Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes - Act 2, 'Swan Lake' (Royal Ballet, 1960)

[@Rysanekfan]

What is so striking with Fonteyn is her line which, though it is a characteristic of all dancers, is subtly different. There is a smoothness to it that never wavers and perhaps because she doesn't exaggerate her extensions beyond what is appropriate, there is no distortion. She embodies classical ideals of restraint and expressiveness.

[@avesraggiana]

+Stephen Mir I agree. There was something very chaste and lady-like in the shapes that Fonteyn created. A generation later, another great ballerina would make her mark on the West, Natalia Makarova. She changed everything about the way ballerinas interpret Odette today, but in comparison to Fonteyn, the shapes she created seemed so “WILD” and“un-ladylike”. Almost like a latter day shapeshifter. No slight on Makarova, whom I adore, but just pointing out a difference in aesthetics and expressive ideals. Both ballerinas in their own way, were geniuses at producing astonish dramatic effects with their bodies and their unique physicality.

[@sedekiman824]

So true and that picture in the beginning before the recording starts, the translation of what you have stated! The perfect smooth arabesque!

[@hannekekoolen8243]

I really like the part from 8.50 on. Very tender and convincing. The turned-in position at 9.46 is striking. Does anyone know who coached Fonteyn in this role? Was it only De Valois?

[@sedekiman824]

Have just read again your comments above, and the explanation of Fonteyn's magic from Antoinette Sibley, again the most beautiful dancer. It is true ,the paring down of each role no fussiness, affectation, like painting with a very fine brush. And of course that other quality which is so mercurial, and hard to define! So grateful for all your videos.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

glad you like what i'm posting. yes, i agree - there is that extra indefinable something that is part of that magic. Katherine Hepburn said there are some people you just are drawn to and you are not sure why

[@jengirl2]

Thank you for this video and the description. I, too, have struggled with what is so magnetic and spectacular about Fonteyn. I always felt I wasn't seeing something that everyone else was seeing. But, the idea of it being her focusing on the pure essence of the role and the musicality...I see that. I'm also taken with her eyes and how much they express in regards to the emotion within each role.

[@sedekiman]

Beautiful! I do think as the years passed her interpretation became even more complete . And isn't that what it is all about? She gained a certain femininity, intensity and gentleness. I love the occasional bird like movements of the head. Her line, second to none, phrasing and beautiful port de bras is carried right through. And her Odile is a contrast to Odette. More brittle and angular but retaining some of the qualities of Odette. After all Siegfried has to recognise some thing in her that reminds him of Odette. To me she is the champ in this role!

[@JohnRaymondHall]

sedekiman r i agree - Fonteyn's interpretation did become even more complete - absolutely what it is about - the end of Act Two became more subtly poignant and powerful - one felt the resisting von Rothbart was not on the surface, and was satisfying even when technique was paired bad a little - and yes, her Odile was not the cardboard cut out bad character as so often happens - and there was a warmth to to the character which made her seduction of the Prince more believable - find it hard to understand the Prince's attraction when Odile is gleaming and brittle. tops for me too!

[@philipcalvert4732]

Brava! The grace was truly something else. Lovely piece

[@JohnRaymondHall]

and the 1950s film quality adds so beautifully to the 'SL' atmosphere.

[@viewerabundzu6887]

she was sooooo expressive and classical

[@JohnRaymondHall]

hi Stephen - good to hear from you! yes, i agree about Fonteyn's line - the lack of straining for extension makes it feel comfortable for the audience to watch - we are not distracted by trying for technique. i like your term 'smoothness' - it captures something of the quality of that line.

[@judithbooth4855]

John Hall. I just watched Zakharova do this role. After watching Fonteyn it is even more clear how Zakharova just does the steps. Never once while watching this did I doubt the connection between Siegfried and Odette. The interpretation is NOT in the steps despite the fact that this is dancing. The interpretation is in the head, arms, eyes, the quickness or slowness of the movement, the musicality and not only that but the feeling for the music in the context of the story being told.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

judith booth hi! good to be in touch - been busy with renovations and not YT-ing much but am back now. yes and in the way the steps and porte de bras and so on are phased - the steps and so on are just the mechanics or blueprint - the mean is in the phrasing and the way this is related to the music.

