Word: mazurkas
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...orchestra floor. When Impresario Henry Abbey lost $600,000 in the house's first season, he recouped some of his losses by tossing in a special variety show at which Soprano Marcella Sembrich played a violin concerto, moved to the piano to rip off a Chopin mazurka, and sang Ah! non giunge from Bellini's Sonnambula...
...thrilled the crowd with a four-minute repertory of spins, splits, axels and loops (the same one that won the world title at Garmisch). She had never done better. But Tenley Albright also was in top form; the ankle she injured before the Olympics was healed. Her spectacular mazurka, witches' jump followed by a drag, and an Axel Paulsen jump, were woven into a pattern of almost unbelievable perfection. The final score was decimal close, but the judges proclaimed Tenley Emma Albright winner and U.S. champion for the fifth straight year. It was the eighth time in nine meetings...
John Krizna's sharpness made the Mazurka one of the evening's high-points. Usually a fine virtuoso, Krizna is too flashy to be a good supporting partner. Yet his Drummer divertissement in the Graduation Ball was a disappointment--probably because he had to twirl drum sticks as well as execute some complicated steps. The ballet itself was unusually gay and frivolous due to the excellence of the cast. Throughout the entire performance, they projected themselves well and always danced as a group...
Later, Borodin wrote a funeral march and a mazurka around the tune, which he called the Coteletten Polka* and proudly showed the pieces to his musical friends. Rimsky-Korsakov promptly added several variations; other composer friends chipped in too, and before long there were 16 paraphrases. All were written for piano duet, the lower part for a skilled player, the upper for two fingers. In 1879, when the collection was published, Liszt got a copy, and added a paraphrase...
...audience was concerned on opening night, Balanchine could have stood stock-still in his red Boyar costume and brought the house down. But he didn't. Taking their turns at the swooping, heel-clicking runs with Mazurka's three other couples, Balanchine and his partner, Vida Brown, were the most spirited of the lot-even though he stood by between runs frankly panting. When the three-minute dance was over, City Center theater rocked with cries of "encore" and "Balanchine." Said Balanchine, who will dance the part once more this week: "You have to do little novelties...