Wednesday 3 February 2021

Everything was beautiful at the ballet

Jean Babilée (3rd February 1923 – 30th January 2014)

7 comments:

  1. Babilee was a great dancer. I never saw him dance, but have heard him compared to Nijinsky (not the race horse!)

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    1. He certainly had a fine pair of fetlocks! Jx

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  2. Darling Jon,

    thank you for the introduction to this marvellous character, often referred to [well, by the French at least] as the "enfant terrible' of dance. He did have the most incredible life, even escaping deportation to Auschwitz.

    Wikipedia reliably informs me that "in the 1946 premiere of Le Jeune Homme et la Mort he hung by his neck on a gallows for one minute, supported only by wrapping one arm around a pillar". Amazing!

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    1. He sounds quite a wild spirit - he fought with the Resistance, apparently once rode his motorbike across the Mahgreb, frequently ended up in fist-fights (and was indeed arrested), and yet had the kind of on-stage grace and athleticism that drew massive praise from his compatriots and rivals such as Bruhn, Nureyev and Baryshnikov. Faboo. Jx

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  3. Il a apporte l'athletisme au ballet. *d'Anjou

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    1. "If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter!" Jx

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