Le Corsaire Pas De Deux (Kirkland and Nureyev)

A rare silent video of Gelsey Kirkland and Rudolph Nureyev in the Le Corsiare Pas De Deux

[@v9473d]

Her bourres are flawless and to watch Nureyev is like watching perfection in motion. Two extraordinary performers!

[@linhiril664]

I was there. It was one of the most perfect and incredible performances I have ever seen, and it stopped the show, literally. The scuttlebutt was that he asked her to be his permanent partner, but she turned him down. She had just been horribly and publicly rejected by Baryshnikov and may have been holding on to hope. Nureyev would have been so good for her as he could be very gentle and protective, but also his schedule was so punishing that I don't know if she could have withstood it at the time. This was "the very best gala ever" summer of 1976, the height of the "ballet boom," and this performance was just non pareil. I wish there were sound, but I am so glad someone recorded this once in a lifetime event. It was the only time they danced together. I will never forget it

[@carlenamoss8955]

Wow. Thank you for this footage.

[@janetshannon6194]

How fortunate you were to have been in the audience. Yes, you can see how protective and affectionate he is with her. He would have been good for her, although stylistically they're not a perfect match because of her smooth, flowing like water quality vs. his wild cheetah restlessness. But it's such a treat to see them together and how they handle one another. I remember going to watch him and Fonteyn roughly 6 or 7 years earlier, in Romeo and Juliet. Gelsey had snuck in at the standing room level at Grand Tier and we both watched the balcony scene en rapt. She had not yet left NYCB but surely what she saw inspired her to. Not that she wasn't fortunate to have been trained at SAB and been in the NYCB and worked with Balanchine, but his focus on Farrell--and even Farrell's image during her absence after he fired her--was such a source of agony for Gelsey that for some reason she really needed to pursue her own career, get away from him. I don't think she liked the fact that Balanchine was essentially a benevolent dictator. She wasn't one of the dancers he hit on, yet she wanted him to think she was beautiful. She didn't want to have sex with him, but she was plagued by HIS concept of an aesthetic feminine ideal that she did not fulfill. The only stupid thing he ever did was to nod and say "Down to the bone" when she voluntarily lost 10 lbs. and he noticed when he walked by her in company class one morning--gave her the thumbs up. She never needed to lose an ounce. Originally, she was short but not too short, and had a tough, cute, compact little build that was pretty and athletic looking. She was technically more proficient than nearly any dancer of her day and yet she desperately wanted to look like a model.Too bad Nureyev had to try to pin her down--but why wouldn't he want the best and her size would have made her easy for him to lift--he was finding the taller dancers more and more of a strain on his back to lift. Maybe is he had asked her to join him now and then and hadn't asked for a permanent partnership they would have danced together more often. He didn't have good luck with women, except Fonteyn--and even she rejected him when he first arrived in the West and he requested to dance with her. He had to ingratiate himself and get to know her through friends in the beginning, it didn't happen overnight the way they pretended it did for the press. But when they finally did a performance of Giselle people went berserk--44 curtain calls. He and Fonteyn carried on a love affair through his life as a gay man. These people had incredible physical energy. Of course he danced too long. What else was he going to do?

[@linhiril664]

I was devastated when she stopped dancing. I thought she was way more than wonderful.

[@brendaannedufaur6244]

Janet thank you for your lovely and long comment. Do you think Fonteyn and Nureyev consummated their love affair or do you think it was emotional and spiritual only. How ironic that in the beginning farrell was a little chunky but balanchine worshipped her and thought she was perfect just as she was. What a shame kirkland became too thin. Not to mention the drugs. I wonder how it could have been had she had self confidence and emotional equilibrium from the very beginning. Same thing the lovely Allegra Kent.

[@barbaral.h.1717]

@@janetshannon6194 how do u know all this?

[@briannorrisdance]

Those Fouette turns of Gelsey's are everything! I can't stop watching them! She seems very secure here with Nureyev, too bad they didn't partner together more. Thank you for sharing!

[@janetshannon6194]

I remember watching Fonteyn and Nureyev in the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet from standing room on the left at the Grand Tier level of the Met. Gelsey had finished her performance next door at NYCB and snuck in and was watching from the right side of standing room in Grand Tier--she had parked her bottom on the ramp, crossed her legs and sat there, wearing a large sun hat that matched her hot pants. She was absolutely en rapt...If only she and Nureyev could have danced together more or earlier in each of their careers...It's not an ideal pairing but it's wonderful, absolutely wonderful. She is clearly fond of him and he so affectionate and respectful to her. He was great at partnering.

