Dansomanie Index du Forum
Connexion S'enregistrer FAQ Liste des Membres Rechercher Dansomanie Index du Forum

Tatiana Legat and Sarah Lamb at Covent Garden
Aller à la page 1, 2  Suivante
 
Poster un nouveau sujet   Répondre au sujet    Dansomanie Index du Forum -> Interviews et reportages : Archives
Voir le sujet précédent :: Voir le sujet suivant  
Auteur Message
Katharine Kanter



Inscrit le: 19 Jan 2004
Messages: 1412
Localisation: Paris

MessagePosté le: Mer Mai 11, 2005 10:28 pm    Sujet du message: Tatiana Legat and Sarah Lamb at Covent Garden Répondre en citant

Chers collègues

Dans les prochains jours, le 21 mai je crois, un disciple de Mlle. Tatiana Legat fera son début à Covent Garden dans le rôle d'Odette/Odile.

Il s'agit de Mlle. Sarah LAMB, à laquelle un article est consacré dans le dernier Dancing Times. La jeune dame, actuellement âgée de 23 ans, est d'origine anglaise mais de nationalité américaine, et vient d'une famille de musiciens. C'est une très forte tête.

(Voir aussi http://www.artseditor.com/html/august02/aug02_ballet.shtml pour des remarques fort intéressantes de Mlle. Lamb au sujet de Legat, et de la notion de plastique).

Je viens de réaliser que le grand-père de Tatiana Legat était Nikolai LEGAT, et que son mari était feu Yuri SOLOVIEV.

Aurons nous la chance de voir ici les réactions de ceux qui auront l'heur d'être à Londres pour un début qui promet d'être, pour dire le moins, OF MOST UNUSUAL INTEREST ?

We await reports on tenterhooks.


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé Visiter le site web du posteur
sophia



Inscrit le: 03 Jan 2004
Messages: 22085

MessagePosté le: Jeu Mai 12, 2005 10:00 am    Sujet du message: Répondre en citant

J'avais déjà lu l'article dans "Dancing Times" et avais effectivement trouvé cette danseuse très intéressante. Elle a étudié à Boston avec Tatiana Legat.


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé
Katharine Kanter



Inscrit le: 19 Jan 2004
Messages: 1412
Localisation: Paris

MessagePosté le: Jeu Mai 12, 2005 2:30 pm    Sujet du message: Répondre en citant

En raison de la longueur de l'article ci-dessus, et du fait que c'est en anglais, j'ai sorti les passages les plus intéressants, notamment ce que dit Mlle. Lamb sur le Plastique, qu'elle exprime drôlement à l'américaine ("hitting the exact positions" !). Les balanchiniens n'ont qu'à bien se tenir, n'est ce pas ?

Notez l'emphase qu'elle met sur la MAIN, un aspect important et aujourd'hui oublié, que notre nouveau premier danseur à Paris est dans ce théâtre, presque seul à encore pratiquer.



'Sarah Lamb is thankful for her mentor, Tatiana Legat, who has coached her since the age of 13. "She is a phenomenal coach and almost a second mother to me," Lamb explains. "Tatiana is one of the reasons I really want to stay in Boston," she elaborates, "because she teaches in the School here and I take classes from her and get coaching."

Legat has coached Lamb for every competition she has been to, including this year's USA International Ballet Competition (IBC) in Jackson, Mississippi, where Lamb took home the silver medal. "A lot of why I do competitions is to be able to work with her," says Lamb, referring to Legat as "my mentor-idol in the ballet world."

Sarah Lamb recognizes herself as the recipient of the great legacy of Russian ballet. Tatiana Legat coached Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova, and is the descendent of one of the founding members of the Vaganova method. Also known as the Russian syllabus, "It's a world-famous teaching method," Lamb says. "They created the Kirov and the Moscow [Bolshoi] Ballet Companies."

"Ballet is not just legs and feet, which most people don't have anyway. But it's the smaller things, like the port-de-bras and the arms and the hands (....) And even if you weren't born with a genetically perfect body, you can take something like a hand, where everyone has the same capabilities, and you can make it speak. You can make it speak in many different ways," she says.

Making the body speak is the whole idea behind dance, and Lamb recognizes the importance of the individual performer's interpretation of the movement, a single voice in an elaborate conversation. "It's a wonderful thing to be able to express yourself and really make yourself a part of an art form."

