• Contributors
    • Catherine L. Tully, Owner/Editor
    • Dance Writers
      • Rachel Hellwig, Assistant Editor — Dance
      • Jessika Anspach McEliece, Contributor — Dance
      • Janice Barringer, Contributor – Dance
      • José Pablo Castro Cuevas, Contributor — Dance
      • Katie C. Sopoci Drake, Contributor – Dance
      • Ashley Ellis, Contributor — Dance
      • Samantha Hope Galler, Contributor – Dance
      • Cara Marie Gary, Contributor – Dance
      • Luis Eduardo Gonzalez, Contributor — Dance
      • Karen Musey, Contributor – Dance
      • Janet Rothwell (Neidhardt), Contributor — Dance
      • Matt de la Peña, Contributor – Dance
      • Lucy Vurusic Riner, Contributor – Dance
      • Alessa Rogers, Contributor — Dance
      • Emma Love Suddarth, Contributor — Dance
      • Andrea Thompson, Contributor – Dance
      • Sally Turkel, Contributor — Dance
      • Lauren Warnecke, Contributor – Dance
      • Sharon Wehner, Contributor – Dance
      • Ashley Werhun, Contributor — Dance
      • Dr. Frank Sinkoe, Contributor – Podiatry
      • Jessica Wilson, Assistant Editor – Dance
    • Dance Wellness Panel
      • Jan Dunn, MS, Editor
      • Gigi Berardi, PhD
      • James Garrick, MD
      • Robin Kish, MS, MFA
      • Moira McCormack, MS
      • Janice G. Plastino, PhD
      • Emma Redding, PhD
      • Erin Sanchez, MS
      • Selina Shah, MD, FACP
      • Nancy Wozny
      • Matthew Wyon, PhD
    • Music & Dance Writers
      • Scott Speck, Contributor – Music
    • Interns
      • Intern Wanted For 4dancers
    • Contact
  • About
    • About 4dancers
    • Advertise With 4dancers
    • Product Reviews on 4dancers
    • Disclosure
  • Contact

4dancers.org

A website for dancers, dance teachers and others interested in dance

Follow Us on Social!

Visit Us On YoutubeVisit Us On TwitterVisit Us On PinterestVisit Us On FacebookVisit Us On Instagram
  • 4dancers
    • Adult Ballet
    • Career
    • Auditions
    • Competition
    • Summer Intensives
    • Pointe Shoes & Footwear
      • Breaking In Shoes
      • Freed
      • Pointe Shoe Products
      • Vegan Ballet Slippers
      • Other Footwear
  • 4teachers
    • Teaching Tips
    • Dance History
    • Dance In The US
    • Studios
  • Choreography
  • Dance Wellness
    • Conditioning And Training
    • Foot Care
    • Injuries
    • Nutrition
      • Recipes/Snacks
  • Dance Resources
    • Dance Conferences
    • Dance Products
      • Books & Magazines
      • DVDs
      • Dance Clothing & Shoes
      • Dance Gifts
      • Flamenco & Spanish Dance
      • Product Reviews
    • Social Media
  • Editorial
    • Interviews
      • 10 Questions With…
      • Dance Blog Spotlight
      • Post Curtain Chat
      • Student Spotlight
    • Dance in the UK
    • Finding Balance
    • Musings
    • One Dancer’s Journey
    • Pas de Trois
    • SYTYCD
    • The Business Of Dance
    • Finis
  • Music & Dance
    • CD/Music Reviews

Spoiler Alert: The Original Endings Of Ballet’s Great Love Stories

February 14, 2016 by Rachel Hellwig

by Rachel Hellwig

So, you think you know how all of your favorite romantic ballets end? Think again! The original finales might surprise you…

Giselle

Spoiler alert: Albrecht gets back together with Bathilde—with the (post-mortem) blessing of Giselle! Though most modern versions conclude with Albrecht alone in the forest, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2011 staging by Peter Boal includes the original ending. As The New York Times described it, “Albrecht [is] tenderly consoled and reclaimed at dawn by Bathilde, whom Giselle, now a spirit returning to her grave, has urged him to marry with her last gestures.”

Created with "waiting backstage" by Deb. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added] Lyrics quoted on image from "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", artist Taylor Swift.
Created with “waiting backstage” by Deb. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added] Lyrics quoted on image from “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together“, artist Taylor Swift.