[@tkoran]

I never knew Gelsey danced with Rudolph! Great footage!

[@pediatrapaola]

l knew because read a rewiew long ago on a book of dance critic arlene croce but never supposed l could see it ,a true treasure

[@janetshannon6194]

Apparently they did this one performance in 1976. I thought there were a couple of performances. ???

[@minissa2009]

@@pediatrapaola Was that Afterimages? I learned a lot about being a dance critic from her and Anna Kisselgoff.

[@pediatrapaola]

@@minissa2009 YES WAS ON AFTER IMAGES the BOOK of rewiews that she wrote during many years ,a book collection of her reviews ,infact I read about this nureyev /kirkland corsaire long ago on that book far before YOU TUBE ,and always l was courious about it ,now many years later saw finally it on YT -

[@jcliff26]

Yes. Quite a bit with ABT.

[@TotallyMH729TsMH]

Even though there's no music, this is so beautiful

[@minissa2009]

The way she works through her feet rolling up onto pointe and down again in those passe releves is gorgeous. I was only able to see her live when she went into her downward spiral and she still did jaw-dropping turns. Interesting that, with enormous extensions having become de rigeur these days that her she kept hers relatively low. Shows you that's not what dance is all about! Thx for posting!

[@user-kj8zm3qw9f]

Ничего не поняла, но принимаю ее всем своим существом. Как жаль, что больше не танцевали вместе.

[@user-kj8zm3qw9f]

Мне тоже показалось, что оба будут танцевать пока не упадут, сверх своих возможностей, физических и духовных. Они не досигаемы!!! Браво'!

[@kerrytakashi12]

Gorgeous! I think this was the Gala that Kirkland invited Nureyev to partner her never thinking he would accept so quickly. They both were dancers willing to take risks, pushing themselves to the point of falling. They were two dangerous creatures on stage. Too bad nothing more came out of this appearance.

[@b.e.ufobe5221]

Two Extraordinary dancers, artists! How fortunate we are to e perience their gifts and be a treasured memory.

[@2snowgirl520]

Thanks for posting! Unbelievable, those two were magic.

[@jondavwal13]

I think Gelsey was the blueprint for modern day ballerinas, especially the current crop of Russian dancers, albeit they achieved the result in reverse. She desperately tried to infuse her dancing with what came before Ballanchine and they modernized the classic Russian style. However, as good as they are, they are missing something essential that she had. They are exciting, musical, powerful and technically brilliant, but she was all that with an added fluidity, ease, and lightness that made her dancing, IMO, the greatest in history. For me, there is GK, and then there is everybody else, not even a close second.

[@kdub10009]

Jonathan Wallach I couldn’t agree with you more!

[@janetshannon6194]

Remember that at this point he had been dancing professionally for nearly 20 years. Fonteyn was a better match for him stylistically. But his partnering of Gelsey and the protectiveness and affection he lavishes on her are very moving. He is like a cheetah and she is like a smooth, steady flow of water; it's true they don't match stylistically but it's still great to see them dancing together. His partnership with Fonteyn was ideal, perfect, transported one to another galaxy. I remember Gelsey watching them from standing room in Grand Tier during the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet when she was still dancing with the NYCB. Nureyev was also a beautiful creature in real life and might have distracted her from her obsession with trying to look like Suzanne Farrell. But again, he is getting on and ultimately the dry, pure, bright version of Fonteyn's style in Le Corsaire harmonizes much better with the sensuality, brawn and wildness of Nureyev's corsair--somehow it just works. But it's a wonderful novelty to see Kirkland and Nureyev together. I wish somebody would figure out how to add the music to this clip--it can be done--they did it with the clip of Gelsey and Baryshnikov dancing the same pas de deux. This is an excellent reason of why it's so ridiculous not to let people film in the theaters. Professional films never capture the speed and essence of dance. I can't understand why.

[@havenization]

Gelsey's has a very unique genius for phrasing thus making the most of the choreography and music . Its like she bends space and time ( just look at her clip of Giselle ) . I remember reading in Dance Magazine there was an article about her where they quoted her as saying in ballet have to make the un-natural look natural. That stuck with me my whole dance career .

[@serenitypeaceandcomfort3669]

Agreed!

[@StanislavIssaev]

Kelsey Kirkland is an absolutely unique phenomenon, there is no one to compare her with, she stands completely apart in the whole world, just like Ulanova once stood, just as Zakharova stands now, you can't compare anyone on this level. All the more so you can't say Russian or American in Ballet Art, this is Art and it's absolutely not obeys no nation. Many people love or dislike someone, but that doesn't mean anything when it comes to dancers of this level.

