Word: mazurkas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
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...
...years, he still had "enough muscles." Explains Balanchine: "I cannot sit in a chair and design ballets. I use my body a lot showing the dancers steps." In rehearsal, nonetheless, he found that though he was still long on muscles, he was a bit short on wind. In Mazurka, "all the time you run like...
...Britain's Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet), Balanchine made one of them a sure-fire novelty. He decided to introduce his fans to the music of one of his favorite composers, Glinka ("the Verdi of Russia," says Balanchine), and one of his favorite dances, the fiery mazurka. Who could set its style better than Balanchine himself...
...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...