Who are your favorites?

When I was a little girl, the first live SB performance I saw was the de Valois 1977 Royal Ballet production. Park & Wall were Aurora and Florimund. The Bluebirds were Alfreda Thorogood and Michael Coleman. They left a lasting impression on me. They were great! My other all time favorite Bluebirds are A. McKerrow & J. Renval, L. Semenyaka & Y. Vetrov, and Jennifer Penney & Wayne Eagling. In addition to the Florines already mentioned, my other favorites are Pavlenko, Yevteyeva, Lezhnina, F. Chadwick, Makarova (Sizova/Soloviev film of SB), and M. Bilova. I wish I could have seen Maximova & Vasiliev but they danced this ppd before I was even thought of .

Florine's are Elizabeth Loscavio and Joanna Berman (SFB)

Still thinking about my fave Bluebirds.

B

Carrie Lee Riggins & Adam Hendrickson of NYCB.

I saw the very youthful Ethan Steifel & Yvonne Borree when NYCB's production was new, and before that at ABT I saw Karena Brock & Ted Kivitt, who were superb.

Two of my fave bluebirds are Johan Renvall and Herman Cornejo. No Florine springs immediately to mind as quite so outstanding, but I've enjoyed Ashley Tuttle, Cheryl Yeager and Deirdre Carberry.

(Whatever became of Deirdre, btw? Anyone?)

I have bought a few ballet books from Deirdre Carberry's mother, who is an ebay seller. She told me Deirdre has been living in England for a few years and is not dancing at the present time.

My vote for Bluebird is Kevin Pugh and for Florine, Natasha Makarova.

My favorite Bluebirds were Rudolf Nureyev and Graham Usher

Favorite Florines were Georgina Parkinson, but not while dancing with Nureyev, and Makarova, also not dancing with Nureyev.

A bluebird to remember (and hopefully to see again sometime soon!) is Olivia Goodrich/Lavery (not sure which she is going by. She performed this role at the SAB workshop a few years back and was spectacular.

Ilya Kozadeyev and Leticia Oliveira.

The last time ABT did Sleeping Beauty, Ethan Stiefel did Bluebird, and he was just wonderful. Inhuman and very magical, with wonderful sit-in-the-air cabrioles. It was one of the greatest things I have ever seen.

Favorite Princess Florine- Antoinette Sibley on the RB video WOW! Also Deidre Chapman
Favorite Bluebirds- Errol Pickford

Tatiana Terekhova, Elena Pankova, Elena Evteeva

Can you tell me what ever happened to Graham Usher? I met him when I was a kid in the 1960's and just loved him.

Unfortunately, Graham Usher died in 1975.

Sibley, sibley Sibley

Lovebird you are so right....--she shimmers, her whole upper body is winged.

That video is mostly kinda awful, except for Sibley -- Fonteyn is uncharacteristically awkward as Aurora; the best things on it are Gerd Larson as he queen (she is fantastic), Park as one of hte precious-metal fairies, and this absolutely transcendant performance by Antoinette Sibley as Princess Florine. It's not just technique, of which she has plenty -- it's the beauty of her line, the softness of her breathing, the delicacy of her head positions, the remarkable flexibility of her torso -- she's rarely straight up and down -- though her legs are very true and her aplomb is fantastic, she does her double ronde de jambes in the coda with her torso at quite a tilt -- beautifully lifted out of the hips, but the tilt is almost Cunninghamesque -- very classical, truly beautiful, and at high speed. Her lines are unbelievable. And all of it is so dancey, musical in the extreme.

Jean Babilee is my favorite Bluebird---he literally flew in those brise voles. I loved Alonso's "Florine", she was like no other I ever saw dance the role--she was every inch the Classical ballerina, with no signs of the cutsiness that most dancers infuse the role.

I'm sorry to hear that. He was so kind to a little kid. Not to mention a wonderful bluebird.

I loved Larissa Lezhina - I saw her dancing Florine in Uruguay, maybe 10 years ago or more - truly delicate, and could not believe she was in right in front of my eyes in country, as she was one of my "video" idols.

I do not remember the name of the Blue Bird,though.

I also like Pankova, Terekhova and Semenyaka. For Blue Birds I would go for Yury Vetrov and Melnikov (sp?)

Silvy, you saw Lezhnina live?! I am SOOOO jealous!!!

Silvy, I very much doubt that Yuri Vetrov ever danced Bluebird, did you mean Alexander Vetrov who I believe is his younger cousin?

Yes, Hans I saw Lezhina live - she did not dance much, though. I remember she did not dance the variation, only the pas de deux (I do not remember if they danced the coda). That was before our Solis Theater was refurbished, and I guess it was because the floor was not in the best conditions (there was a huge rake on the stage, which is now gone). This was part of a gala program, where Gedeminas Taranda also danced (he danced a tango with a ballerina named Pavlova - of course, a young Pavlova!!!!!!).

The Vetrov I mention is the one who dances opposite Bylova in the Bolshoi video (if I am not confusing names - this Bluebird has a very large travelling assemble, and very large travelling sisonnes, which are impressive).

Now it's my turn to be green with envy

Yes, and I saw Taranda twice in my country. The first time he came with a group, where Nadezhda Pavlova herself danced 2nd act Giselle, and Maya Plitseskaya herself danced Dying Swan in her sixties. Then Taranda danced this tango with this other Pavlova (a young dancer). I also remember a "Carmen" by Alberto Alonso, where a whole group of female dancers in unison danced the solo variation. I could not believe I was seeing all these great artists live. I think the group was called "the Russian Imperial Ballet", or something of the like.

The second time (when I saw Lezhnina), I remember seeing the Pugni pas de quatre. Among the dancers was the one who dances the first soloist in Raymonda in Bolshoi video (dream sequence - I do not remember her name). I liked her very, very much.

Almost certainly that would have been Olga Pavlova.

Yes!! It was Olga Pavlova - very impressive tango indeed

I saw Lezhnina live too. Her Florine and Aurora were classically pure.
When the Maryinsky came to L.A. in December 1992, they were celebrating
the 100th anniversary of 'Nutcracker.' She danced the most perfect
Masha (second only to Maximova's), that I ever saw.
The audience rose to it's feet. . . Unforgettable.

Bluebirds: Cornejo and Bujones

Cygnet, I'm so envious I think my skin has actually turned green! Thank you for that description; what I would not give to see Lezhnina dance live.

Regarding Lezhnina as Florine, I remember that people around me at the theater were not that impressed. As she danced only the adagio, all you could admire was that pristine classical purity. And there and then I realized that too many people go to ballet driven to see pyrotechnics, and not true art. Hers was ART above all

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