[@justsayin1643]

Watching these two dance. She so light and airy and he is the standard of those before and after.

[@lacouerfairy]

Gelsey always appeared whisper light, like no other ballerina I can think of. It was like she was weightless. I know she only weighed about 90lbs, but even so, her dancing was almost ghostly. A marvel to watch.

[@ASDasdSDize]

lacouerfairy comments like that is what keeps people sick.

[@janetshannon6194]

Her weightlessness has nothing to do with her weighing 90 lbs. I saw her when she was her original, normal, healthy body weight and she was weightless, brilliant, perfectly lovely. No reason for her to have shed a pound. Mr. B never told her to lose weight but she was obsessed with his worship of Farrell and wanted to look like a model. Such a shame that she had that monkey on her back because she had at great build and it was Mr. B who gave her the thumbs up when she voluntarily started stripping herself down for the first time. He passed her in company class and noticed she'd dropped ten lbs. and said, "Down to the bone!" When I go to NYCB today it's so great to see so many different body types. There are lots of really skinny girls but there are girls of all different kinds of builds and girls with a health body fat ratio. That's one good thing Peter Martins supported.

[@ktiffy9213]

+ASDasdSDize no darling, this supernatural

[@minissa2009]

@@janetshannon6194 When I lived in the New York area seeing all the dance I could cram into my time there, the axiom tended to be that a ballerina for NYCB identified herself in this order: 1) a Balanchine ballerina; 2) a ballerina; 3) a person. Her book, Dancing on My Grave, while catty in places, did give some insight into why she went into her self-destructive downward spiral. The last year I lived in NYC, she did 4 performances with ABT, of which I saw 3. She was still better than 99% of ballerinas dancing at that time, but she looked very unfocused. In that interview where she talks about the constant pain and dancing while on cocaine, I wasn't surprised. In fact the backstage footage is, I'm pretty sure, from a performance I saw at the Mann Music Center. So glad she got her life back together, but she was a luminary who should have lit the dance world for many more years.

[@kerrytakashi12]

@@janetshannon6194 Kirkland had a lot going on in her head and this most likely led her to misunderstand her colleagues, most especially the colleagues that she looked upon as father figures. To be fair to Balanchine, he probably had a very droll, sarcastic Eastern European/Russian sense of communication. It is possible that he commented about her weight in a manner that seemed mocking was really his way of telling her to stop. But in her eyes it didn't become a caution to stop but to keep going. I've looked back at the old clips in 50s, 60s and 70s and I couldn't say that he encouraged extremely thin dancers. All the female dancers were of various sizes and shapes. He was very definitely looking for a type that only he favored. And it could be said, any female dancer in the company during his time embodied his ideal in some way. But since none of the dancers at the time could accurately pin down what inspired him, they latched onto what they could control...their own weight.

[@tabbo2911]

thank you SOOO much for sharing this! I read In Gelsey's autobiography that they danced together but I had no idea there was footage of the partnership. Amazing!

[@balabanov11]

This. is. unbelievable. Rudi is an animal, and the variations Kelsey does have to be seen to be believed. Incredible.

[@pediatrapaola]

wow wow and wow l knew he danced it with her because read on a book of arlene croce the rewiew of this event but neverr saw it .thank you very much

[@simaraft7373]

What an amazing thing to see this. Thank you a million times. Without sound you almost see Rudi better, appreciate him more. That sinuous spiral in his body... No one else had it!

[@pediatrapaola]

he was always very special in this role so deeply linked to him .

[@simaraft7373]

pediatrapaola Yes he's even better than Farrukh!

[@pediatrapaola]

Sima Raft in hei prime for sure ,nobody WAS in the role like him , here ,he is still impressive but his technique was already no longer at his top ,he danced too much ,he never gave to his body the needed rest and the possibility to recover ,he was ill of stage ,he danced years everynight sometime twice for days ,he was like crazy .imo already since half 70's he was no longer like before ,later went worst and worst untill becoming really unwatchable in early 80's .personally l stopped around 81 going to watch his performances ,was to sad watching the ghost of the great dancer he was

[@simaraft7373]

pediatrapaola True, sad, and fascinating.

[@janetshannon6194]

He was so sensual and there was so beauty in everything he did--even at this late stage in his career.

[@mingdynasty112]

Oh to have been there that night!

[@dianabirchall]

To previous commenters, no, this wasn't the only time they danced together. I saw them dance together in the Raymonda he did for ABT. He partnered most of the female stars in that production.