[@judithbooth4855]

John Hall. I just got my Mac Mini. I will email you with questions if I may?

[@JohnRaymondHall]

judith booth a friend was telling me about the Mac Mini - i understand it is a computer but without keyboard and screen - sounds a great concept. happy to help in any way i can. what happened to your old computer?

[@normamimosa7295]

Well trained dancers today don't strain for extensions. They are natural, well placed, high and beautiful. The top dancers of today (pretty well all Russian trained) also have way more artistry than those of this period. In fact, this performance is painful to watch: the technique terrible, the lighting all wrong, and the acting stilted and superficial.

[@mirataylor6263]

Spotted a young Sibley as one of the four lead swans (on right). There is brief close up as Somes enters to inspect the line up c 4.35. Gosh, the character of Benno seems like a complete gooseberry :) Thanks for this.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

Mira Taylor yes, i spotted her too - and i suspect there are other now well-known ballerinas in the corps. yes, i've never thought the character Benno added much to the ballet in terms of drama or chore - the pas de trois is less than the pas de deux of today.

[@avesraggiana]

+John Hall I wonder if Dame Monica Mason was also included in the corps de ballet in this filming?

[@JohnRaymondHall]

+Aves Raggiana she could well be there - i must watch the video more closely again and see if i can google up the complete cast list.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

i only saw hi once on stage (when not doing Lord Capulet, etc) - it was at a gala and he came on and did a tiny bit of 'daphnis and cloe' with Fonteyn. but it was past the end of his career and for nostalgia - not that i was nostalgic as i hadn't seen him at his 'prime' shall we say.

[@frankfarrar4877]

Fonteyn like Vivien Leigh has an inner spotlight. It dazzles and you can't take your eyes off them. such luminosity is quite rare.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

well put - it catches that quality about the ballerina :)

[@walterbenjamin1386]

13:48 My favorite moment in Swan Lake. My most revered dancers in this moment are Fonteyn (here) and Plisetskaya (1957) The swan seems to be expressing her frustration at not being able to fly away, yet the music is so paradoxically jolly. I love how sharply she executes her steps. The conductors here (Lanchbery) and in 1957 (Yuri Fayer) are thankfully energetic and dance-like, not deadly slow and dull, like so many conductors today. The conductor plays a huge role in the success or not of ballet, imo. It is dance, after all, and needs to be rhythmic, also imo. Is there a traditional interpretation of these movements? What are those diagonal turns called? Thanks for uploading, John Hall. Fonteyn is ripe and magnificent here.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

i love those turns of direction too and that they add so well to the meaning of that moment in the ballet! i used to see Fonteyn in 'SL' on stage at Covent Garden and always wondered at the expressive poetry of her dancing - palpably reflecting the emotions of the swan queen.

[@artwatch-y9j]

❤

[@alexandraconstantin4778]

This is by far my favourite video of Swan Lake. Fonteyn glows from within and she's so musical, the music just seems to come from inside. Much better than the Vienna recording with Nureyev, where she really seemed to have an off day (and Nureyev's makeup is hilarious).

[@JohnRaymondHall]

my favourite footage too - i think, apart from everything else you so rightly say, the quality of the 1950s film footage adds to the atmosphere of the ballet. yes, Nureyev looks like a transvestite i'm sad to say.

