I can't thank you enough for showing my late, great father, David Blair dance so beautifully with Nadia, it was an extraordinary time, and ballet dancers that made this so magical. x
And I can't tell you how touched I am that this video reached you!! It was an extraordinary time and truly magical and artists like Blair and Nerina made it possible!! Thank you so much for your beautiful comment!! xxx
they were a perfect match. 2 of the most at ease natural performers ever to grace the stage, ultimate in grace . we miss dancers like that now, over the top movments with no personality just seeing who can lift thier legs the highest. osipova could never fill nadia shoes.
@@carles03 and catherine blair - this exchange made my day. I so hope to see the full original ballet one day. My favorite growing up as a child. Leslie Collier is the one I got to know and love but I have so wanted to see the original. Thank you Carlos for finding this and sharing. Amazing to see this dialogue.
Wow! What a treat. Thanks Carles03. The rest of the performance is stored away somewhere. Perhaps we'll see it published before too long. Nerina and Blair dance certain sections quite differently from what we see today. In particular the sequence at 2.06 - which is done in a beautifully flowing way. I'll come back to study this often.
I saw this ballet in early 1960 live - one of the first performances of it and I loved Nerina's grace and her attitude in the picnic scene maypole dance- so beautiful, I think the whole house were in tears for the wedding pas de deux. Blair was just so relaxed, at ease and fun to watch- what a wonderful ballet, and I wish it was released here in England. I know it was shown on BBC TV many many years ago would love to see it again.
@caspa1951 You are very welcome. I was lucky to see this film at the National Film Festival around 1990. You are absolutely right, one of the things that struck me at the time was Nerina's fluid movement, not so crispy and sharp as interpretations seemed to become later on. It was a wonderful performance. Her variation in the Fanny Elssler pas de deux was outstanding. What a jump!! Phenomenal!!
I think some of this film will be released commercially on ICA Classics in Nov. in the U. S. A. Holden is incomparable as Widow Simone. I was rather disappointed with Philip Mosley recently--way too masculine. Ashton's choreography is so exquisite. It would be hard not to succeed in any of the roles.
