Word: ulanova
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Next day both Italian and visiting critics agreed that Ulanova is a "very great ballerina." Wrote the Manchester Guardian's James Monhan: "She has the rarest sense of musical timing ... a grandeur of style and extraordinary fluency and expressiveness of arms and hands which no ballet dancer today can approach...
Long Hours. Recently, welcome word came to Italy that Ulanova would appear for a festival concert at Florence's Teatro Comunale. Into Florence, three weeks ago, came ten Russians, accompanied by the secretary of the Rome Embassy and an Italian Communist bigwig. Heading and herding the group was one Alexander Kholodilin, bearer of a jawbreaking title: Chief of the Central Delegation of the Musical Institution of the Art Committee of the U.S.S.R. Council of Ministers. His wards were the cream of Russian stars. Eight of them-three concert singers, two violinists, a pianist, two ballet dancers...
...over his group like an anxious mother hen. All conversations with the press or stagehands were filtered through the delegation's interpreter. Finally, after much speculation and two postponements, an audience which had paid steep prices for tickets (up to $8 for orchestra seats) sat down to judge Ulanova...
Loud Roars. Beginning with the Adagio from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, Ulanova, with muscular Partner Juri Kondratov, sparkled through a rigorous program with top polish and variety: a selection from Schumann's Carnaval, Chopin's Waltz No. 7, a bit from Glière's Red Poppy, Death of the Swan to music by Saint-Saëns, and an overawing acrobatic finale, Rubinstein's Waltz. Each number drew loud, continuous roars...
This month Ulanova is scheduled for two more performances in Florence. But would she accept an invitation from London? Tour Guide Kholodilin was doubtful, shrugged: "Ulanova has so many engagements in Russian cities; so many people are waiting...