Lamb learned the importance of acting in ballet from former Kirov dancer and Boston Ballet mistress Tatiana Terekhova, who coached her in a number of roles, including Gamzatti in La Bayadère and Myrtha in Giselle.

"Those roles she was famous for, and brought them to another cruel level," Lamb says, explaining that Gamzatti and Myrtha are the evil women in both ballets. "It was amazing to watch her, her acting and her eyes," Lamb recalls, adding that the Russians value the tradition of passing on roles to younger dancers with delicacy and respect.

"The Russians are incredibly explicit, incredibly detailed. To them it's like passing on a diamond ring. It's a very big deal."

Myrtha is, in fact, one of Lamb's favorite roles that she has performed. She laughs, "I look like I'd be the skipping-through-the-fields kind of girl, but I love totally altering my character and assuming a new personality." Although it is a physically exhausting role with lots of jumping—"almost like a man's variation, so much jumping"—the real challenge behind Myrtha has nothing to do with the steps.

"She is so mysterious and so relentless," Lamb says of Myrtha, the leader of the wilis, Bachantae-like women who seize Giselle and kill her lover in one of the most popular romantic ballets. "How much can you get into her brain?" Lamb asks rhetorically, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "What was her story? Why did she get all those wilis together? Why did she become so cruel?"

"It is all about perfection, hitting those exact positions. It makes it more desirable to watch," she expresses with the opinion that too many American schools "focus on speed and not enough on technique."

"My belief is that if you train in a Russian class, you'll learn to hit your positions. Anyone can learn to move faster," but accuracy is perhaps more important than speed.




En passant, il n'est pas inutile de mentionner que M. Mikko Nissinen, nouveau directeur artistique à Boston, a congédié, si j'ai bien compris les faits, non seulement M. Serguei Berezhnoi, mais aussi Mlles. Tatiana Terekhova et Tatiana Legat, qui enseignaient au théâtre de Boston. Il semblerait que ce soit le départ de Mlle. Legat qui ait précipité la décision de sa disciple de retourner en Angleterre.


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé Visiter le site web du posteur
Katharine Kanter



Inscrit le: 19 Jan 2004
Messages: 1412
Localisation: Paris

MessagePosté le: Lun Mai 16, 2005 12:00 pm    Sujet du message: Eurostar le 30 mai Répondre en citant

La date du début de Mlle. Lamb est maintenant connue

c'est le 30 mai

A vos Eurostar !


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé Visiter le site web du posteur
Katharine Kanter



Inscrit le: 19 Jan 2004
Messages: 1412
Localisation: Paris

MessagePosté le: Mar Mai 24, 2005 10:44 am    Sujet du message: Le début a finalement eu lieu le samedi 21 mai Répondre en citant

En raison de l'indisposition de Mlle. Tapper, Sarah Lamb l'a remplacé samedi 21 mai dans le rôle d'Odette/Odile (la date du 30 mai est maintenu aussi).

Voici des extraits d'une critique parue sur sur le site anglais ballet.co ce jour, très intéressants,

"(Sarah Lamb) was very quiet on her feet and I thought that by some magic she was slowing down time or dancing in some other dimension. In Acts II and IV her movement had an almost dream-like quality – she seemed entranced, as was I.

"(...) Those with more percipience and experience can comment on the Russianness of her style: her hands, her arms, even the way she performs a révérence to her partner or the audience.

"[her professor] Tatiana Legat (...)is not too happy at what she sees as the encroachment of Balanchine and Forsythe on the Kirov repertory and style in the last few years.

"Lamb's indebtedness to Legat is acknowledged and I thinks she rejoices in belonging to that rather grand Russian tradition. I am sure this performance was dedicated to her teacher who had come over to see it (....) I think this is just the first unfolding of the butterfly's wings."


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé Visiter le site web du posteur
haydn
Site Admin


Inscrit le: 28 Déc 2003
Messages: 26499

MessagePosté le: Mar Mai 24, 2005 11:02 am    Sujet du message: Répondre en citant

C'est assez piquant tout de même de constater que c'est une anglo-américaine que l'on invoque à présent pour défendre la tradition russe, dont Mlle Lamb se réclame, si j'ai bien compris, puisqu'elle fut l'élève de Tatiana Legat.

