ALLEGRO BRILLANTE

Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins in a go-for-broke TV broadcast.

[@andreakrisko4742]

Suzanne’s ability to dance with both control and utter abandon. She seems both detached and as if she whole heart is laid bare for the audience. Simply wonderful.

[@2snowgirl520]

Thanks for posting. Television was so much better then.

[@AndrewRudin]

What a loss that PBS no longer brings us "Dance In America". Now we get old Mo Town reunions and other crap.

[@susanpaul4752]

Why is the date of the performance never included? This is a brilliant reminder of the glory of the NYCB in those days...I sat in the 5th Ring endlessly...lucky me!

[@jcliff26]

It is in the original PBS broadcast I’m sure. Think around 1978.

[@scottgilmore7319]

Magnificent! So magisterial in all the right ways❤️

[@calvingentry4967]

I love Heather Watts in this!! So much enthusiasm and attack.

[@susanpaul4752]

Thanks, Mr. Clifford. I watched you dance as well..all the time...beautiful! And thank you for posting these marvelous videos...have been watching them for years...1960s and 1970s were extraordinary years with NYCB repertoire and performers. I took Emile Ardolino to his first live ballet performance..NYCB at City Center, ...Symphony in C, Concerto Barocco, maybe Prodigal Son with Gloria Govrin as the Siren, and ...I think Square Dance. Emile and I were friends at Queens College...Theater Dept...1961-63...as you know, he went on to create Dance in America for NPR. He had been studying Jazz with Luigi. I had been a ballet student since 6 years of age.

[@jcliff26]

Then you DO go back to some golden years!

[@susanpaul4752]

@@genlyai5055 Happy to talk with you. How best to arrange that?

[@susanpaul4752]

@@genlyai5055 I followed your suggestion a few hours ago..it has disappeared...guessing you have it?

[@susanpaul4752]

@@genlyai5055 Best is to have a throw away email address or phone #...then as soon as contact is made, toss it. I am not terribly savvy tech wise, but this was recommended to me. Are you in USA???? What time zone??? What do you think about this?

[@susanpaul4752]

@@genlyai5055 So...the solution is ??????

[@jamesreardon726]

Wow, I never imagined how much I delighted in dancing in the corps of Allegro Brillante staged numerous times by Ellen O'Reilly, ballet mistress,Boston Ballet....

[@Judymontel]

I love how Ms. Farrell is right on the beat with the music in her solo with that rubato. Lots of other stuff to love in this. Thanks!

[@newyorkguy158]

Beyond wonderful. I have watched this many times now and don't grow tired of it. I love the ensembles. The women dance with such passion and abandon, like bacchantes, perhaps inspired by the presence of Heather Watts. The men are wonderful too. And that music. A neglected masterpiece. Can't believe I have never heard it performed in NY. It's already a favorite of mine. "Go-for-broke" really describes well this performance.

[@powerofalto]

It’s been decades since I last saw this piece, and watching it here leaves me breathless. The ensemble choreography is absolutely STUNNING. It fits the music perfectly. I felt frustrated by Farrell generally, but the gigantic accent in her head and arms (at the end of the candenza) was enormously exciting...just how I imagine her as a performer. Thank you so much for posting this!

[@gforcestp]

My God, that Ballanchine was a genius.

[@louiselins]

When I started to watch ballet on youtube Balanchine was the guy who made Tchai Pas and The nutcracker. Other bits (with you dancing ) I didn´t know it was his then I was a child with few information and almost no access. Thanks to the few who upload these videos I can discover this whole world of fantastic music and movement. I´m so glad we can see them now and yet so angry when you say this was on tv... Why people are still denied to fall in love with Balanchine?

[@melissaking6019]

John, thank you for sharing this. I haven't seen AB since it first aired on Dance in America.

[@martinmeng100]

That wonderful, superb musical generosity!!!

[@kerrytakashi12]

Brilliant! The energy is fantastic. I agree with prior comments that Farrell seems miscast. She knows it too, which is why I think she pushed the choreography trying to make it fit her style. I noticed she did that in the early Concerto Barocco she danced in. She gets impish and very angular. This ballet also points out the odd partnership she had with Martins. Their personalities don't mesh in some ways. It seems a convenience as in your tall, I'm tall, lets dance! The way she challenges him, staring straight into his eyes, nose to nose. She does it in many of her dances. Some of her partners used it and even enjoyed it. Martins ignores it.

[@giuliorenzobighin8165]

Su un fondale di soffusione aranciata con cenni strutturalisti questo dolce balletto che si sviluppa in una timbrica melodica convincente ed accattivante. Ottimo l'impadronimento dello spazio proscenico da parte dei ballerini.Molto bravi Tutti.Bighin GIULIO RENZO

[@orionwesley]

I swear Pacific Northwest Ballet posted a video of the gentlemen but it's gone now. Regardless, my favorite piece in any ballet. The grace and athleticism is unsurpassed.