[@linhiril664]

dianabirchall how in the world did I miss that?

[@kavalkid1]

You are an angel for posting this! Thank you!

[@TheLouisnavarrete]

On her leg 100% of the time! Great.

[@keltiawind21]

Thank you so much for uploading this. Exquisite.

[@soniamouraomourao7420]

Beautiful

[@barbaralemere5183]

Gelsey floats on the air in this. I'm so glad you posted this, John. I read about this performance and I have seen stills, but I never saw the actual performance. I wish that Rudi and Gelsey had had a few more performances together in other things. They would probably have done something amazing! I'd love to see Gelsey's Raymonda with him.

[@broadway5464]

Gorgeous/ thank you for this

[@anacristinamarcal114]

Extraordinary!!!! Dancing with perfection and wonderfull artistic performance. Young dancers must know and inspirate with these dance legends.

[@vickyk1861]

Luckily there is no much need of sound while watching Gelsey Kirkland

[@minissa2009]

I'm trying to talk the person who has another ballet channel into posting Acts 2 and 3 of a Cojacaru Bayadere. They're silent, but with dancers of that caliber, I really don't mind humming!

[@dmmchugh3714]

Gelsey doing the triple fouettes at least a generation before today's primas.

[@jcliff26]

Those are double fouettés but nicely done.

[@dmmchugh3714]

@@jcliff26: good eyes, thanks !

[@jcliff26]

Actually that’s not entirely true. There’s films of Dudinskaya doing 5 pirouettes in the 1940’s in Batadere, and Allegra Kent doing a sensational triple fouetté in Balanchine’s Waltz of the Flowers from 1958 I posted on KZbin. It’s great you love Gelsey but there were many before her.

[@minissa2009]

@@jcliff26 My eternal love and dance goddess is Martine van Hamel, but I think it's for a lot of the reasons people loved Kirkland, especially her musicality. And there's footage of Alicia Alonso doing 5 pirouettes from one preparation. We sometimes think technique improves over time (maybe more true of danseurs than ballerinas) but these people were stars for a reason. I think people think Fonteyn was "good for her day," but she was an amazing technician, esp her speed. We look at her lower extensions and postulate from that that her technique overall was inferior to that of ballerinas today, but gigantic, knee-in-you-ear extensions just wasn't part of the aesthetic when she was dancing. And please leave me you dance collection in your will!

[@jcliff26]

@@minissa2009 My collection is all here free on KZbin.

[@serenitypeaceandcomfort3669]

This was a beautiful partnership. Gelsey, like Fonteyn, was able to portray the character emotionally as well as be technically sublime.

[@user-kj8zm3qw9f]

Дуэт умопомрачительный!

[@normezmoi]

What a disaster there is not an official recording of this performance. Kirkland is perfect.

[@Linda-iw7bk]

Could someone dub music for this. Someone dubbed Irina Baraksanova's Sweet and Tender Beast when the only footage of her on youtube was from the Friendship Games when Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Olympics. Highly recommend her performances in this waltz, she seems to speak with her hands. As good as any ballerina!

[@minissa2009]

Oh, come on, you can't hum along?

[@AUGUSTABALLET]

R. Nureyev is unique. Ballet needs technical issues of course. But after that, expression. By the way in both nobody did what he did.Ballet is not Gym...............and/ or Circus. Different approaches............He is the name of the XX Century...( Vaslav Nijinsky was few years active due his psychological troubles-Years active 1908-1916) Pierre Bergé said about Rudolf Nureyev: "He was a dancer like any other dancer. It is extraordinary to have 19 points out of 20. It is extremely rare to have 20 out of 20. However, to have 21 out of 20 is even much rarer. And this was the situation with Nureyev".

[@persiatuvim2860]

Augusta Niederauer Soares PhD. UN-NGO l

[@soniamouraomourao7420]

Nureyev maravilhoso

[@tommydenzio]

Yes Gelsey mastered the bouree .

[@barbaralemere5183]

Gelsey is light as air in this video but her dancing has clarity and control. I wish she had had a few more opportunities to dance with Nureyev. They look well matched in this clip. Rudolf seems to have more of the plasticity in his knees and ankles in this performance than he did in some performances in later years due to age and illness. They both danced extremely well in this performance. Thank you for sharing this John. I love Gelsey clips!

[@vickyk1861]

wow

[@Dane_Youssef]

In her first autobiography, DANCING ON MY GRAVE, the dear girl talked about the big day where she finally got to dance with no less than Nureyev himself. It was a dream of hers as what inspired her to take up ballet was seeing a performance of "Rudi and Margot". I have to admit, her own example inspired the likes of me to take up the craft myself. Her and "Misha". They didn't just make beautiful ballet. Like the greats, they made history, didn't they?