Swan Lake

Spoiler alert: Siegfried and Odette still die. However, they don’t drown themselves in the lake. And their original personalities were more flawed than those of the gallant Prince and Swan Queen of today. The Ballet Bag explains:

“[It] was very different from the Swan Lake we now know: Odette, daughter of a good fairy, is being pursued by her “wicked witch stepmother”. Her grandfather keeps her and companions safe at a lake by night, allowing them to fly about as swans by day. Odette wears a magical crown which protects her from the witch. Siegfried falls for her but betrays her at a ball. Odette refuses to forgive him, so he snatches her crown in desperation. The lovers are now at the mercy of the witch and the waters of the lake engulf them.”

Created with "CincinnatiBallet-SwanLake2009-Dancers-KristiCapps-AnthonyKrutzkamp-Photog-PeterMueller" by KCBalletMedia. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added]
Created with “CincinnatiBallet-SwanLake2009-Dancers-KristiCapps-AnthonyKrutzkamp-Photog-PeterMueller” by KCBalletMedia. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added]

Romeo and Juliet

And they lived happily ever after…

Spoiler alert: This was indeed the ending that composer Sergei Prokofiev intended! “Living people can dance, the dead cannot”, he argued. But officials in 1930s Soviet Russia weren’t keen on the idea of changing Shakespeare’s story (a.k.a. Prokofiev had to follow orders). It wasn’t until 2008 that choreographer Mark Morris staged a version with the original happy ending. It’s safe to say, of course, that Prokofiev’s revision has yet to upstage The Bard’s conclusion to this famous tale of woe.

 Created with "swKCB0514_ 1685" by KCBalletMedia. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added] Lyrics quoted on image from "Love Story", artist Taylor Swift.
Created with “swKCB0514_ 1685” by KCBalletMedia. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added] Lyrics quoted on image from “Love Story“, artist Taylor Swift.

Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: Ballet, Ballet History, Bathilde, dance, Dance History, giselle, history, odette, Original Ending, pacific northwest ballet, Prokofiev, romeo and juliet, siegfried, swan lake, Valentine's Day

The Phantoms Of The Ballet: The Wilis

October 31, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

“Giselle in the Forest” — Short Dance Film by The Australian Ballet with Modern Music

by Rachel Hellwig

You know the story— Boys meets girl. Boy courts girl. Girl falls in love. Girl discovers she’s been two-timed. Girl goes mad. Girl dies. Girl becomes ghost. Boy visits girl’s grave. Boy is captured by vengeful ghosts. Girl’s ghost saves boy.

The story is, of course, Giselle and the ghosts are the Wilis. In fact, Giselle‘s original title was Giselle ou les Wilis, “Giselle, or The Wilis”. Though a product of the Romantic Era and its fascination with the supernatural, this ballet from 1841 has nonetheless endured and attained classic status. Interestingly, pop culture’s current interest in vampires, zombies etc. echos the tastes of the period in which Giselle was created.

So, let’s take a look at the Wilis, a most elegant member of the undead…

Folkloric Inspiration

"swKCB032015_-903" by KCBalletMedia. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic.
“swKCB032015_-903” by KCBalletMedia. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic.

The Wilis have their roots in European legend. Théophile Gautier, author of Giselle’s libretto, took his source material for the Wilis from a passage in Heinrich Heine’s On Germany:

“There is a tradition of nocturnal dancing known in Slav countries under the name of Wili. The Wilis are affianced maidens who have died before their wedding-day; those poor young creatures cannot rest peacefully in their graves. In their hearts which have ceased to throb, in their dead feet, there still remains that passion for dancing which they could not satisfy during life; and at midnight they rise up and gather in bands on the highway and woe betide the young man who meets them, for he must dance until he drops dead.

Attired in their bridal dresses, with garlands of flowers on their heads, and shining rings on their fingers, the Wilis dance in the moonlight like the Elves.”

Theatrical Development

Ballet of the Nuns at the Paris Opéra (1832). Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Image.
Ballet of the Nuns at the Paris Opéra. Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Image.