Quand aux inquiétudes au sujet des dérives "balanchiniennes" de la programmation du Mariinsky, que diraient les Russes s'ils vivaient à Paris ou dans quelqu'autre capitale occidentale... La programmation du Mariinsky reste quand même très centrée sur le grand répertoire romantique et post-romantique russe et pour l'heure, on ne saurait réellement l'accuser de brader son patrimoine.


Maintenant, il faut demeurer vigilant. Y-a-t-il des intrigues de coulisses menées par certains milieux influents d'Amérique du Nord pour imposer partout un certain type de programmation, qui elle-même est le reflet d'un mode de pensée, d'une volonté d'hégémonie culturelle au service d'une hégémonie politique et économique? Une propagande bien menée peut faire des ravages, et le Bolchoï, qui s'est - fierté nationale oblige - plutôt bien redressé, avait, dans les années troublées qui ont suivi l'effondrement du régime soviétique, été la proie de "bienfaiteurs" étrangers, qui, sous couvert d'aide financière, ont cherché sans complexes à peser sur le choix des programmes...


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé
Katharine Kanter



Inscrit le: 19 Jan 2004
Messages: 1412
Localisation: Paris

MessagePosté le: Jeu Mai 26, 2005 10:25 am    Sujet du message: Quelques sources de reflexion Répondre en citant

Un article qui aide à comprendre le "background" du débat actuel en Russie est publié dans une revue américaine Online qui s'appelle "Slow Art" (?) et que je découvre en même temps que vous,

http://www.slowart.com/articles/cia.htm

"Moma, the Bomb, and Abstract Expressionism"

by Annabell Shark

(Moma se réfère au Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art - ndlr)

L'article est long et documenté; j'en ai extrait quelques lignes que voici :

"Simultaneously, the US did not hesitate to sink huge sums of unaccounted funds into the CIA’s campaign to "culturally" fight communism. This culminated in the Congress for Cultural Freedom, which was rooted into place by 1950. The general idea was to parade art (writing, visual arts, music) that was as antithetical as possible to Stalinist dictums about what art should be. Art was to represent "freedom," a nebulous concept without a context. The idea was that this pro-American freedom was a freedom of the individual, with the emphasis on every-man-for-himself.

"(...) basically, what the Congress for Cultural Freedom sponsored, was precisely that art which was banned in the Soviet Union. As an example, they put on an all-out-expense International Conference of Twentieth Century Music in 1954, which concentrated heavily on atonal music, for the express reason that atonal music was not allowed under Stalinism.

"(...) In 1952 The Congress for Cultural Freedom sponsored the "Masterpieces Festival" of modern art. "On display will be masterpieces that could not have been created nor whose exhibition would be allowed by such totalitarian regimes as Nazi Germany or present day Soviet Russia and her satellites." The primary art of this exhibition and a number of other widely publicized art extravaganzas during the fifties was Abstract Expressionism."

Autre article, plutôt confus et surtout prudent, sur le ballet dans ce même contexte dans le "Boston Review" Online par le professeur Gunther Kodat,

http://www.bostonreview.net/BR29.5/kodat.html

Encore une fois, cet article est très long, et of course, en anglais; le professeur Gunther Kodat cite notamment Christopher Lasch, auteur de 'The Agony of the American Left', comme suit,

"The modern state, among other things, is an engine of propaganda, alternately manufacturing crises and claiming to be the only instrument which can effectively deal with them. This propaganda, in order to be successful, demands the cooperation of writers, teachers, and artists not as paid propagandists or state-censored time servers but as “free” intellectuals capable of policing their own jurisdictions

"(...) Once these conditions exist, as they have existed in the United States for some time, intellectuals can be trusted to censor themselves, and crude “political” influence over intellectual life comes to seem passé."


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé Visiter le site web du posteur
Katharine Kanter



Inscrit le: 19 Jan 2004
Messages: 1412
Localisation: Paris

MessagePosté le: Ven Mai 27, 2005 12:12 pm    Sujet du message: Répondre en citant

En raison de l'absence des journaux français à ce début à Covent Garden, je me permets de "piquer" quelques phrases au site Internet ballet.co, au sujet de la représentation de Mlle. Lamb d'hier soir (en vous invitant de lire en anglais le détail sur ballet.co; des rapports avec force détail y paraissent):



Sim écrit,

"the drama unfolds through all its winding paths of impending doom and is manifested not only in her fluid technique, but in her eyes.

"Such expressive eyes are a rarity. (...) all in a fleeting look. Thinking about it, Lamb could have just stood still onstage and told the whole story with her eyes.

