Ballet Evolved - Pierina Legnani 1863-1923 

I missed that the first time I watched it, so I turned up the volume and re-"watched". God, I've missed that sound! For the last 13 years, my pointe shoes sit on a shelf with a pair of porcelain ballerina dolls I got right around the time I started dancing en pointe. People now don't believe I was ever a dancer- I guess when they've only ever know me as someone who can't walk unaided anymore, that makes sense. (I can walk about 30 steps with no help, but I'm very unsure and prone to tripping. I use forearm crutches most days and a wheelchair on bad days.)

I honestly want an ASMR series on point shoes. 1. Point shoes being broken in. 2. landing small leaps (foot to foot, I don't know the formal term anymore) and 3. slow relever. One of my favorite things about dance class growing up was listening to the more advanced dancers leap around the studio en pointe. There's something so tactile about it and Idc, I love it.

Thank you for posting that quote Soter. I don't know where this "expert" got his info, but it is a very strange mistake to make.

No, fouette is a French word that means whipped. The act of acting like a whip which is produced by the turn itself. Fouette is not the turn of the century. You too bit ballerina should be ashamed of your limited understanding. Go take lessons. Immediately.

Paul Homsy Damn bro, you got the whole squad laughing 😐

@@paulhomsy2751 r/wooosh

You can find more info about Legnani and other ballerinas who danced for Petipa in the works of Roland Wiley. Ivor Guest in his biography of Virginia Zucchi also discusses these ballerinas and their technical advancements. Contrary to what is being said here she did perform the 32 fouettés on numerous occasions in such ballets as "Cinderella" and of course "Swan Lake", although in the very first performance of the former ballet she apparently didn't finish the whole series. She also performed them in the lost 1891 ballet "Aladdin" at the Alhambra Theatre in London, as she herself mentioned in an interview (check out the video "Rare interview with Pierina Legnani" by DarkDancer06). These fouettés were referred to as "Legnani's warhorse" by the press and were well publicized. Just because she had an off night doesn't mean she couldn't do them at all.

Thank You So Much For ghe Information!!♡

Except that as per her own writing she could barely execute 24. Great ballerina -who was smart enough not to believe the press.

Despite what’s said here, Legnani certainly did manage 32 fouettés, but while she was the first to do them on the Russian stage, she probably wasn’t the first to do the magic 32 number in general. She stated in a 1893 interview that she did the 32 number, but also indicated that other ballerinas could do them too. The entry written in her scrapbook mentioned here is much more likely referring to a particular performance rather than her abilities as a whole. There are far too many eyewitness accounts stating that she did 32, plus, if Petipa, Ivanov and Cecchetti ever thought she couldn’t do that many, I doubt they would’ve given her that many to do.

I have always believed that Maya Plisetskaya was the greatest ballerina to have ever lived. But in 2nd place comes Pierina Legnani, who I have no doubt was the greatest ballerina of the 19th century. Legnani should have her photo on the walls of the Vaganova School's classrooms, because she was far more influential than people even know. She was the axis 'rouind which the art of the ballerina evolved.

@@mrlopez-pz7pu That Italian beauty Pierina Legnani proved that talent and good technique are more important than leannes for conquering the art of ballet.

Felix de Villiers where did u read this? I don't believe a word of it.

Felix de Villiers Are you sure you don't mean Maya Plisetskaya?

Sheri Lai It’s the coda of the Black swan pas de deux from act 2 of Swan Lake