Dancing through Life

I was saddened when Maya Plisetskay died on May 2nd at the age of 89. Although I never saw her dance, I remember pictures of her by Avedon in the 60's, she was stunning.

I think it's interesting that she became the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi in 1960 when she was thirty-five. Although she toured extensively, she never defected unlike Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova. I recently saw a clip of her dancing the role of the dying swan in Swan Lake. She was the epitome of grace; absolutely breathtaking. She was 62. She danced the role of Isadora Duncan when she was 70.  I love that Margot Fonteyn began her famous partnership with Rudolf Nureyev when she was 42 years old and he was 24; an on-stage partnership that lasted for 19 years!

When I was a little girl I loved the ballet. But somewhere in the 70's my mother took me to see

Alvin Ailey's American Dance Theater and I saw Judith Jamison dance in Cry and I was astounded.

She was powerful and moving ...just amazing.

Also, sometime in the 70"s I discovered Twyla Tharp and THAT was a game changer. I had never seen anything like her choreography. There were some elements of Bob Fosse but with so many  more twists and turns and quirks. I wanted to learn to dance like that.

With Baryshnikov in Once More Frank.

I love that she's still working today at the age of 73.

I think the most exciting dancer today is Misty Copeland at American Ballet Theatre. Her story is inspiring and like all of these women, just an incredible athlete.

She's currently dancing the lead in Swan Lake at the Metropolitan Opera. She's only 32, so I hope she, too, will be dancing when she's 70!