"Lamb is dancing this once more this season, on Monday matinee. Sell your grandmother to get a ticket. This swan has taken wing; long may she soar."

et M. Stephen R écrit,

"We realised we were witnessing the start of a major career, and the blossoming of a TRUE ballerina. It is just a shame that so many others probably entered the ROH disappointed that they were seeing a "mere first soloist"."


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé Visiter le site web du posteur
sophia



Inscrit le: 03 Jan 2004
Messages: 22085

MessagePosté le: Mer Juil 27, 2005 9:27 am    Sujet du message: Répondre en citant

Sarah Lamb interprétera le rôle-titre de "La Sylphide" (remontée par Johan Kobborg) aux côtés de Federico Bonelli, les 15, 25 octobre et 7 novembre.

Royal Opera House


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé
Katharine Kanter



Inscrit le: 19 Jan 2004
Messages: 1412
Localisation: Paris

MessagePosté le: Ven Nov 18, 2005 9:51 am    Sujet du message: Début de Sarah Lamb en Aurore Répondre en citant

Avec toutes mes excuses a www.ballet.co.uk pour leur avoir volé cette information, mais pour que vous puissiez déjà réserver l'Eurostar

Mlle. Sarah Lamb fera ses débuts en Aurore, dans la nouvelle production de "la Belle" (en réalité, c'est une reprise de leur meilleure production, celle de 1946), le 22 mai, et le 29 mai 2006 en matinée, avec M. Samodurov en Désiré.

Soyons nombreux à cet intéressant évènement.

Le soir du 29 mai, ce sera Mlle. Rojo qui dansera Aurore, avec M. Bonelli.

Mlle. Lamb fera aussi ses débuts en "Lise" dans la version Ashton de "La Fille mal gardée", le 5 mai, avec M. Harvey en Colas. Cette version est techniquement très rapide, brilliante et remarquablement difficile pour les solistes.

A noter également, le début pour la première fois dans un grand rôle de Mlle. Laura Morera, jeune dame espagnole avec enormément de ballon, une très belle batterie, et une personalité non moins éclatante, le 13 mai 2006, en Lise. Son Colas sera M. Cervera.

La "Lise" la plus explosive et puissante techniquement sera probablement Mlle. Marianela Nunez, qui dansera le 25 mai et le 1er mai avec M. Acosta

Mlle. Nunez sera également Aurore le 25 mai et le 3 juin, rôle où personnellement je ne la vois pas du tout, mais qui sait? Le prince Désiré sera M. Thiago Soares.


A noter également, reprise du 5 au 9 juin du ballet de Ninette de Valois, "The Rakes Progress", oeuvre fascinante basée sur les tableaux de Hogarth.


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé Visiter le site web du posteur
haydn
Site Admin


Inscrit le: 28 Déc 2003
Messages: 26499

MessagePosté le: Ven Nov 18, 2005 9:59 am    Sujet du message: Répondre en citant

Merci de ces informations Katharine. Je ne pense pas que les voisins d'Outre-Manche ne vous en voudront pas pour cet "emprunt" dont vous avez obligeamment signalé la source.


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé
Katharine Kanter



Inscrit le: 19 Jan 2004
Messages: 1412
Localisation: Paris

MessagePosté le: Ven Nov 18, 2005 5:46 pm    Sujet du message: Reply from an English balletomane Répondre en citant

Received in the post the following,

"You may perhaps not know that Morera has already danced Kitri
and Tatiana at Covent Garden. I think everyone expects her to make an
excellent Lise - but there is perhaps equal interest in the debut of
Ricardo Cervera as Colas. He is a fine Ashton stylist who has never been
given a big leading role before - a stern test of his ability."


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé Visiter le site web du posteur
Katharine Kanter



Inscrit le: 19 Jan 2004
Messages: 1412
Localisation: Paris

MessagePosté le: Ven Déc 16, 2005 5:20 pm    Sujet du message: Authorised interview with Sarah Lamb Répondre en citant

A CONVERSATION WITH SARAH LAMB

London, October 28th 2005

(Signed and authorised, received on December 15th 2005)


Q Why did you leave America, where you were already a principal ?

