Waltz of the Flowers (Kyra Nichols)

Even though this was filmed ten years after his death in 1983, Kyra Nichols, the superlative "Dewdrop" in this WALTZ OF THE FLOWERS, was trained by him and danced for him many years under his expert guidance. In this video from 1993 she retains the clarity, speed, musicality, and sense of selflessness he wanted from all his dancers. By this I mean that sometimes these days one sees dancers that match her technically, but get the sense that they are showing off. "Look how fast I am," "Look at me playing with the music," "Look at how high I can get my legs and how many turns I can do," "Look at how exaggerated I can make my ports de bras because, after all, Balanchine let his dancers do what they wanted." NO...ALL OF THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HE DIDN'T WANT! Watching Kyra here, and Allegra Kent in the video I posted earlier, it's clear they are very different dancers, but they share the same esthetic. "Dance for Dance's sake." It should never be about you the dancer. It should be about the Dance, albeit coming via your specific personality and own special gifts that you bring to the table. Balanchine didn't want robots or automatons. He LOVED personalities...but he abhorred show-offs. He used to tell us we were all "Servants of Terpsichore"...and he meant it! So...enjoy "Waltz of the Flowers" as it used to be danced."