observations 6-14

A couple of other ballerinas are debuting as Odette/Odile this week, too.

The daughter of former New York City Ballet's Lindsay Fischer and Mandy-Jane Richardson, 23-year-old Hannah Fischer, will debut in the role at the National Ballet of Canada on Friday. She was a 2015 Erik Bruhn Prize winner. On Saturday, Emma Hawes (like Hannah, a second soloist), who hails from Dayton, Ohio, will dance the role for the first time. When Emma danced the White Swan PdD at the Erik Bruhn Competition in 2012, she reportedly left the audience breathless and took home the Audience Choice Award.

Here's a little video of AD Karen Kain dancing the White Swan PdD with Frank Augustyn for a TV documentary about the violinist.  What a tall, glamorous bird – and what an example for her fledglings!

Swan Lake lives.

 

Comments

[pennsylvania]

I've seen Emma Hawes perform. She's exquisite. Brava to both.

[J]

I loved Karen as the White Swan, especially in the beautiful last act pas de deux in Eric Bruhn's version. I remember well the night she and Nureyev first danced Swan Lake at the Met and the ovation she got. Thank you for posting this clip.

[Olivia]

Thanks for sharing the clip, Karen Kain is exquisite as Odette!
The violinist is Isaac Stern. How interesting to learn he was so taken with Anna Pavlova as a youngster that he dreamt of playing this solo for her.

[EFMadama]

Thank you for posting this. Thanks to the wonders of Youtube, I am a huge Karen and Frank fan. Just a correction about the violinist - it is American-born violinist and conducting virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin. He was a complete prodigy, making his solo debut with the San Fran symphony at the age of 7, so his desire to play this solo for Anna Pawlova was actually not out of his range of ability at the age of 5. Haglund, you very sensitively note artistry in the world's great ballerinas in your posts, I would like to point it out here with Menuhin - the camera catches him watching the dancers, so that he can be perfectly in time with them. Given his age and worldwide fame at this point in his career, he could have easily insisted that they follow him. But that would have been unartistic, so he doesn't do that. Great artistry is unmistakable, no matter its form. Thank you again.

[_S_Ching]

Ah... the memories of Karen and Frank. They got so much press in Canadian media when they won the silver medal for their pas de deux (the bluebird) in the 1973 Moscow competition. Footage is grainy but https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXP_jdlTYJo from the National Ballet of Canada production of Nureyev's version after Petipa (whole thing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lehlDCwJCoU).

[Haglund]

Thanks, S_ching, EFMadama,Olivia, J, and Pennsylvania.

[Emma's mum]

Delaware, Ohio ;)

[Haglund]

Well, Emma's mum, you certainly must be celebrating today!

Congratulations to Emma and to Hannah Fischer (and to all of the other National Ballet of Canada artists) who were promoted by Ms. Kain today. Emma and Hannah are now First Soloists!

Thanks for the correction on the city. Delaware, Ohio is much prettier than Dayton. I can say that since I'm a buckeye from Cincy.

[Emma's mum]

Thank you, Haglund. Keep on keepin' on with your website. I very much enjoy the insights of you and your regular posters.