R I didn’t see myself capable of developing into the artist I wanted to be if I stayed in the US. None of the other US companies attracted me. Funding for art and ballet is lacking so much in the US, that no Artistic Director seems capable of realising what he or she wants. The money just isn’t there, and the compromises are unfortunately ultimately realised by the dancers. I felt that if I wanted to pursue a career in ballet, I would have to go to Europe. I was offered a principal contract with the Het Nationale Ballet and was very honoured, it was a difficult decision, but I chose to join the Royal Ballet as a First Soloist. I think I have made the right decision, I have had wonderful opportunities, and I find that the amount of work, while exhaustive, is well suited to me.

Of course this is a generalisation, and there are MANY exceptions, but on the whole, the US audience lacks an appreciation of subtlety. They see and want quantity, and often do not yearn for or recognise quality. I believe that subtlety is integral to art, and especially ballet, the beauty is in the details. When a ballet company is deprived of time and money, the details are lost.

Q Could you elaborate on what you call « holding the forms », or plastique ?

R Great art or high art is able to communicate without speech. Even if one has never heard Western music before, one will understand something listening to Mozart.

I believe that the development of plastique is closely related to the mime that is integral in classical ballets. This in turn will aid the steps that should be propelling the plot.

Understanding plastique is not innate. With Madame Tatiana Legat I studied mime from a young age, it became natural, and eventually lost its awkwardness. When mime is done well, it is no longer “mime”, it is still dance. The articulation of the fingers, the angle of the head, the tilt of the body, these are all vital to the dancer and the dance. If one does it wholeheartedly, with one’s entire being, then the public will recognise human emotion with every gesture and it will speak to everyone in the audience. Madame Legat taught me that the fingertips, épaulement, and use of the arms are the voice, the punctuation, the nuances that must all emanate from the centre in order to express oneself.

Q What do you think about the craze for picking up the leg ?

R Once the public see something new, they expect to see it again. A level is expected once it is introduced. Sport has changed so much in fifty years, and of course ballet is not a sport but it is extremely physically demanding, more than many sports I am sure! It is only natural that we continue to put demands on the body and expect more from ourselves. One doesn’t expect the men to start jumping lower or turning less, the same would go for women. Whenever something new is introduced, such as hyper-flexibility, there will be people who do not understand it. What is necessary is nuance, and if done correctly a high leg can be appropriate. It is only vulgar when someone kicks her legs up constantly, like a soprano interminably screeching a high C; there must be lows to make highs. I am not bothered by high legs if I see that used intelligently and with discretion. I see people compromise line and placement to raise the leg, even I have been guilty of this. For me, placement and line is more important, so I always try to work within my physical limitations; I can only hope that others will appreciate this as well. It is imperative that teachers emphasise correct placement over leg height, so that young dancers will be able to retain the beauty of line unique to ballet and be able to distinguish it from gymnastics.

Q What do you think about teaching at the present time ?

A I have seen a few really promising and talented young dancers, but unfortunately, I have seen many many young dancers who seem to have no training. Many top schools try to get the students with the best physiques, but they lack strength, coordination and musicality, or any combination thereof. At my school we were not picked for our physiques, it is not considered a top school, but we had an incredible teacher with Madame Legat. An incredible teacher will be able to extract musicality, coordination and love of movement from the students as well as imbue the vital core strength and discipline that is essential for a dancer.

Of course it is tiresome to inculpate teachers and schools. Why don’t we have more Nobel Prize winners from School X, or more Rhodes Scholars from School Y? The teachers are a part of the equation, but genetics is the other part. It is incumbent upon us to realise that a great dancer is not a common phenomenon. The rarity of this is what makes it so special, otherwise we wouldn’t have that wonderful feeling when we do witness something truly great. The srudent needs the physical “perfection” required for ballet, the inteliigence of a great actor, the determination and drive of the hardest worker, and the self-criticism that will surpass the harshest critis. This is a unique mix of qualities and thus the resultant is that there are very few promising pupils who are destined to become great dancers. We cannot say “such and such or so and so was so much better back then”, we cannot know exactly how everything was then without comparing it all to our curent tastes.

I cannot say that schools have become worse, or teachers aren’t as good as they once were. However, it is amazing to think that the classes Johansson or Petipa used to give at the Maryinskii would last hours, and the amount of work they did is inconceivable to me. We are also entering a phase in society where “all touching is bad”, and therefore teachers are accused of being abusive when they correct children. It is absolutely ridiculous. Ballet is hard, it is very difficult. Technology has made so much in our lives easier, but ballet has not changed much at all. Ballet will always be a mental and physical challenge. if people want their children to have easy “fun”, they should not enroll them in ballet


Q How does Tatiana Legat teach?

