Home » Suzanne Farrell: the “Concerto Barocco” spiral

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Suzanne Farrell: the “Concerto Barocco” spiral — 12 Comments

  1. While dancing the same passage, I can see that Suzanne Farrell seemingly without effort achieves a lightness of being and fluidity of movement that the Russian dancer lacks. It’s interesting how the same choreography can come alive when danced by one dancer and seem relatively uninteresting when danced by another. Farrell’s performances were hard to match when she was dancing, and now in retirement, thanks to videotape, they still hold up extremely well, especially when compared to today’s newer crop of dancers who frequently appear more obviously athletic and much less ethereal.

  2. Neo, you have a sublime and precious talent that I unfortunately do not have the words to describe. The same thoughtful, informed and keen analytical mind that you bring to things political/social begins to glow and expand in an amazing way when it is put into the service of your love and understanding of ballet. Suzanne Farrell was only a name to me until I read these insights into her character and her dancing. Only someone who has danced herself could be so subtle, so sharp, so… sure-footed in a verbal description of things so physical, so real, and yet ineffable. Thank you for this!

  3. Ralph said it much better than I could, but I can second it!

    I seldom will comment on your fine dance notes, and don’t watch the long sections of video, but do like the short ones.

    I love dancing more than watching dance. I’m far more enthusiastic about ball room dancing and, especially, wild rock dancing. Where I strive: “to become the music.” Not so much as the only steps for that music, but rather, my steps to that music, as I feel, at that moment. Because I don’t really practice nor choreograph, I’m sure it’s not so great — but I do have the unsophisticated enthusiasm that some break dancers have.

    Please keep writing well about the things that interest you.

    Maybe school choice? And Trump’s pick for Sec of Edu?

  4. thanks for another great post. Farrell most definitely slows down time.
    How does the partnering influence the sense of a force pulling/propelling the ballerina? there’s an obvious leading motion by the male dancer…

  5. Ben David raises a fascinating question, and we’d love to read your thoughts on it. How do partners affect certain famous dancers’ performances (and, to be fair, any dancer’s performance)? I would guess, Neo, you will have to “go to the tapes” for a while, but I know that Ben and I (for two) will anxiously await your answer.

  6. What a lovely piece on Suzanne Farrell, Neo! (Not to mention a wonderful break from politics….) She was truly a great, great American dancer. Non pareille.

    I never forgave Peter Martins for the manner in which he kicked Farrell out of the NYCB. I went back to the NYT to see if it was as bad as I remembered, and it was:

    http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/04/arts/city-ballet-breaks-off-its-long-relationship-with-suzanne-farrell.html

    “[Farrell] was told of her dismissal in a telephone call from Patricia Turk, the company’s manager. Mr. Martins declined to comment on the action, which was reported yesterday in Newsday and The Daily News. ‘Deeply Hurt’

    Miss Farrell said yesterday: “I was surprised and deeply hurt to receive a telephone call from the company manager informing me that I had been fired from New York City Ballet, although she didn’t use the word ‘fired.’ She said it was because the company was currently operating with a deficit and I was doing little or no work for them. This is true, and it has been a source of unspeakable grief to me for the past three years that I have not been allowed to serve ballet, which is my love, in the company that has been my home for nearly 25 years. I never dreamed I would live to see the day when I didn’t work for New York City Ballet.”

    “Many people have yet to accept that Balanchine is gone,” Mr. Martins said in an interview in 1988. “I think it’s extremely narrow-minded to constantly refer to the past. And to those people who say, ‘Oh, it wasn’t like this then,’ my response is: ‘Lay off, stay out of our hair. We’re here, we’re surviving, we’re doing fine.’ “

  7. Ben David; Ralph Kinney Bennet:

    Partnering affects everything a dancer does while being partnered, and can even affect the mood of the whole performance. Some partnerships are renowned and legendary and the chemistry is great; some don’t work well at all. And then there’s everything in-between.

    Almost ten years ago I wrote this post about partnering in ballet. I may write another sometime.

    Certain dancers who are not household words (for example, Ivan Nagy of American Ballet Theater; watch the last two videos in this post) were renowned for their partnering abilities. Anthony Dowell of the Royal Ballet was another.

  8. I got to see Ms. Farrell teach a 2-hour master class to teens and tweens last year. The students were not first rate, not by any stretch, but Suzanne was patient, polite and and very good at instilling a few basic thoughts into how the students should approach certain moves. She did not perform any moves but she looked like a prima.

    As much as I love ballet, I had little idea who she was. When I tell other ballet fans I saw this class, they light up and tell me how lucky I am.

  9. Of course, Neo, you were already “there.” I just read your 2007 post re partnering in ballet. Fascinating and illuminating. Thank You. After reading it I reread the Farrell post and your observations re “athleticism” reminded me of what made the superb Sonja Henie so great as a skater. She was a three time Olympic gold medal winner, and yet, in her Hollywood films she never looked “athletic,” but rather, vivacious and beautiful. I don’t think any female skater since, and there have been some great ones, has ever matched that combination of sheer physical prowess with an effortless air and a soft and flowing beauty. And her male partners certainly showed those qualities of subtle strength so important in ballet.

  10. Ralph Kinney Bennett:

    Well, there was Peggy Fleming. Of course, that was quite some time ago, too. The jumps she does here don’t have the difficulty of today’s jumps, but apparently the skates were different. Everything she does looks effortless. And check out the spin at the end (she starts it very slow and then builds momentum to an extraordinary degree):

  11. Ah, Peggy Fleming! Thanks, Neo. That final spin is amazing; almost unbelievable. But take a look at some of the Henie vids. There’s one on YouTube titled “Absolute Best,” and see spin after spin, done, when she was along in years, I might add. You are the better judge, I’m sure, and maybe it’s just because I’m an old timer, but I believe Sonja was truly in a class of her own when it came to effortless beauty.

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