Dying Swan - early Russian ballerinas - Pavlova, Ulanova, Toumanova, Plisetskaya, Kondratieva

Fokine about The Dying Swan: "It was a combination of masterful technique with expressiveness. It was like a proof that the dance could and should satisfy not only the eye, but through the medium of the eye should penetrate the soul. [...] the purpose of the dance is not to display that technique but to create the symbol of the everlasting struggle in this life and all that is mortal. It is a dance of the whole body and not of the limbs only; it appeals not merely to the eye but to the emotions and the imagination." Makarova: "Of Fokine's original choreography [...] only scattered fragments remain [...] he created only the bourrées for Pavlova. Subsequently, every performer [...] has used the piece at her own taste and at her own risk [...] In Russia I had danced Dudinskaya's version [...] the dance needs total emotional abandon, conveying the image of a struggle with death or a surrender to it [...] As for the emotional content, I was helped by Pavlova, whose film of the work I saw." 1925/35 Anna Pavlova    • Video   1941 Galina Ulanova    • Galina Ulanova Dying Swan 1941   1953 Tamara Toumanova    • Tamara Toumanova Dying Swan   1959 Maya Plisetskaya    • Maya Plisetskaya - Dying Swan 1959   1960s Marina Kondratieva