Two glimpses of wonderful performances. The first is a rehearsal with Margot Fonteyn. The second one is a fragment with Sibley, Penney, Jenner and Dowell. As Sibley once said about this work, "this is what heaven must be like".
Michael Somes has given the precise description of Fonteyn's genius-simplicity. Fining down the art to its simplest form, without losing any of the magic, intensity, or beauty.
My pleasure! Yes, it took me many attempts at the Royal Ballet to actually see a performance that somehow captured the essence of this work. I agree. Dancers nowadays seem unable to recreate these choreographic jewels and I don't think coaches are passing down the heritage as they used to do it.
A ps to the video. Thanks so much for taking the time to look for and post these scarce videos. For me, who saw Fonteyn in the late 60's in Pittsburgh, PA. it's really a joy to see her in her prime. Even if it is in a rehearsal! I hope there is more out there and you can find them. Thanks again!
@numberonefilmfan The commenters are Sibley and Michael Somes... this is form the documentary produced after Fonteyn's death. There are other clips around on youtube.
@ktharry3000 These are two documentaries. The first one was the documentary the BBC did after Fonteyn's death (1991) and the second one is also from the BBC and it was shown after Sir Frederick Ashton's death (1988).
Much thanks for this little glimpse into dance history. I love this piece of music so much but never really got to see Royal perform this nod to neo-classicism. I saw dancers from ABT do it but was left cold. I think it is very difficult to recreate this understated but commanding style. People just like to do a lot of circus tricks today, and the choreographers just love violent movement--even in pas de deux.
Thank you for these treasures….I loved Chris Gable when I was growing up and training at the Royal Ballet School….but I feel that the sweeping statement that he was the "best" is very misleading….We had Dowell please don't forget, who brought dimensions to English dance in terms of style and technique never seen before….two wonderful male dancers…so very different…...
@drrabner47 I agree, she was simply unique!! Sorry that when uploading the music for the first clip went slightly out of synch... the problem with transferring onto digital recordings!
hi carles03 i'm 'John Hall' who used to have a YT channel under the name 'Nick Wallace-Smith - and i've now a new one under the name 'John Hall' - we used to comment and reply to one another i'm commenting to let you know (though you may already know) that more than 15 minutes of 'Symphonic Variations' has recently been discovered it is uploaded to both the British Film Institute site and Huntley Archive hope you are well - cheers!
John Hall Hello! Yes, I've seen it, it's a jewel... I am subscribed to your channel, though I have become a little lazy when it comes to commenting... Sorry about that!! I'll comment more from now on... Best wishes!!
carles03 Hello! the footage is great isn't it. i wasn't sure whether you'd subscribed to my current channel (i'm just about to subscribe again to your channel - i had when i was Nick Wallace-Smith) - and i'm a fairly reluctant commenter on other people's channels too. and i must do a bit more - so we'll be in touch then! very best wishes from Sydney!!
I am afraid every time somebody has uploaded the Sibley/Dowell version, youtube has removed the film and account... it seems the BBC must have very strong copyright issues on this. Sorry!!!
Hi Nick, I posted on another clip but I'm not sure if it came through to you! Do you know of any further footage of early Symphonic Variations at all? I know you have a 19' section of the Dowell/Sibley et al but wonder if you know of any from the original cast? Many thanks xx
There was no one like Fonteyn. You can pick her out of the line immediately. Her body was meant for the ballet. Even though May and Shearer were both excellent dancers, neither looked as 'right' as Fonteyn. There was never another like her!
There is a little snippet of Ashton rehearsing ABT dancers in this masterpiece, and one could see that they showed very little interest in what he was saying to them--aside from the actual steps to perform. I found that incredibly ignorant and rude on their parts. What a privilege just to be in the same room with a choreographic legend!