Madame Legat has an incredible legacy and history. Her grandfather, Nicholas Legat, and great-uncle Sergei Legat, were choreographers, dancers, artists, and were a great influence on the teaching method known as the “Vaganova Method”. Madame Legat has a very pure Vaganova class, meaning she will never mix or omit combinations at the barre - rond de jambe en l’air is never combined with fondu développé etc. When she first started teaching me, our class would spend an hour and a half at the barre. We had to stop every time someone went wrong, we had to repeat and repeat until everyone understood the port de bras or musicality or execution of the steps. This was very tiring, of course, but that is the point! Once someone is trained well, one will never forget. She taught us “Four Cygnets” from Swan Lake, and we spent an hour learning how to walk on stage together and prepare.

She emphasises core strength, and everyone knows this is vital. Years before Pilates had been popularised, she understood which muscles are imperative for a dancer. She would often give combinations that seemed nearly impossible to perform, but that is why class is so important, especially a challenging class. Stage is not the place to feel nervous about one’s technique, therefore the more one trains in class and rehearsal, the easier it will be to perform. A class that is easy and comfortable will do nothing to enhance the technique of the student.

Q What are your observations on dancing the Sylphide ?

R Bournonville, Johansson, Vaganova all are linked and this relationship was demonstrated to me in learning and performig the choreography. One has to have a solid grounding to perform Bournonville well, it is very difficult to sustain the ballon and requires strong feet and legs. Vaganova would use bigger port de bras and more pronouned épaulement, but Bournonville keeps much of the upper body held as if floating above legs that are working constantly; The Vaganova training in me wanted to make everything bigger, thinking that that would be “better” or more interesting. Bournonville asks for movement iwthout extreme allongé, it is not that one is better than the other, simply different.

I love dancing La Sylphide, I had such an exciting and thrilling time working with Sorella Englund. I feel a connection with her the way I feel one with Tatiana Nicolaevna. I am often very focused on how everything will look, and she made me focus on the character and really live it and breathe it. I started thinking so much about the Sylph. I began to narrate the story in my head and express it with my eyes, of course one should always do this, but it is so much easier with a multi-dimensional character. She is not simply sweetness and light, something of a man’s deram. All dreams have mystery and unknown within them, and she has this in her eyes. James sees her, and he doesn’t understand her, how is she possible? How is she real? She invites him with her eyes, kind and warm, attractive in her childlike innocence. But underneath is a temptress, she wants him and knows that she can make herself absolutely irresistible. The Sylph is the foil to Effie’s grounded woman. The life James will have with Effie is predictable, the life with the Sylph is the unknown, the mystery, the attraction of the risk and the adventure. She will never be predictable the way Effie will always be. It is interesting to compare the two women, I think Bournonville makes a wonderful statement about romantic love versus logical love. We all know what James should do, he should marry Effie. But no-one wants him to do this, everyone would want to follow the Sylph. I loved every moment of it.

Q What are your views on Balanchine ?

A The few ballets or pas de deux that I have danced, I loved. I performed Tchaikovsky Pas de deux at the New York International Ballet Competition in 2000, Stars and Stripes with Ethan Stiefel, and Ballo della Regina with Yury Yanowsky in 2003.

I have worked with Vicky Simon and Merrill Ashley, for whom I have great respect and affection. I love dancing his choreography for its musicality and technical challenge. It is difficult, and I couldn’t take a Balanchine-style class every day, but I think it is vital to have in the repertory. Merrill was a beautiful Balanchine ballerina, she had an intelligence, she could take what he said, and apply it to heself so that it worked. I think that a number of people have taken his words and morphed them. I am not sure that he wanted the extreme floppiness of wrists and arms, I think he wanted a lightness and a freedom, which dancers like Merrill had, without the vulgar port de bras that I have witnessed in some dancers. Merrill never told me “do not put the heels down”, but I realised to reach the musicality desired it was nearly impossible.

The students at SAB seem to me to have gaps in their training and are ofen incapable of dancing non-Balanchine ballets and styles. This is unfortunate, because I feel that my schooling has enabled me to dance a variety of styles and I feel very comfortable with the demands of various choreographers. If I were trained at SAB I would be very unsure of how to approach the classics.

Q Does the classical dance have a future?

