and the right company, and catching the eye of the right people. She wasn't tall and lean and long.

When you say "too short and too fat" exactly how short and fat were they? What was the highest rank that Carberry and Raffa every reached?

Just a note about Mrs Raffa. She won the Prix de Lausanne and beat Alexandra Ferri all at the age of 15. Still 15, Baryshinkov called her and asked her to join the company. How excited! But, joining the company at such a young age did have its very negative parts.

Nikiya, I don't think they were either too short or too fat, but the other young women who were pushed were taller and thinner. I don't know their heights and weights. They did not have the body line then in vogue (Susan Jaffe, Amanda McKerrow, etc.)

As I recall, Carberry (also taken into ABT very young, I think at 14) was small and curvy. I don't recall Nancy being short, and she didn't have a weight problem, but she wasn't small-boned. Alexandra is right however in saying that neither of them had the stereotypical body being looked for at that time.

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Leigh Witchel - dae@panix.com
Personal Page and Dance Writing
Dance as Ever

just for perspective, also, deirdre carberry won a medal at the very first jackson competition in 1979. but as she was only 13 at the time, she is now barely 34! and her dancing was wonderful. we didn't get to see her enough in nyc.

Yep, Pfmeja - Carberry won the silver medal, junior division, at the 1979 Jackson IBC.

Alessandra Ferri, in fact, won the Gold Medal at the 1980 Prix de Lausanne at the age of 17. She was already a two-year 'veteran' of the Royal Ballet School when she competed. Ferri did not lose to Raffa...they competed in different years. Raffa won gold in Lausanne in 1981, at age 15. [That's the year when Washington Ballet's Amanda McKerrow won Gold at the Moscow IBC. [img]http://www.balletalert.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]]

If you can get your hands on a video copy of Twyla Tharp's "The Little Ballet" (broadcast on PBS in the 80's) you'll see what beautiful dancers they were (along with Elaine Kudo-who's just plain beautiful!!)

Fig

What happened to Elaine Kudo???

Weren't Elaine Kudo and Cheryl Yeager featured in Dance Magazine article a long while back about dancers who've had babies??

Jeannie:
I do not believe you have the facts right on the Prix de Lausanne competition. A documentary was made on the 1980 competition that Mrs Raffa and Mrs Ferri competeted in and Mrs Raffa was the winner of the overall competition while Mrs Ferri took the gold. It is quite an exciting documentary! This is also stated on the Prix de Lausanne website.

Thanks, T. I appreciate your pointing this out. I stand corrected! [img]http://www.balletalert.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

Thanks so much everybody for filling me in on those lost dancers! :-)

What ever happened to Starr Danias??

"The Little Ballet" (as mentioned above), is included on the Kulture video "Baryshnikov Dances Sinatra and more..." It's still around and not hard to find. You also get to see Elaine Kudo in "Sinatra Suite" and "Push Comes to Shove"!

I remember Starr from the Turning Point but was she in a company? She isn't shown dancing in that movie.

Danias was a member of the Joffrey Ballet either at the time of Turning Point or shortly before it was made. I remember her performances with great pleasure, she was one of the more classical dancers in the company. She was also a very lovely looking woman.

Speaking of the Joffrey (and ABT), what about Rebecca Wright? I remember her fondly, and wonder what she's up to these days.

She is teaching, and runs ABT's Summer Intensive program.

My friend and colleague Robert Greskovic read this thread and kindly emailed me with some information about Elaine Kudo and Rebecca Wright:

Elaine kudo is still in princeton, she stayed after Septime Webre left and is now
working w/ Graham Lustig. She too worked w/ the abt summer prog. in nyc, and staged the mov. of 'push' the students put on, w/ tharp's blessing (it was the 2nd mov. [of the haydn] the section for 2 sets of corps women, i.e. the blues and the golds.

Rebecca Wright, who did indeed run the abt sum. prog. in nyc 2/3 yrs running. She now, has just be appointed to replace Kathryn Posin as administrative head of the joffrey-ballet-school/new school academic/degree program nyc's new school for social research in greenwich village.

Thanks, Robert.

Rebecca Wright was ending her dance career at Joffrey just as I became a member of Joffrey II. In her last season with the company she only danced DEUCE COUPE II and JEUX DE CARTES. She also performed CINDERELLA PAS DE DEUX at The Delecourt Theatre with Kevin McKenzie. She next joined ABT where some people liked her portrayal Clara even better then Gelsey's.

Starr Danias had the look of the perfect ballerina. Many roles were created for her in Arpino ballets. Her technique was quite strong despite her frail looking body. However, she never danced Titania in THE DREAM, nor any of the ballerina roles in Mr. Joffrey's PAS DES DEESSES, which makes me think she was not one of the more classical dancers in the company.


Starr did dance LE SPECTRE DE LA ROSE with Nureyev. Later, on tour, I got to dance SPECTRE with her. She was a wonderful partner and a person I will always thank for the wise advice she had to give in dance and life.


Starr acted and danced on THE LOVE BOAT and in THE TURNING POINT. I heard that her TURNING POINT role had been written with Cynthia Gregory in mind. Starr was ABT by the time she filmed THE TURNING POINT and had danced Blue Bird Pas in SLEEPING BEAUTY.

Starr returned to Joffrey and then left again to pursue an acting career on broadway, going into Makarova's role in certain performances of ON YOUR TOES.

As far as I know, Starr is married, lives in Santa Monica and teaches ballet.


[This message has been edited by glebb (edited September 07, 2000).]

Thanks glebb, for the very interesting info about Starr (now the next time I watch "The Turning Point", I won't have to wonder what ever happened to her)!! [img]http://www.balletalert.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

To Nikiya

Why were you wondering about what happened to Elaine Kudo?

sorry i accidentally posted that 2 times and sorry i was a little late asking the question but i didnt see that there were 2 pages

Because I saw her on the video cover of "Baryshnikov Dances Sinatra and More" and I have never seen or heard of her anywhere else and she dances in almost all of the ballets on that video.

oh ok, i understand. i have heard that she is a wonderful dancer. so are you a big fan of baryshnikov?

Sorry to interrupt, Dancer 26, but we try to keep this a discussion board and not a chat room. (Nothing wrong with chat--conversations between two people about their backgrounds, or what they like, etc.--but a bit confusing when there are as many people on a board as there are here.)

This thread has gotten a bit long and meandering. I'm going to close it. Any more questions or answers about Dancers in the Eighties, please start a new thread.

Thanks!

Alexandra

I just got the Baryshnikov by Tharp video from NYPL and it features many of the dancers we have been discussing here such as Carberry, Kudo and Raffa. I'll report back after I've watched it.