[@charlesrussell5458]

brilliant invention!

[@Qacc6]

Love the corps couples here, so sharp and on the music. I saw Tiler Peck dance Allegro B three times this spring. Have to give it to the young generation based on what I see in this clip.

[@jcliff26]

Qacc6 Actually this is not the best representation. This was not really Farrell and Martin's thing. Other casts of that period were much better. Violette Verdy, Melissa Hayden, and Patricia McBride were spectacular in this ballet.

[@iaindavies-hayle6025]

John, why do you say this ballet wouldn't really be Farrell's & Martins's thing? I agree with you, but I wonder why *you* say it - when you think about something like "Chaconne," that's fast like this...and "Diamonds" is murder. So why not this? (I saw Patty McBride & also Merrill Ashley *live* in this...they were BRILLIANT!)

[@genlyai5055]

@@jcliff26 As were Ashley AND Nichols.

[@jcliff26]

@@iaindavies-hayle6025 Because this particular choreography looks better on shorter ballerina’s. Ashley was an exception.

[@simaraft7373]

Brilliant indeed. Delightful to see, thank you.

[@edwardwillinger8438]

I agree that Farrell is not at her greatest here (she wasn't in any of the Dance in America programs, really), but there are still magnificent moments. She makes the whole ballet more legato than "brillante" - and the incredibly musical way she builds the tension in the section from her solo pirouettes to that huge accent with her head and arms (in Martins's arms) to end the cadenza is classic her. I don't think she looks bored or sulky, but she doesn't look fully comfortable. Any souvenir of her dancing is something to treasure, though. Thanks so much for this and all your wonderful postings.

[@jcliff26]

Edward Willinger Well...her TZIGANE and DIAMONDS Pas on Dance in America were pretty spectacular.

[@edwardwillinger8438]

The Diamonds pas de deux is what I'd show to give someone who never saw her some idea of what her dancing was like. And, of course, the live "Mozartiana."

[@gothamette]

Agree - check out her performance in the Vienna Waltzes clip that Clifford put up. It is simply immortal. Here she looks too big for the set, and the color theme is atrocious. Not her fault.

[@iaindavies-hayle6025]

HELLO!! So was her CHACONNE!

[@running179]

@@jcliff26 So was her CHACONNE, are you kidding!!? Fantastic!

[@jordanaselkaplow]

Try finding a copy of documentary 'Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse'. Inspirational portrait showing amazing concert footage, descriptions & footage about their relationship, a hauntingly beautiful, rare connection. It seems he was rigorous but respectful & kind to his students & protegees.😢

[@etempleentedu6878]

❤🎉

[@iaindavies-hayle6025]

Thanks, John, for posting this - IMPOSSIBLE to find this performance once it was not included on the DVD. I don't think Suzanne is at her best here by any means - her coolness/aloofness come across as *cold*, and don't suit the exuberant joy of the music & choreography, & her technique is a little sloppy in places (her pirouettes don't look as clean & tight as they could). But her overall dancing is, as pretty much always, really lovely. I think she may have been injured during this performance?

[@alanmadeira-metz1380]

I think she was probably dancing in pain, but danced through it, though there are moments where I feel she may have been a little constricted in her movements.

[@hermajesty52]

Thank you for pointing it out. I thought she seemed a little fatigued (who wouldn’t be). Maybe we’re so spoiled by her perfection in other pieces 🥰 we notice things we wouldn’t notice in a lesser dancer.

[@alanmadeira-metz1380]

As great a dancer as he was, Peter Martins is too Apollonian, too cool in this performance. The music requires a dancer who can create the illusion of romance with his partner, who can match the passion of the music, not just perfectly execute the steps. You have to interpret the music, but he doesn't match Suzanne's intensity. Would have been a greater performance with the right male partner. Who could have brought that intensity, romance and fire in his dancing and his partnering, I don't know.

[@highroadsinstitute6157]

Mikhail.

[@running179]

Something else really fascinating abt this performance: Farrell seems so commanding & imperious here, but in interviews she seems so soft spoken, almost timid & meek. How can that be? John Clifford, is she a very shy retiring person? But still so bold & wild in performance?

[@jcliff26]

Yes. Many ballerinas are like that. Also actors. Very different offstage than on.

[@astoriaschoolofballet4487]

I understand it was part of her “coolness” and overall seriousness for the dance itself, but in every video, I always think Ms. Farrell danced with such an overall dearth of joy.

[@nataliejohnson508]

What is the music. Please?

[@kathymyers7279]

What are the guys wearing? First time getting to see famous ballet. Thankyou!

[@susanpaul4752]

PS ---Emile Ardolino also studied Jazz with Matt Mattox in the 60's.