R I hope it does. I do not know if it will survive. I worry about the training, I worry that a lot of dancers become teachers because they cannot dance anymore, not because they have talent in teaching, and the two are very different. Also, I look at the audience, at the people who really love ballet, who go to performances multiple times to see different dancers take on the leading roles, and they are almost all over 40 or 50 years of age. There is also the question of expense, how could I expect an eighteen year old to go to the ballet even once? The stalls are astronomically expensive, and one has to be dedicated to seek out the standing room tickets.

I am reassured when I see some of my colleagues at the Royal Ballet who are absolutely committed to the art, and I think that they will be able to see ballet into the future.

One thing I really love is seeing dancers help one another, and it is something I love to do as well. I think art is about sharing and giving, it is the most generous thing we can do, attempt to share beauty or experience or emotion. Therefore I think it will survive, it is necessary to humans.

Q What is your attitude to music ?

R I wish I had continued playing the violin or piano, I wish I could still read music. I was too active when I started with those instruments, and I always preferred dancing to standing or sitting. I react to music, I physically react to it, I get chills when I hear something that I love. I know a lot of dancers feel music is secondary, and I often complain that the tempi are too fast or slow, but dancers should be married to the music. The dance should be an integral part of the music and vice versa.

There are so many ways to dance to music, one can “eat the beat” which Kathy Bennets told me to do when she taught me the lead in In the Middle.. and I loved that image. We can respond to the music, it can help us by pushing us into the next phrase, or we can breathe with it and be synchronised. Certain ballets I could just listen to, not even open my eyes and imagine everything, the music is so gorgeous and meaningful to me. I do not cry easily but I remember the first time I saw Eugene Onegin, I was 13 years old, and I cried, I couldn’t help it, the final pas de deux was so completely and perfectly represented by the music, the choreography so marvelous. That was one of those moments when I knew that I wanted to be a dancer more than anything.

***


Copyright:

Sarah Lamb, www.dansomanie.net, "Vestris" ( http://auguste.vestris.free.fr/ )


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé Visiter le site web du posteur
haydn
Site Admin


Inscrit le: 28 Déc 2003
Messages: 26499

MessagePosté le: Ven Déc 16, 2005 5:54 pm    Sujet du message: Répondre en citant

Merci Katharine pour cet entretien que vous avez pris la peine de réaliser à Londres avec Sarah Lamb, nouvelle recrue apparemment très prometteuse du Royal Ballet, et que je n'ai malheureusement pas encore eu l'occasion de voir danser. Mais peut-être lui fera-t-on un jour l'honneur d'une invitation à Paris?


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé
sophia



Inscrit le: 03 Jan 2004
Messages: 22085

MessagePosté le: Ven Déc 16, 2005 8:13 pm    Sujet du message: Répondre en citant

Sarah Lamb participera en tout cas au Gala en l'honneur de Maïa Plissetskaïa le 12 février à Londres aux côtés de noms très prestigieux.
Voici la liste donnée par "Ensemble Productions", la société qui organise ce gala (je pense que "José Martin" est en fait José Martinez, pour l'instant seul représentant de l'Opéra de Paris):
Gary Avis
Leanne Benjamin
Federico Bonelli
Darcey Bussell
Alina Cojocaru
Mara Galeazzi
Sarah Lamb
Ilse Liepa
Ulyana Lopatkina
Roberta Marquez
Jose Martin
Irma Nioradze
Marianela Nuñez
Ivan Putrov
Farukh Ruzimatov
Viacheslav Samodurov
Thiago Soares
Galina Stepanenko
Andrei Uvarov
Edward Watson
Miyako Yoshida
Svetlana Zakharova
Igor Zelensky


Revenir en haut
Voir le profil de l'utilisateur Envoyer un message privé
Montrer les messages depuis:   
Poster un nouveau sujet   Répondre au sujet    Dansomanie Index du Forum -> Interviews et reportages : Archives Toutes les heures sont au format GMT + 1 Heure
Aller à la page 1, 2  Suivante
Page 1 sur 2

 
Sauter vers:  
Vous ne pouvez pas poster de nouveaux sujets dans ce forum
Vous ne pouvez pas répondre aux sujets dans ce forum
Vous ne pouvez pas éditer vos messages dans ce forum
Vous ne pouvez pas supprimer vos messages dans ce forum
Vous ne pouvez pas voter dans les sondages de ce forum


Nous Contacter
Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group
Theme created by Vjacheslav Trushkin
Traduction par : phpBB-fr.com