[@sedekiman]

I find in the Vienna recording a more mature reading of the role. She is a very gentle soul, no sharpness, but a roundness of form. A very satisfying interpretaion, showing love, and yet intensity. A quite remarkable performance and my favourite version of this ballet.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

hi jengirl2 yes, as many have said so sadly i'm not saying anything original, it was in the understatement and great simplicity (everything pared back) and musicality - not obvious qualities - that Fonteyn's greatness lay i think this footage shows these qualities very well glad you like her now :)

[@JohnRaymondHall]

hi Daniel Sedo - i can't see your comment to reply to it - did you remove it or did something go wrong with YT. cheers

[@artwatch-y9j]

Today’s ballerinas are like acrobatic athletes, no one dances like Margo

[@sedekiman824]

Another thing I like about Fonteyn is her extended leg is traight through to the foot, no flicking up of her foot to spoil the total line.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

i think i remember reading he was off pretty much the whole war - certainly there are no photos i know of with him and the RB during the period 1939-45 - there are lots of course with Helpmann and Fonteyn and Shearer and Pamela May and so on. the goodness of his technique would be only relative to the general standard of the RB at the time - no comparison with what was happening in Russia

[@JohnRaymondHall]

yes, this is only 1954 - i must look out any film of him dancing before the war - do you know if anything exists? he was 22 when the war broke out.

[@avesraggiana]

Such a huge flock of swans in this older production. I think I count well over thirty. It makes me wonder two things - why subsequent productions of Royal Ballet Swan Lakes have featured a much reduced swan corps, a flock culled down to twenty four; and why in the Royal Ballet’s “La Bayadere”, the shades have been likewise reduced in number from thirty two to twenty four.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

+Aves Raggiana i wonder if it could be as simple as economics? dancers get paid by performance as well as a base salary. the RB is always talking about how wildly expensive it is to mount and put on ballets. sadly the ballets suffer. i wonder if the Mariinsky or the Bolshoi are experiencing similar cuts?

[@JohnRaymondHall]

i wonder what's going on! how do you share a video - maybe i should try to share one with you and see if it works the other way round?

[@JohnRaymondHall]

yes, i remember she married Somes - it lasted for nearly ten years. he was 20 years older. yes, handsome and a big masculine body.pity his dancing wasn't of the same level as these other attributes.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

what did you see him in that once?

[@andybarnes9168]

can you show me the full ballet please it is wonderful margot i a great dancer and may i please copy the costumes and backdrop please

[@JohnRaymondHall]

hi Andy. i'm not sure whether i have the rest of the ballet - i'll look and post it if i do. glad you enjoyed it - one of my favourite bits of footage of this great understated ballerina.

[@walterbenjamin1386]

13:48 my favorite moment in Swan Lake.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

one of mine too - such a beautiful combination of steps

[@walterbenjamin1386]

@@JohnRaymondHall Ha! I didn't realize I had posted this 6 years ago, too. Shows how much I return to this video. Thanks so much JRH.

[@JohnRaymondHall]

yes, there are those videos you just can't stop going back to :) @@walterbenjamin1386

[@walterbenjamin1386]

@@JohnRaymondHall Back again, there's something Fonteyn does with her head at 9:54 - a little flourish, that's unique to her. I haven't noticed any other dancers do that beautiful ornamentation. Do you notice it?

[@pediatrapaola]

tried again to share a video but still impossible .

[@JohnRaymondHall]

how do i share a video with you? do i just make a message and add the video to the bottom? i'll try that - see how we go.

[@pediatrapaola]

no l only saw in audience in covent garden ,he was around 61/2 l guess but still very handsome really.surely a movie actor look ,the problem was his dancing really low level also in 50's .

[@pininfarinarossa8112]

Interesting! Thank you very much! But there is no continuos dancing- just a step, then a pause, then a new step, then a pause🤷‍♀️

[@pediatrapaola]

l know that antoinette sibley married somes (one handsome man undoubtly ) but also surely didn't fall in love for his dancing skills l guess.

[@pediatrapaola]

try it

[@pediatrapaola]

l never saw nothing about him dancing before war ,l don't know how long he stopped if he had to stop thee whole war surely his technique lost drammatically ,but no idea how could be in his very prime before war.

[@pediatrapaola]

nothing to say about his phisical apperence ,l saw once live and also later was really acctractive man ,the important was didn't dance .LOL

[@pediatrapaola]

try try

[@normamimosa7295]

So so bad! Absolutely and retrospectively!

[@sedekiman]

Norma Mimosa-so so ridiculous comment. Enjoy your dancing sticks, and their over extensions, no musicality, and over emoting.