The Wilis’ theatrical ancestors are found in the Ballet of Nuns from the opera Robert le Diable (1831) by Giacomo Meyerbeer and in the full-length ballet La Sylphide (1832). In the Ballet of the Nuns, ghosts of nuns rise from their abbey graves and dance in the moonlight. In La Sylphide, spirit-like beings known as sylphs dance in the forest at night. The visuals of these ballets with their white-clad women dancing in eerily-lit scenes set the stage for arrival of the Wilis nearly a decade later. Both the Ballet of the Nuns and La Sylphide originally starred Marie Taglioni, the ballet star credited with helping create the “tutu and toe-shoes” vision of the Romantic Era dancer. Anna Kisselgoff relates:

“’Robert le Diable’ raised the curtain on Romantic ballet. Naturally, there were many previous phases contributing to the Romantic esthetic in dance. But the preoccupation with the supernatural that characterized so much of 19th-century ballet could be traced to the success of the ”ballet of the nuns” in Meyerbeer’s first production at the Paris Opera.

”Robert Le Diable” led directly to the creation, in 1832, of ”La Sylphide,” the first complete Romantic ballet. The libretto for ”La Sylphide” was written by Adolphe Nourrit, the tenor who had the title role in ”Robert le Diable” and his sylph was of course, Marie Taglioni. Filippo Taglioni, her father and who is usually credited with the dances in the Meyerbeer opera, choreographed ”La Sylphide.” And another member of the same team, Pierre Ciceri, the stage and lighting designer responsible for the gasp-producing effects in ”Robert le Diable,” introduced the same ghostly gas lighting into ”La Sylphide.”

Otherworldly Attire

Carlotta Grisi as Giselle in Act II (1841). Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Image.
Carlotta Grisi as Giselle in Act II (1841). Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Image.

The long white tutus of the Wilis are based on the costume trend that Taglioni introduced for the more benign creatures of La Sylphide. The University of Utah’s ballet history page explains:

“The Romantic tutu is first seen in La Sylphide and was designed by Eugène Lami (1800-1890) […] By complementing Taglioni’s ethereal style of dancing the tutu triggered a new image in the mind of the public; that of the Romantic ballerina, transmuted into a creature soaring amidst a mist of muslin.[…] Like the pointe shoe, the Romantic tutu actively assisted the ballerina with the interpretation of her role, adding a buoyancy and unreal suspension to her fleeting steps and a softness to her landings.55″

Are They a Dream?

Of course, a possible interpretation of the Wilis is that they are a figment of Albrecht’s tortured thoughts. Anna Kisselgoff writes, “Whether he actually sees her ghost or imagines it in Act II is the kind of question 19th-century Romantic ballets such as this one have always left unanswered.”

What do you think? What’s your interpretation?

Giselle and Albrecht Say Goodbye at the End of Act II

Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: Anna Kisselgoff, Ballet, Ballet History, Ballet of Nuns, Dance History, Ghosts, giselle, Heinrich Heine, la sylphide, Marie Taglioni, Robert le Diable, Romantic Era, Théophile Gautier, Wilis

The Stages Of A Swan

October 20, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

By Samantha Hope Galler

Before I could even understand the true meaning of ballet, I dreamed about dancing in Swan Lake. I would even fall asleep listening to the music of Tchaikovsky. In 2001, my mom took me to see a performance of American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake. Paloma Herrera danced the principal roles of Odette and Odile. I was so completely entranced. That performance solidified my love for dance.

Five-year-old Samantha (on the right) in dance class.
Five-year-old Samantha Hope Galler at the barre.

Years later, while I was dancing with Alabama Ballet, I had the opportunity to perform as Odette and Odile in the four-act Petipa/Ivanov version of Swan Lake.

Swan Lake was first was created by Julius Reisinger in 1877, but redeveloped by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov in 1895. The Petipa/Ivanov version stands as a base for many versions today.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers, Career Tagged With: Alabama Ballet, Balanchine's Swan Lake, ballerina, Ballet, ballet performance, george balanchine, Julius Reisinger, Lev Ivanov, Lourdes Lopez, marius petipa, Miami City Ballet, performing, professional dancer, Roger Van Fleteren, Roma Sosenko, Samantha Hope Galler, swan lake, Tracey Alvey

On The Marley Floor…

October 1, 2015 by 4dancers

IMG_0536
Maria Chapman of Pacific Northwest Ballet. Photo by Angela Sterling Photography.

by Jessika Anspach McEliece

 Her deafening scream reverberated through the studio.

