On this beautiful Saturday afternoon, I give you the incomparable Natalia Makarova. A permanent member of the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad from 1956 to 1970, she defected to the West in 1970 and performed with the American Ballet Theatre in New York and the Royal Ballet in London. She was reunited in 1989 with her family and former teachers and colleagues when she returned to the Kirov after the fall of the former Soviet Union.
Here, she performs "The Dying Swan", the iconic solo piece created by Anna Pavlova and choreographer Michel Fokine in 1905. The equally famous music is Le Cygne, an 1866 composition by Camille Saint-Saëns.
I'm struck by the combination of obvious athleticism and Makarova's delicate, almost ethereal artistry. The lyrical quality of the performance and the impeccable classical technique are breathtaking.
Enjoy.
