A clip of Gelsey Kirkland in her most famous role, Giselle, appeared on youtube yesterday for the first time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Tgfx5jFkI

I'd rather hear what you all think about it than lay out my own views, though I must say, this clip stirs a lot of wonderful feelings in me. Check it out for yourselves. and let's see what people think.

OMG!!! Than you thank you thank you!!!...I'm TOTALLY INLOVE with Kirkland... One of the BEST S. solo I've EVER seen...even sans my favorite diagonal.

Oh, thank you, Paul!!!! Memory does NOT lie, after all. This is exactly as I remember her (except, of course, now she looks about 16 ) The clarity, the lightness, the musicality, the artistry. She was one of the finest Giselles I ever saw, and I still miss her.

and to Mark Goldweber, who secured permission from Kirkland and Chernov to post the film! Gladys Celeste is the pianist.

Gelsey at her best! Thank you for finding this wonderful memory.

What I especially love about Kirkland is how genuinely fragile she seems; in less than two minutes, she completely convinced me that she could die of a broken heart. Quite a contrast to some Giselles who bulldoze their way through Act I like a Teamster. Giselle has to be kind of a pre-Wili in the first act, or the second just won't work. And oh, what I wouldn't give to see that Act II...

Many thanks to all who made this (too brief) video possible (especially to Gelsey, who did the hard part ), and to Paul for the heads up.

Many thanks for this...

Thank you Paul. I waited in line for 7 hours here in San Francisco all those many years ago. As we can all see it was clearly worth the wait AND she danced that night with Mischa!

My sentiments exactly. With deepest gratitude for all concerned. And yes, I remember her Act2, and so far, have yet to see a better.

Truly profound. It is also reminiscent of Makarova's variation; a ballerina Kirkland admired. It doesn't show in Kirkland's performance but I can only imagine the rigors of her soul searching that went into her interpretation.

Every part of every movement has importance. I love the way she even floats DOWN into fondu arabesque.

For me, this counts as possibly the best filmed version of the variation to be seen. The unforced creaminess of the her first arabesque into a penchee is as gentle as a sigh and a wonder to behold. Steel underlying feminine softness.
Thanks to all concerned for making it possible.

I discovered this through a friend when it came out, and have been watching it over and over -- especially that gorgeous first arabesque into a penche. SIGH SIGH SIGH. I feel that another friend's comments are pertinent here -- he noted that it wasn't just beautiful dancing, but here is a peasant girl who was asked to dance and makes up this lovely little solo along the way -- her demeanour fits perfectly into the story.

This is absolutely lovely

The qualities of her dancing ably caught in words, above, gave me a lump in the throat. Thanks, Gelsey, and everyone. If only that needed ovation would come at the end! Almost unbelievable. Almost, because you can play the clip again, and there, it happens again! So you have to start to believe... What an experience. Thank you.

I love how she speeds up her pique turns gradually, until she's finally like a demented whirling dervish. This is a Giselle who you can believe will dance herself till death.

What I love most about this variation is how she slows down time.

The variety in moods and speed is tremendous. The penche and the rolling through the foot is wonderful to see. It points up to the different emphasis on steps there is through every era. Today, the emphasis in that particular moment is to have this big arabesque. But Kirkland moves the accent to the motion after the arabesque and then into the next step.

You seem to have read Karsavina's thoughts on the "Flow of Movement". I agree Dale with everthing else you say. I have watched the video four times today and am still enjoying it as bring back many memories of this extraordinary dancer on stage.

I admire the beautiful articulation of her feet and her calm upper body. Her hops on pointe have a floating unworldly quality. You feel as though you are really watching the true Giselle. Thanks to all for this beautiful record of Gelsey's artistry.

There's this little thing that I love of Kirkland's ending, and it is the way that she, after all those crazy pique turns,simply goes down on her mum's feet, in such a humility gesture, almost as if the previous craziness had been something that had happened beyond her own comprehension...I don't know...like if she wasn't even aware of that sudden display of energy...like if her mind was kind of "divided" in between two worlds, the real one and the one that she is just about to enter...that of madness. This is the first time I see this. All the ballerinas usually opt for the "Ta-daah!/look-at-how-great-did-I-just-danced!"
BRAVA GELSEY!!!

