GO: Cynthia Gregory in conversation this Friday

Can anyone help me with this: The debut of Baryshnikov at ABT (1974) with Makarova in Giselle. I remember Cynthia Gregory was the Myrta but cannot find a review or my program.

Dear Joel,

I don't have the program, but Arlene Croce wrote about his debuts in "Giselle" and "La Bayadere" in an essay entitled "Baryshnikov's Day," published August 19, 1974, which later was reprinted in her collection "Afterimages." It doesn't mention Cynthia Gregory, but it does identify Natalia Makarova as his partner (i.e., Giselle) for both ballets. To confirm you might try the Ballet Talk forum. A lot of knowledgeable longtime viewers there.

Good luck,
Apollinaire

Hello Apollinaire,

Thank you for your response. I did read Toni Bentley's review, and it was great. Another critic I adore is Patricia Boccadoro at www.culturekiosque.com

She also disliked that book, and she knew and adored Rudi. Her review was terrific (she has a lot of reviews regarding Rudi and the Paris Opera Ballet, etc.).

Kathy

Hi, Kathy,

Thank you for the tip. I'll definitely check out culturekiosque.com and this Ms. Boccadoro. ~) Apollinaire

I was happy to read about Cynthia Gregory again. I have wonderful memories of seeing her dance in New York. My favorite memory is of "Swan Lake." She danced it with Rudolf Nureyev on April 27, 1979, at the Met. Rudi was 41 and Cynthia was 32, and they were phenomenal!

The audience went wild following the Act III Black Swan pas de deux-- clapping, whistling, yelling. They were tremendous and generously gave us an encore! And the encore was even better. The place exploded with applause, etc. Of course, the audience wanted another encore, but Rudi wiped his brow and mimed "no more." Both dancers were thrilled, and it showed.

Cynthia was a beautiful Odette/Odile - her Odette broke your heart, and Odile was so dramatic and alluring. Although she preferred dancing with tall danseurs, she loved dancing with Rudi. They were perfect together; of course, he stood tall and danced tall. He was very strong and supported her beautifully.

I just discovered this site. It is wonderful. I wish I had found it earlier--when you had the discussion on the Kavanagh book about Rudolf Nureyev. [http://www.artsjournal.com/foot/2007/10/to_make_up_for_all_the_schaden.html] What a terrific forum, and I am so sorry that I wasn't a part of it as I have numerous problems with that "authorized" biography. It was so obvious that Kavanagh didn't like or respect Rudi, and she, like so many other writers since his death, was obsessed with his private sex life. It was despicable of her to provide details of his horrific illness (shame on those who gave her so much medical info).

Thank you for this forum.

Dear Kathy,

Thank you for your encouraging words--and your memories of Gregory and Nureyev. Makes me jealous! I haven't yet seen this "Together" DVD yet, so my memories of Gregory are woefully blurry, but I do remember finding her entrancing--and in "Swan Lake," in particular. A high school friend and I would leave school early to catch her in the Wednesday matinee at the SF War Memorial Opera House--way high up.

And, yes, it's a terrible thing that Nureyev's authorized biographer had so little feeling for her subject--for his dancing and his ferocity: how it might be a powerfully good thing--and that, to make matters worse, all the critics who ever resented Nureyev his oversized self used the bio as an opportunity to punish him (now that he's not around to punish them right back). I did think, though, that Toni Bentley's review in the Times [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/Bentley-t.html?ref=books&pagewanted=all] almost made up for it all.

Thanks again for writing. (I should warn you--I alternate between ballet and experimental/postmodern dance. So there may be posts that don't much interest you.)

~Apollinaire

Sounds great! Wish I could go. Is anyone recording/youtubing/podcasting it?

Hello! Hmmmm.... I don't know. Perhaps if you called the Barnes and Noble store, they would decide to...