#amandine albisson

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Technique–bodily control - must be mastered only because the body must not stand in the way of the soul’s expression. The only reason for mastering technique is to make sure the body does not prevent the soul from expressing itself.

La Meri

One of the most striking sequences for the Swan Queen is her series of 32 fouettes in Act III of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Odile, the dangerous but seductive anti-heroine, returns to the stage near the climax of her grand pas de deux with the hero, Prince Siegfried, and revolves on one leg 32 times. Moreover, after the first 16 bars, the music changes character; she carries on regardless.

“Fouetté” is French for “whipped,” and it’s that whiplash motion of the raised leg that gives the turn its brilliance. That quick up-and-down of the ballerina’s foot sometimes sends her traveling downstage; but the ideal sequence of 32 fouettés never travels from a single spot. A ballerina whips one leg in a circular motion to the side and then into a passe while turning and rising on and off of pointe on the standing leg. In other words her raised leg, never touches the ground, but provides most of the propulsion. Men can do fouetté turns, too. But part of the excitement with a ballerina is that she does most of the turn on point.

The 32 fouettés aren’t the hardest assignment in ballet, but they’re the most exposed example of virtuoso technique. If something goes wrong, the audience will see. I remember one ballerina falling flat on her backside around turn No. 14 and several who stopped (or switched to another step) after about 20.

Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani first performed 32 consecutive fouettes in a performance of Cinderella in 1893. When she originated the role of the Swan Queen in Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov’s version of Swan Lake in 1895, Petipa added in the 32 fouettes specifically for her.

Performed by the Black Swan, Odile, the spellbinding turn sequence effectively demonstrates the power and drama of the dark side of the Odette/Odile dual role. Legnani’s legendary performance of the fouette sequence as the Swan Queen set the standard for ballerinas to come.

It's surprising to learn that some great ballerinas who avoided doing them: Anna Pavlova, Alexandra Danilova, Alicia Markova, Maya Plisetskaya did alternative steps. Margot Fonteyn, who delivered them for over 34 years in Swan Lake, laughed in her memoirs about how an American critic described her wandering path during them as her “Cook’s tours of the stage."

 Let's be clear performing 32 fouettes in a row represents the incredible skill, technique, and control of a prima ballerina. The step requires strength and stamina that can only be gained through years of dedicated ballet training. Even more than a century after Legnani’s balletic feat, the Swan Queen’s 32 fouettes continue to captivate audiences in productions of Swan Lake worldwide.

But I will whisper it quietly that I agree with one ballerina friend of mine at the Paris Opera Ballet that it can be boring to watch. Not the technique but the spectacle. The rare artist is not the one who does the most turns but the one who makes them interesting and, above all, musical.

Amandine Albisson, Danseuse étoile de l’opéra de Paris, dances as Odile in the Opera Paris production of Swan Lake.

[kameliendame]

Jerome Robbins, In the Night

Amandine Albisson and Audric Bezard

ph. Svetlana Loboff

[strechanadi]

Adieux Alice

photo Isabelle Aubert

[miss-mollys-ballet-blog]

Amandine Albisson and Hugo Marchand in Afternoon of a Faun.

[francoisgoize]

2023 - Dorothée Gilbert, Hannah O'Neill & Amandine Albisson - Paris Opéra Gala ©François Goizé

[degasdyke]

lyrics from vampire empire by big thief // ballet.

ekaterina maximova and an unnamed teacher talking to each other during rehearsal / nardia boodoo sitting in an empty studio / george balanchine and suzanne farrell rehearsing swan lake / amandine albisson and audric bezard rehearsing renaissance by sebastien bertaud / nikisha fogo and natascha mair in ballet class / unnamed dancer photographed mid-pirouette by leon neal / christopher wheeldon and wendy whelan rehearsing together / natalia osipova resting during a rehearsal of romeo and juliet / virginia johnson in dance theater of harlem's creole giselle / fumi kaneko and william bracewell performing romeo and juliet

[jkottke]

Chiroptera is a dance performance from artist & photographer JR, choreographer Damien Jalet, Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk), dancer Amandine Albisson, and 153 “pixel” dancers (you’ll see what I mean).

