I only recently discovered this dancer…
…and yet Galina Mezentseva has been retired for at least twenty years, and is of my generation.
The minute I watched the very first video that I’d ever seen of her, which featured her performing Odile (the Black Swan role in “Swan Lake”), I was riveted. I’ve seen plenty of dancers, and know the styles of so many that for the most part I don’t even have to see their faces to identify them. They are all a bit different, but they divide into types.
But Mezentseva is different from all of them. She has an unusual combination of qualities that could seem really mannered and affected but does not because some extraordinary conviction, a seamless dramatic commitment on her part, plus a tremendous physical strength that never comes across as delicate or fragile but is still very beautiful and feminine, as well as a musicality that never falters, transcends it all and puts her performance into another realm—the realm of the nearly inhuman.
There isn’t a moment you aren’t assured that her balance will be plumb straight. There isn’t a moment she isn’t fully stretched, particularly her endless (and somewhat thin, even for a dancer) arms. Nothing is left to chance, nothing is unintentional, and everything is of a piece. When upright with arms fully stretched, her fingers seem to extend outward into the space around her—to the ceiling, to the wings—and she gives the illusion of filling the entire stage not just with her presence, but with her body.
I’ve never seen anything like it. And this is a video, never the best medium for dance.
She poses sometimes, and that has a certain stagey element. But I don’t care, because her poses are the fullest, most extreme expression of the music and the ballet I’ve ever seen, and she does all of this without looking like a gymnast or contortionist. Remember that these videos were taken in the 70s and 80s, when this sort of physicality was almost unheard of. At one point she sustained a very severe Achilles tendon injury and was apparently never the same again, according to admirers, and I’m not sure whether any of these videos are after the injury, but they are still marvelous.
There are actually very few videos of her at all, for some reason. Here she is as Odette, the Swan Queen (I’m not keen on the photography here, which features too many closeups, but that’s a small and relatively unimportant point):
This one is a long documentary with excerpts from many ballets—very wonderful. There are a few talking heads here and there; you’ll have to speak Russian to understand them, because there are no subtitles. But there’s a lot more dancing than talking.
There are many other videos at YouTube, if you want to watch more.
“There isn’t a moment you aren’t assured that her balance will be plumb straight. There isn’t a moment she isn’t fully stretched, particularly her endless (and somewhat thin, even for a dancer) arms. Nothing is left to chance, nothing is unintentional, and everything is of a piece. … she gives the illusion of filling the entire stage not just with her presence, but with her body.
I’ve never seen anything like it. … her poses are the fullest, most extreme expression of the music and the ballet I’ve ever seen, and she does all of this without looking like a gymnast or contortionist.”
In the first video, starting @ 3:36 she exhibits perfect balance, total control and exquisite grace.
Why is it that some of the very greatest artists are not appreciated until well after their time?
“When you’re one step ahead of the crowd, you’re a genius. When you’re two steps ahead, you’re a crackpot.” — Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
The contrast in public appreciation between Michelangelo and Vincent van Gogh would appear to support the good Rabbi’s observation.
OMG! She is just amazing in The Legend of Love!
Actually, she is just amazing – period.
Thanks so much, neo!
Tonight, on 60 minutes (channel 2), interview with ballet dancer Misty Copeland…
and funny funny, interview with Jack Barsky – KGB sleeper mole living in the US that changed sides and will be cluing us in on what he did…
Mothers Day Videos:
http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2015/05/happy-mothers-day-to-all-moms-out-there.html
I’ve never been a fan of ballet, but Galina Mezentseva’s rendition of Swan Lake was just enchanting. The discipline required to reach that level of skill is beyond my comprehension.
Last version of Swan lake i saw was the all male gay version… after that, i had all kinds of gay mail, literature, and naked pictures in my mailbox… cause everyone who loves broadway has to be gay, right? (and broadway wonders why few bother to go… but then again, why go if you have the angry inch?)
Needs a bit more horse would be nice!