Is there any more recording of that Giselle?

One can only hope.

The one thing about this clip that doesn't gibe with my memory is the careful preparation she seems to take before the first attitude turn. I think of Gelsey at her best as dancing with all-but-invisible preparations. Actually, there are two things -- the other being her lightness. I remembered that she was light, of course, but not that light.

Christian, that is a glorious insight. Thank you.

I love her choices in this variation -- the things she does, and the things she does NOT do, are so consistent and so coherent/ Sje shows the impulses of a character of a rare girl, someone we have to love. All that technique and control is put to this service.

Let me reinforce the point you make about the piques, by pointing to the flurry of small steps she takes as she runs into position to launch the piques -- there is an incredible lightness and rapidity of those steps, and there are so MANY of them, all squeezed into a couple of counts of a throwaway preparatory move, and one where she runs to the left and then must reverse herself for the manege to the right....

i thought it looked like 2 performances edited together, and the library does have this, from which i suppose it comes:

http://catalog.nypl.org/search~S1?/Xgelsey...=D&2%2C2%2C

It's wonderful to see that our praise of this amazing dancer from the past is not overstated! Still, it evokes my usual rant about the lack of availability of ballet on video. This clip posting, in fact, comes on the heels of an Alex Ross article in the New Yorker I just read, about the nearly limitless choices that music listeners have on the Internet today. We're so thankful for this tiny clip, with added piano accompaniment (like a reconstructed bit of a silent movie!), while Mahler aficionados can hear Mengelberg's 1939 recording of Mahler's 4th as if it was recorded yesterday, in better-than-CD fidelity (only, of course, one out of hundreds of recordings of that symphonic work). Sigh!

agreed- there's kind fo a rough transition musically as the second camera-take enters, which makes your comment all the more likely...

thank you, thank you for tracking down the call number
Yet another reason to come to New York

Thank you so much for directing us to this film clip, it brings back such wonderful memories of Gelsey's Giselle. I've always thought her first act was an extraordinary combination of technique and total believability and what I remember best is this variation, especially those arabesques into penchee. I remember having the impression that she went into the penchee while still on point and only went down onto a flat foot once she was already in full penchee position (at which point she gazed adoringly over her shoulder at Loys/Baryshnikov). Since every other Giselle I've seen in the last 30 years comes down to a flat foot before starting the penchee I figured it must have been a trick of memory. This clip confirms that she did start the penchee on point, even if she rolled down through the foot before quite completeing it. Her dancing was sublime, the light, effortless movement, amazing musicality and phrasing. And total believability. I know it's said that Gelsey analyzed and rehearsed everything to death but to me her dancing/acting always looked completely spontaneous. I'm sure I will watch this clip over and over and may try to find time to get to the Lincoln Center library and try to see the whole thing.

Thanks to everyone involved in making the clip public, but especially to Gelsey.

Thank you. This was really wonderful to see.

Lovely clip, and Gladys was a treasure, bless her soul.

*sigh* How lovely Gelsey is in that clip! (If only there was more...)

I find it hard to believe that the very first time I ever attended a live ballet performance was at the Music Center in Los Angeles, and it was Giselle with Kirkland and Baryshnikov! How lucky I was. At that time, I did not know it, however. I was only thinking that I should be home studying for a math final. However, one detail I do remember from Act I, when Giselle is plucking the petals out of the flower for the "he loves me, he loves me not" scene, Gelsey hopped up and stood on the little bench outside the cottage, stage left. I've never seen another ballerina do that since.

Thanks go out to Mark and Gelsey Kirkland. Special thanks go to Gladys Celeste. I've sat at the NYPL and watched many of these silent films. As amazing as they are to see, having the piano accompaniment makes it especially pleasurable and watchable.

Exquisite!!!

Wow.

It's like a dream.