[@mariachile2368]

Que. Maravilla!! Pero No puedo creer q no exista una mejor filmación q esta, una profesional , remasterizada y con sonido 😢

[@learntocrochet1]

John, I should have read before I commented! thanks

[@isabeldiezlangre9411]

Maravillosos bailarines. Rudolf impresionante y magnético, como siempre..

[@YosvaniRamos-Ballet]

What year was this? She was so ahead of her time!!

[@jcliff26]

Mid 70’s

[@JeremyNasmith]

As far as I know this is the only time they performed together. Baryshnikov declined for whatever reason, so Gelsey asked Rudi, who agreed. I have an old VHS with this clip, as well as Misha and Gelsey dancing Corsaire, and some other very rare clips of Gelsey in her heyday . Most have no sound, like this clip. [edited for typos]

[@jcliff26]

They danced Rudi’s full length RAYMONDA together too.

[@user-kj8zm3qw9f]

Впервые не отрывала глаз от партнёрши Нуреева. Когда он танцует, никого не вижу. И вдруг такая лёгкость, воздушность и прелесть..

[@thegoof1226able]

She looks really on here, yet in the Don Quixote video of the same year with Baryshnikov, she looks so frail and unstable. She must have declined very rapidly. How long was her career?

[@jondavwal13]

Right after this she was cast in "The Turning Point" and she started starving herself in hopes of getting fired. She did not want to make the movie. The Don Quixote video you are talking about is from a series of pas de deux she performed on TV in 1976 with Baryshnikov and she could barely stand up she was so malnourished. A year after that (after she started eating again) she performed the complete Don Quixote at ABT and those performances as Kitri were probably the greatest of her career (although many believe her Giselle was untouchable). I saw it live and you can see it without sound at the Lincoln Center Library. It's mind blowing dancing. She completely danced him off the stage. Her career lasted from the late 60s until the late 80s but the peak was about 1974-1979. After that she became a drug addict and she was dismissed from ABT in 1984. She returned in 1986 or 87 to dance in London but, while she was good, she was not the dancer she was before, IMO, the greatest of all time.

[@carolebournier1219]

@@jondavwal13 who did she danced off in DonQuixote? Baryshnikov? I know what you mean, it's just you don't mention the partner!

[@mysticmeg111]

She is a Will o' The Wisp.....for sure.

[@user-kj8zm3qw9f]

Какая куколка! Лучшие в Баядерке, два совершенства

[@user-of6ht4jd1s]

Р Нуреев На сценеСпасибо_это уже музыка!Это видео без музыки, но это не важно.Главное видеть Гения в танце!

[@kaythomas3171]

GK is very good,.....but she doesn't have the "electricity" with Nureyev like Fonteyn had......Margot had a magic "presence'..... Kirkland looks like she could be Rudi's daughter, "little girl" looking,....almost too young next to him......

[@douglassmith3016]

😃

[@b.e.ufobe5221]

Should be experience their gifts

[@sana11sana19]

очень хорошо!!!!платье у гилси киркланд конечно ужасное для этого номера😔совершенно не видно ног!а это так необходимо в этих вариациях!☺️

[@justsayin1643]

When opposites attract!

[@user-vb8lg3qy5g]

интересно,какой год? рудольф выглядит неважно по фоме,а ведь после общения с бруно он значительно пибавил в чистоте танца...

[@patriciafoster3347]

How old was she here?

[@soniamouraomourao7420]

No music.

[@pediatrapaola]

must be around 75/6 isn't it?

[@linhiril664]

pediatrapaola 1976. Spring

[@pediatrapaola]

rudy was better than usual here considering was 76 and being 38 probabily he felt this event with miss kirkland important and gave his best

[@dongjinlee2049]

What year was this by the way

[@linhiril664]

Dongjin Lee 1976

[@hollygolightly8048]

Ms Kirkland should have stuck with Nureyev instead of following Baryshnikov. Really beautiful.

[@salomonbenavides529]

8:59 8:59

[@nataliedelagrandiere4022]

You can hardly see anything and there is no sound just noise!

[@jcliff26]

Yes. This was recorded without sound by a fan. But I can see it fine.

[@carolebournier1219]

as if the sound was needed...

[@learntocrochet1]

no sound...

[@jcliff26]

Love Music Yes I know. It was a super 8 old fashioned "brownie" filmed early 1970's

[@pediatrapaola]

wistle it .l did lol