[@yvonneleslie7681]

Every time I watch this, I spend most of my time trying to figure out which girl in blue is Heather Watts, lol! I always narrow it down to the same two dancers, but their faces are just blurred enough that I can't decide which one is her...

[@newyorkguy158]

It's a testament to the high level at which the women were dancing.

[@genlyai5055]

I usually try to figure out who Watts is so I can ignore her completely. 😂

[@tkoran]

Was this taped at the same time as the Dance in America (Chaconne, etc)? If so, why was it not included in the DVD? I've never seen this, never knew it existed! I saw the other comments re Suzanne -- she does indeed look bored and doesn't scintillate at all in this piece. I've seen Maria Tallchief in a film of this and although not nearly as technically proficient, is much more exciting to watch.

[@iaindavies-hayle6025]

I don't think Suzanne was *bored* - just not on form. Her 'cool' haughty attitude doesn't suite the exuberance of the music. This wasn't included in the DVD I *think* because the DVD producers and maybe the Balanchine Trust felt this performance wasn't of a high enough quality to include on the DVD, ultimately.

[@tkoran]

Yes, I was thinking the same thing, that B wasn't happy enough with it to include it. It was still great to see.

[@iaindavies-hayle6025]

Mr Balanchine had already died (1982) by the time this was put on DVD. So it wouldn't have been his decision. Again, I think either the Balanchine Trust, or maybe the NYC Ballet, decided...not only does Suzanne not have the right 'attitude' here, but her technique is also just a *bit* sloppy. Her pirouettes don't look as clean as they could. I think she was injured during this performance, but still.

[@tkoran]

Oh yes, you're right about B having passed alright. Wow, if she was dancing with an injury, she is absolutely amazing! But yes, it didn't look like her usual self. Thanks for your insights.

[@Marta44339]

Balanchine died in April 1983.

[@marymohagheghi4875]

But musicality incomparable that was her genius

[@theresa42213]

Does anyone know the year this was filmed? Thank you. :)

[@jcliff26]

Around 1978.

[@theresa42213]

Thank you John. Very kind of you. l think knowing the time when the piece was danced is important. Especially for one that is just getting into the art.

[@jcliff26]

@@theresa42213 It was choreographed in 1966 I believe, and for Maria Tallchief who was quite a different dancer. I posted that video here too

[@jcliff26]

@@theresa42213 kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5DLdX2CpNdor9U

[@theresa42213]

@@jcliff26 ~ Wasn't she one of George's ''wives'' for a time? She sounds familiar.

[@AndrewRudin]

I hate the silly bare mid-rif, floppy sleeve "blouses" for the men. But BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO to Boelziner. Dazzling.

[@running179]

This perf is intriguing for lots of reasons. Suzanne takes some huge risks with her pirouettes here, to the point of wildness. Some of her pirouette passes look sloppy and too low, below the knee, and her lines just aren't super-great here. But she's still an ICONIC hurricane of a dancer. I think it's her daring & great riskiness that make her so compelling even as her technique isn't always the cleanest. And her face, always so cool, even chilly, even when she's throwing caution to the winds. What say you, Mr. Clifford?

[@jcliff26]

Well Suzanne was always the most idiosyncratic of all Balanchine’s muses. The low passes are necessary when turning this fast and Balanchine taught that it should be just under the kneecap anyway for pirouettes. Don’t know when the above the knee started. She did do it above the knee when moving but not on turns. She was never “classical” and always took enormous risks, but that was part of her uniqueness and fascination. Balanchine liked dancers who danced “in the moment” and never “saved” as he called it. And her “coolness” was also part of her appeal. Only very late in her career, after her hip operations, did she start to “sell” to compensate for her declining technique. All in all, one either loved her or hated her. She was one-of-kind.

[@running179]

@@jcliff26 Love that reply. I really hope she's remembered by the current NYCB members. I wish she had ben there all these years coaching, teaching. They need all the previous Balanchine people!!

[@MrQbenDanny]

It's Balanchine Light this ballet and it's OK. Farrell looks bored and sulky and who can blame her having to dance with that partner. I LOVE her solo with the great centered pioruettes. Also, Steven CARAS'S hair.

[@tims4966]

Isn't that her standard dancing face?

[@marymohagheghi4875]

One can see her hip pain

[@newyorkguy158]

I think you are right, she danced through it, but was hampered by it. If she had this condition, osteoarthritis, say in 2010, she would not have needed a hip replacment and would have been dancing at the same high level in 9 months or less. Her condition could have been treated without the loss of her hip.

[@williamhumphrey8160]

too bronze

[@newyorkguy158]

The orange color of the set matches the "heat" of the music. The costume designer used the cool complement of orange, blue, in the girls' costumes to cool it down, but it still overpowers. Yes, I would say too orangey, including Suzanne's costume.