Gelsey Kirkland - Don Quixote 1978

[@MrQbenDanny]

VIVA GELSEY!!! SHE MAKES YOU FORGET ALL THE REST.

[@vikkithomas5390]

that "thru the foot" to fondu at 59 sec is one i will be showing students for years to come....SUCH perfection

[@kerrytakashi12]

I'm beginning to suspect that foot articulation is being destroyed by the space age technology used in some of the pointe shoes now. The most popular are the ones that spring back into their straightened form. It's making the dancers use their muscles differently. Kirkland wrote in her book that she would work her toe shoes to the point of breaking. They were more soft than not. All that pointe work she did was 60 percent shoe and 40 percent foot strength.

[@vikkithomas5390]

I actually have a signed Gelsey shoe and yes it is really soft from use. One of my greatest treasures. I agree about articulation. Sadly there is so much emphasis on getting the leg up rather than getting the heels down in the plie as i believe this is where the technical quality comes from ! @@kerrytakashi12

[@Roccarocks]

Oh my goodness! More Gelsey if you have it, please!!

[@Marta44339]

Exquisite and thrilling! thank you. Seeing Gelsey in anything, however brief, is wonderful.

[@patriciafoster3347]

No one like her. NO ONE

[@marityngvesson8937]

I have NEVER seen this variation done so good! Gelsey is pure gold. 💖

[@sisterearthful]

It's such a pleasure watching the beautiful Gelsey doing a solo in the ballet of Don Quixote. I'll always admire Gelsey's superb way in how her interpretation of style in the Art field of Ballet. Thank you.

[@ukrainianballet_unofficial1344]

Diva! As usual, beautiful phrasing and control over movements.

[@jondavwal13]

Aside from being probably the greatest Giselle in history the story behind this 1978 Don Quixote is interesting. In "Dancing On My Grave" Kirkland stated she believed Baryshnikov cast her as Kitri to embarrass her. She was determined to dance him off the stage (you can watch silent rehearsal footage that shows how hard and obsessively she worked on this role). They were probably her greatest performances, not least of which because they went against type for her. I saw one of them when I was 15. I've seen many ballet performances since and I never saw a ballerina dance anything like that again. I've watched the videos of Plisetskaya and even she does not compare IMO.

[@ddgattini24]

And she did (dance him off-stage). Furthermore, she managed to do it when he was in his prime and dancing to perfection as well. I recall that she studied and practiced the use of the fan and castinets to get every detail exactly right. I camped out overnight at the Kennedy Center to get tickets to a matinee, and we were stunned to find both Baryshnikov and Kirkland dancing (she shared the role with Makarova and Tcherkassky iirc). From the first moment on stage, it was Kirkland's show and Kirkland's audience, and it just built excitement and momentum from there. The musicality, the precision, the athleticism (unbelievable Plisetskaya jumps, better than Osipova's) the dramatic magic... It is such a loss that there is no video (at least publicly available) of this/ these performances.

[@jondavwal13]

@@ddgattini24 I completely agree. IMO she is the greatest dancer there ever was. In opera there is the Callas v. Sutherland debate that goes on ad nauseam. Great artistry v. perfect technique and beauty of sound. Obviously Callas had technique and Sutherland had some artistry but it is a debate that rages on forever. Kirkland might be the only artist in any field that had full tanks on both sides of the coin. She was an artist of the highest order and obsessively strove to communicate while she possessed an almost unmatched technique coupled with unbelievable speed. I think the ability to do and be everything drove her insane. However, on the nights when she put it together she made EVERY other dancer before or after look second rate. She makes Osipova look like a gymnast. Kirkland moved like she was being blown across the stage, like she wasn't moving a muscle. The fluidity is otherworldly. As I said, the one time I saw her dance when I was 15 ruined it for me. Nobody ever measured up to what I saw that night, both dramatically and technically. I should add I went to Lincoln Center and watched the video they have of one of those performance from that run in the archives without music about ten years ago. It was everything I remembered. I also watched the footage of her rehearsing with the fan. It's spellbinding.

[@ddgattini24]

@@jondavwal13 When the dancers of ABT went on strike in 1979, Kirkland was a vocal supporter and participated in a fundraiser for them in Washington DC. For some minimal donation you could watch the corps dancers--and Kirkland-- do a typical class. I can't begin to describe how beautiful Kirkland's every movement was. Even the simplest movements -- a plie! -- were riveting. Her grand battement at the barre so beautiful it could make you cry. This is difficult to even describe, but what she seemed to do was to shape each movement through space in a circular rather than linear way. So the grand battement seemed to shape an arc rather than the up-down movement that terminates at a high end at a point in space. And of course her whole body seemed more relaxed -- the "no effort" fluidity you mentioned. I have actually seen other ABT dancers in a class -- Makarova and Baryshnikov in particular-- and while they were spectacular, no one else created that particular quality of movement. Every second of her movement had her complete commitment and was imbued with that musicality and grace. Although all 3 of those dancers took classes with David Howard, it appears that Kirkland was fully invested in Howard's approach and used it to transform her dancing.

[@kerrytakashi12]

@@ddgattini24 I think in her turmoil, Kirkland misread a lot of people. It doesn't strike me that Baryshnikov meant to embarrass her. He was just doing a cook's tour of all the greatest male danseur roles. Since Kirkland could do anything, he just took it for granted that she would dance with him even though she might not feel comfortable in certain roles. He has never given his side of the story. But I'm sure he found it disconcerting that in a role where he could really shine, Kirkland turned it into a battle royale. So much so, he was upstaged.

[@jondavwal13]

@@kerrytakashi12 She described it as a "Rocky fantasy". You are probably right. He chose her, after all, because he saw her greatness from that tour she did of Russia before he defected. I think even she would agree she wasn't quite right in the head during that period. Lucky for us since she danced as if she were possessed. I'm not a balletomane and I was there to see Baryshnikov when I was in my teens but you could not take your eyes off of her for even a millisecond. I never got to see her dance again even though I lived in NYC. I used to work out at the same gym as Twyla Tharp in the mid-80s when she was choreographing for ABT. I asked her if Gelsey would come back at some point. She rolled her eyes and said "who knows WHAT Gelsey is going to do at any time."

[@mariinskyfan]

There was once a video on KZbin of her first act Kitri. It was sublime. Perhaps it was removed. Do you have it?

[@sallyjdawg]

Love this 🙏 thank you!

[@dmmchugh3714]

FYI, this is not Dulcinea's variation. It is Kitri's variation. This is my favorite part of Don Quixote. Wish the video were lighter, to see it better.

[@noblesetsentimentales]

This _is_ Dulcinea's variation from the dream/vision scene that takes place in Don Quixote's imagination. Kitri doesn't appear in this scene. Even if the role is performed by the same dancer, they are still two different characters.

[@IceAintNice]

Thank you! 🙄

[@tkoran]

Where did you find this gem?! 😊👍👍👍

[@MP-uc7pj]

Do you own any more Gelsey videos?😍

[@Hans6789-j9t]

SUch a purist