A Few Outstanding Partnerships Over the Years
Alicia Alonso and Igor Youskevitch
Igor Youskevitch and Alicia Alonso were acknowledged as one of the great ballet partnerships of the twentieth century. This couple danced many ballets together as stars of both the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and Ballet Theatre (as the company was known then). Their partnership reached its pinnacle in “Giselle” (audience members were brought to tears). It showcased their symbiotic partnering skills which were married perfectly to their artistic and technical mastery.
Youskevitch’s strength and sensitivity as a partner set the standard for the younger generation of up-and-coming stars such as Royes Fernandez and Erik Bruhn. He also influenced a whole generation of Cuban male dancers during his residencies in Cuba with Alonso.
George Balanchine created his famous “Theme and Variations” specifically for Youskevitch and Alonso. To this day, “Theme” has remained a challenge to any pair willing to test their mettle and stretch their skills. Theirs was a partnership in the truest sense of the word. They danced together as one. There was no competition…..only mutual support and respect.
In 1959, the year Castro came to power, the partnership broke up because relations between the U.S. and Cuba were severed, and Americans were asked to leave the country.
Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev
In 1961, just as Margot Fonteyn was contemplating retirement from The Royal Ballet, Rudolph Nureyev defected from Russia changing her life forever. Despite their differences in background, temperament and a 19-year age difference, Nureyev and Fonteyn became close, lifelong friends as well as dance partners. Together they forever transformed such cornerstone ballets as Swan Lake and Giselle. Frederick Ashton’s “Marguerite and Armand”, which became their signature piece, was choreographed especially for them.
Fonteyn’s lady-like demeanor was a stark contrast to Nureyev’s animal-like magnetism, but the combination worked. Nureyev once said that they danced with “one body, one soul.” Their partnership became perhaps the most famous in modern theatre history.
Violette Verdy has been quoted on why the partnership between Fonteyn and Nureyev worked: “She civilized him. It was not just Beauty and the Beast. It was civilization verses primitive strength.”
Carla Fracci and Erik Bruhn
Carla Fracci, born in Milan in 1936, studied at the La Scala Ballet School, became a soloist in 1956 and principal in 1958. It has been said that she is “lighter than air, softer than a sigh and that she shows exquisite evocation of the pure romantic style.”
Born in 1929 in Copenhagen, Erik Bruhn joined the Royal Danish Ballet in 1947, and rose through the ranks quickly. He was tall, blonde and reserved. As a foremost exponent of the Bournonville style, his technique emphasized disciplined steps and neat footwork. He was the ultimate danseur noble.
Their legendary partnership was known for its beauty, elegance and good taste. “Giselle” was their prime vehicle. Bruhn was quoted as saying that a partnership should be a love affair on stage. He died in 1986.
Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell
Antoinette Sibley was born in 1939, joined The Royal Ballet in 1956 and was made soloist in 1960. In 1964 Frederick Ashton put her in the role of Titania in his ballet, “The Dream”, and launched the second-most-famous partnership in the company’s history.
They did the classics as well as McMillan’s “Romeo and Juliet”. Who could forget Dowell’s beautiful line…..his lengthy arabesques as he reached longingly for her in Ashton’s and MacMillan’s passionate ballets? They were equally at home in contemporary works such as Jerome Robbins’ “Dances at a Gathering”. These two dancers both possessed a strong technique, lyrical quality and extraordinary dramatic capability which they now are passing on to up-and-coming dancers.
Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun
In 1960 John Cranko, the South African choreographer, came to Stuttgart to stage one of his ballets. He stayed and developed a repertory that turned the troupe into a world class company. It was there that he met Brazilian-born, Marcia Haydee, and transformed her into what some consider the greatest dramatic ballerina of the twentieth century. Her partnership with American dancer, Richard Cragun, became legendary. His robustly, masculine onstage persona and powerful technique (he was known for his triple tour en l’air) was a perfect match for her dynamic intensity.
With Haydee as his muse and Cragun as her partner, Cranko choreographed a series of important full-length ballets beginning in 1962 with his revised version of “Romeo and Juliet” followed by “Eugene Onegin” three years later and “The Taming of the Shrew” in 1969. The tricky lifts Cranko created for them were breathtaking, but they appeared to be executed with ease. After Cranko’s untimely death at age 45, they worked with many other famous choreographers. But it is Cranko’s roles that are etched into our minds. Their partnership lasted until 1996……..a run of nearly 30 years.
Gelsey Kirkland and Mikhail Baryshnikov
Anyone who has followed ballet in the last 25 years is familiar with Gelsey Kirkland and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Their stormy relationship has been chronicled in national newspapers, magazines and Kirkland’s book, Dancing on My Grave. Like all the other dancers mentioned, they both had the opportunity to dance with most of the great dancers of the time. Yet their partnership stands out as being exceptional.
Born in 1952 in Pennsylvania Kirkland entered The School of American Ballet at age eight. In 1968 when she was 15, she was taken into New York City Ballet, and was promoted to principal three years later. When the company went on a tour of Russia, she was spotted by Baryshnikov. Two years later, discouraged by limited challenges in Russia, he defected to the west and joined ABT. Remembering Kirkland’s brilliant dancing, he asked her to be his partner. In September, 1974, she left NYCB and joined ABT forming a partnership that, while stormy, was incomparable.
During the time they worked together, audiences flocked to see them perform. They danced many roles together including Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker which Baryshnikov choreographed for both the stage and television. Sadly, Kirkland and Baryshnikov’s personal problems could not be resolved. Ballet-lovers, worldwide, were disappointed when the partnership came to an end.
Alessandra Ferri and Julio Bocca
Like many of the famous partnerships, these two dancers grew up worlds apart. Ms Ferri was born in Italy and Mr. Bocca in Argentina. Each have danced with major companies all over the world, and are idolized in their native countries. They were both hired by Baryshnikov to join American Ballet Theatre as principal dancers; she in 1985 and he in 1986. While they both have danced with the most important dancers of their generation, they profess to be each other’s favorite.
Their coach, Willy Burmann, describes what he feels makes them so special. “They always bring something different to each performance. It’s not like a predictable couple that does the same thing every night. They could settle for comfort, but they don’t. They take risks right and left, and Julio never really knows what Alex will do until she does it. Those are the exciting moments. She becomes inspired and interprets the music through her body. He takes her musicality totally when they dance together. A lot of men cannot do this. When Alex does something, he is there. You don’t even see the hands. They are there, but it is never clumsy. He’s supporting her, but it’s beautiful. It’s supposed to be an art form, not executed steps. They emotionally strip themselves naked when they go out there. What is wonderful is that they have the sensuality and sexuality that appeals to men and women. Seeing a couple that gels like that is the ultimate!”