[shesthewave]

Amandine Albisson in rehearsal for Pierre Lacotte’s Le Rouge et Le Noire

ph. Svetlana Loboff

[swanlake1998]

guillaume diop and amandine albisson photographed rehearsing as basilio and kitri for don quixote by julien benhamou

[crystalline-pleasure]

Amandine Albisson, Stéphane Bullion, Matthias Heymann, Florian Magnenet

Notre-Dame de Paris, Roland Petit, Paris Opera Ballet

© Julien Benhamou

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

POB's La Bayadère

That was a weird one. I mean it was bound to happen given the circumstances but that was a weird, unbalanced performance. Not the POB's best work but probably the best they could do given the circumstances.

Quick side note: i was surprised but happy to see that the children and the non dancing people on stage were wearing masks. Especially after learning a couple of days ago that covid is still actively circulating among the Mariinsky dancers, it's nice, you know to see that some ballets give two shit about sanitary precautions and their dancers health.

Sooo about the performance itself.

Act 1 was the best one and Dorothée Gilbert owned every second of it. She again demonstrated today that she is imho the best female Etoile at POB right now. I loved her Nikia and I'm even sadder that I won't get to see her live dancing the whole ballet. Excellent commitment, good chemistry with her partner, just a joy to watch all around.

I also really liked Germain Louvet. Granted he had nothing to dance there but emotionally speaking he was on point. I'm not his biggest fan but between this and the Nureev gala in october where he was the highlight of the show he's growing on me.

And Leonore Baulac was delightful as Gamzatti, in terms of acting she was made to be the Rajah's daughter. Perfect embodiment of a spoiled brat.

Good job also from Vincent Chaillet and Audric Bezard as the Brahman and the Fakir.

Act II was the worst. And at times downright painful to watch, though not because of the artists.

It's that performing in an empty theatre and hearing nothing but silence during the bows killed the mood and the rhythm of the performance. It's supposed to be a wedding and instead you are met with this icy void. I think it also bothered the dancers a lot because nearly everyone struggled to perform.

Amandine Albisson and Marine Ganio saved the whole thing.

Amandine gave a really beautiful monologue but because of the general icy atmosphere, Nikia's death had little emotional impact.

Marine Ganio was absolutely wonderful. She alone seemed unbothered by the setting. Gave herself 200%, gave enough emotions for her and the whole stage.

Also stellar cast for the Grand Pas, with Sae Eun Park, Hannah O'Neill and Roxane Stojanov. I also spotted Alice Catonnet among the little bayadères.

The fans and parrots were nice but the Indian dance really lacked fire and power. The female soloist, Celia Drouy tried really hard to make it work but she was not followed by the male soloists.

Hugo Marchand was the biggest disappointment, and i was really looking forward to his Solor. Gave a clean but absolutely empty performance.

Valentine Colasante is a great technician and I usually enjoy watching her. She carried the whole grand pas on her back but felt a bit short. Imo her variation lacked bravado and power. She only became alive during the coda.

Paul Marque, the unexpected hero of the day gave a nice performance but felt a bit short with the Golden Idol. The spark was lacking. He was really focused and i think tried to hard.

Act III went better but ultimately missed the mark for me.

The corps de ballet was outstanding. I saw Bianca Scudamore in the first line. She really stands out among the others. Awa Joannais was also in first line and danced nicely. The shade right next to Bianca also really stood out but I have no idea who that was.

Sae Eun Park as one of the Trio of Shades was mesmerising to watch. Watching her dance in the second act II I thought that she would make a great Gamzatti. After seeing her Shade, I want to see her Nikia.

Silvia Saint Martin and Hannah O'Neill were also great.

Matthias Heyman and Myriam Ould-Braham danced beautifully but the emotions and connection were missing imho. It felt like they were far too focused on the technical aspects. Because of that there was no catharsis at the end. As they went into their final pose it felt to me like "okay that's it good evening ladies and gentlemen".

And the stream died after that so I missed Paul's nomination.

[lovelyballetandmore]

Amandine Albisson | Photo by Nisian Hughes

[kameliendame]

Amandine Albisson in rehearsal for Swan Lake

ph. Yonathan Kellermann  

[strechanadi]

Amandine Albisson

Bolero

photo Agathe Poupeney

[miss-mollys-ballet-blog]

Amandine Albisson in Afternoon of a Faun.

[balletroyale]

Amandine Albisson in Le Palais de cristal or Symphony in C (Paris Opera Ballet)