World of imagination, magic, and excitement

Great discoveries have been made today at youtube.

First, I found rare clips of Gelsey Kirkland's dancing. *SQUEE* All I'd seen in the past was her as Clara in the American Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker (1977), which is the only ballet featuring her commercially available on DVD at present. But I found clips of her in the Don Quixote grand pas de deux and Theme and Variations, partnered in both pieces by Mikhail Baryshnikov (who was her prince in Nutcracker; surprise, surprise!). Gelsey is very good in T&V; she and Baryshnikov are wonderful in the pa de deux in the second part. *sighs dreamily* I wish there was more footage of them.

Second, a search that began for the Romeo and Juliet ballet led to my stumbling over clips of Igor Zelensky, a dancer from the Kirov Ballet. (He was Siegfried in one of my favorite Swan Lake productions that I grew up watching and still treasure.) I found him in the whole one-act ballet Paquita (never heard of it before) with the Kirov Ballet, partnering Yulia Makhalina (who was his Odette/Odile in Swan Lake!!!!!). *SQUEEEEE* The entire thing is lovely. Igor and Yulia are beautiful together (in act two of Swan Lake they had me melting into a puddle of mush). The music is very pretty, the set is grand, and the costumes are gorgeous with the tutus in a variety of colors. The first part I especially liked.

If you have read this far I commend you for taking the time to "listen" to me rant and squee. I love ballet. :D