Remembering it and my stomach still curdles. One moment she was doing petit allegro, the next writhing on the Marley floor in animalistic agony.

There are just some moments you never forget.

Moments you wish you could.

And yet these terrifying incidents are ones rarely thought of, let alone mentioned. It must be human nature to sweep the scary under the rug. Like those cheesy ceramic monkeys I often see in vintage shops, we choose to “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” superstitiously (and aren’t we dancers the worst?) believing that if we don’t speak it, acknowledge it, then it doesn’t exist. Injury won’t happen to us. We keep the lights on and those monsters “safely” under the bed.

But sometimes, no matter our diligence – how often we ice, how much we stretch or see the P.T., no matter how many “Zzz’s” we get, the monsters rear their frightening faces. And sometimes we end up on the Marley floor.


My “Marley moment” came May 15th, 2015. And I actually was on the floor. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers, Injuries Tagged With: balanchine, Ballet, dance injuries, injury, jessika anspach, Jessika Anspach McEliece, Maria Chapman, pacific northwest ballet, PNB, pointe shoes, recovering from injury, seranade

How Ballet Helped Me Learn How To SUP Surf

August 16, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

Ballet on a Surfboard - Miami Beach
Ballet on a Surfboard – Miami Beach

by Todd Fox

I’m a Bunhead Surfaholic!!! That’s right, my career focus and lifelong passion has always been ballet and there’s not many things in this world I love as much as ballet, but surfing is definitely one of them. I surf every chance I get and am probably one of the only surfers in Florida who strikes ballet poses while riding a wave. Over the years I’ve surfed on all sorts of boards including long boards, short boards, foam boards, plank boards with no fins, kayaks, canoes, boogie boards, etc.– if it floats I’ve surfed it and probably tried to do some ballet on it as well.

Ballet on a SUP - Miami Beach
Ballet on a SUP – Miami Beach

A few years ago I began noticing more and more stand up paddleboard (SUP) surfers catching waves at the local surf breaks here where I live in Miami. I had previously paddled a SUP on our calm south Florida inter-coastal waters and it was super fun but surfing on a stand up paddleboard looked intense. I couldn’t believe surfers were dropping in on waist to chest high waves while using a paddle to maneuver these giant heavy SUP boards. It looked like an incredible workout as well as a ton of fun so I decided to give it a try and bought a used 10’6″ Surfseries SUP off Craigslist to start learning with.

Ballet on a SUP - Miami Beach
Ballet on a SUP – Miami Beach

I had been a traditional board surfer for many years and figured the transition to surfing on a SUP would be relatively easy, plus I’m a professional ballet dancer and have good strength/balance/coordination, right? WRONG!!! I couldn’t believe how incredibly difficult it was to balance on a SUP in choppy water and the workout was much more intense than I imagined, it gave a whole new meaning to the word exhaustion. Paddling a SUP on nice glassy calm water is an amazing full-body workout but when you add waves, rip currents, and rough surf to the equation, the physical demands become much more extreme. Complicating matters was the fact that where I surf most often, Miami Beach, rarely has “clean” easy-to-paddle surf, most of our good surf is accompanied by rough, choppy ocean conditions. Without going into too much detail, this is due to Miami’s geographic proximity to the island chain of the Bahamas located directly to our east. On my first attempts I could only manage to stand on the SUP briefly, once the board started to wobble or bob up and down as a result of the choppy surface water, I would immediately lose balance and fall off every time.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers, Teaching Tips Tagged With: Ballet, dancer hobbies, male dancers, Miami Beach, paddleboard, SUP Surfing, surfing, todd fox

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 30
  • Next Page »

Dance Artwork

Get Your Dance Career Info Here!

Dance ebook cover

Podcast

Disclosure – Affiliate & Ad Info

This site sometimes features advertising, affiliate marketing, or affiliate links, such as Amazon Associate links and others. When you click on these links, we get a small sum that helps to support the website operations. Thank you! There’s more detailed information on ads and our disclosure policy under the About tab in our navigation at the top of the site. We clearly mark any and all posts that contain these features.

Copyright Notice

Please note that all of the content on 4dancers.org is copyrighted. Do not copy, utilize, or distribute without express permission. We take cases of infringement seriously. All rights reserved ©2022.

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in