My friend Kena Herod got me reminiscing about all of the African American dancers I admire with her recent post about Black History Month and the impact Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theatre of Harlem had on dance in America. When a work of art, whether it is a piece of music, a painting, a sculpture, poem or dance, really gets to me it literally raises the goosebumps on my arms.
I can’t remember when I first saw Lil Buck dance (I’ve never seen him in person, sadly), but every time I watch a video I am stunned. Here he dances to The Dying Swan, typically danced by a ballerina in a tutu on pointe shoes. Watch Lil Buck’s hands, so relaxed, the control he has over his body. And watch his gorgeous face. Lil Buck’s interpretation of Mikhail Fokine’s dance, which he choreographed for ballerina Anna Pavlova to Camille Saint-Saëns’s cello solo in 1905, is my definition of breathtaking.
This is for you Kena Herod. Kena’s post is here: https://plus.google.com/107095916368417578528/posts/TZAsFzCXYns.
#dance #dancergy #ballet #breakdancing
February 24, 2013 at 7:12 pm
This is why I love the show “So you think you can dance” which features many different forms of dance that most of us would never see otherwise in our lifetimes. So many beautiful forms of expression of the human experience.
February 24, 2013 at 7:17 pm
I know Doriano Paisano Carta. There is a wonderful scene in Quartet (have you seen it yet?) where Reg, played by Tom Courtenay, is explaining opera to a group of local youth. And he tells that that opera is emotional…that basically, when a character in an opera gets stabbed in the back…they “sing.” And there’s a rapper in the group and Reg asks him to explain rap and he makes up this rap on the spot that compares opera and rapping…and the point is made that anyone from anywhere who is creating music or art or dance or literature is reaching out and speaking across cultures. Why do we have these barriers imposed on us. I know people who claim they don’t like Jazz, or Country or Rap or Opera or Heavy Metal and by and large I wager they’ve never been introduced to the genre by someone who really does love it and know it…thus they are in control of their “idea” about the form, rather than possessed of any knowledge about it.
February 24, 2013 at 7:19 pm
I saw another example of hiphop with classic violin which was also breathtaking. What a lovely performance.
February 24, 2013 at 7:28 pm
Oh my gosh, Giselle Minoli I’ve been wanting to see Lil Buck live too! He’s been on the forefront of the urban dance called “jookin.” I nearly wept watching this video because, you see, I saw one of the top ballerina interpreters of the role of The Dying Swan by the great Maya Plisetskaya of the Bolshoi Ballet performing the original version on tour in the US back in the ’80s (when she was nearly 60!). Of Lil Buck: Who knew urban dance could be not just as amazing as it is but yet still so lyrical!!!! And, btw, I once lived in a neighborhood with a park and pond with a resident swan–his name was Willy. And, it’s amazing to think a Russian ballerina and an urban dancer both could capture that swan’s essence. Merci beaucoup, Giselle! (And Olga van Saane you will enjoy this too!)
February 24, 2013 at 7:40 pm
+Giselle Minoli sadly can not view video on my phone but plus 1 because the video and your post deserve it. As an aside I used to think I did not like country western music ( though I do like blue grass ) until I did a national tour as lighting director for the Grand Ole Opry — still not a fan of the music but after the tour had great respect for the artists who perform it.
February 24, 2013 at 7:47 pm
Written like a gentleman stuart richman. Thank you!
February 24, 2013 at 7:51 pm
+Giselle Minoli. :))
February 24, 2013 at 7:53 pm
That took my breath away. In the last 90s PBS aired a documentary series about dance I’ve been trying to find. It taught me so much. I wish I could find it again but I don’t remember the name. Maybe one of you can help.
February 24, 2013 at 8:28 pm
Sadly, Glenn Jerome Everette I missed that. I will look. Anyone else?
February 24, 2013 at 8:31 pm
Glenn Jerome Everette and Giselle Minoli think I know what series you were talking about, “Dancing.” It was amazing and sadly it can’t be found really. I have some old video cassettes that recorded it (and alas I no longer have a VCR player!). I used clips from it to do a presentation for a philosophy and art theory course I took for my philosophy degree back in the day.
If you are remembering what I’m too, it was amazing! This, unfortunately, is all I can find on the internet and too bad (I loved especially all the Lindy Hop sequences and the around-the-world focus the series did about dance in terms of entertainment, religion, philosophy, pop culture and all else!): http://mediaservices.gmu.edu/?p=896
February 24, 2013 at 8:38 pm
Thank you…all of you wonderful people for sharing and +1’ing the artistry of the incredible Lil Buck. There are other videos of him on YouTube…I so encourage you to check them out.
February 24, 2013 at 8:46 pm
Not stir up trouble, but I’ve yet to see anything for Black History Month on G+ except here. That’s a real shame.
February 24, 2013 at 8:50 pm
Kena Herod, Black History Month was trending for at least a few days that I noticed. There’s probably a hashtag associated with it, too.
February 24, 2013 at 8:56 pm
Tara Mulder I never saw it trending but I believe you. I will in the next few days give kudos to a 3 more dancers/choreographers for this month on my profile or in dance communities here: specifically Katherine Dunham, Alvin Ailey and ballerina Michaela DePrince.
February 24, 2013 at 9:01 pm
If you’re interested, I looked up a G+ stream of posts on the topic! http://goo.gl/y30BM
Self-Rescuing Princess Society made several great posts about women for this month. 🙂
February 24, 2013 at 9:10 pm
Thx for sharing this – what a talent. He’s unbelievably fluid.
February 24, 2013 at 9:10 pm
Aww… thanks. I’m trying to do what I can. Love this video link as well as all the great info in this discussion.
February 24, 2013 at 9:13 pm
Kena Herod thank you so much. I thought that was the name of it. But I couldn’t believe that no reference to it on the net could be found.
When I read Giselle Minoli beautiful prose about Lil Buck it took me back to that wonderful series. I can still remember segments of that series. It was the first time I’d seen all dance treated with equal humanity.
Thank – you both so very much.
February 24, 2013 at 9:15 pm
Also Cat Bessing *needs* to be in on this thread.
February 24, 2013 at 9:20 pm
Glenn Jerome Everette clearly you and I saw the same series. Hopefully, someone will digitalize it for posterity. For me, especially back in ’93 when it aired (thus no true internet access for video), it was among so many things I loved, like the first time I saw Carnival in Brazil–I was floored. Now, though, it’s all there on the Web, but back in ’93, it was a revelation.Still, there was so much more in the series from ballet to tap to Asian dances and all else. Where is an arts philanthropist when we need her/him? Cheers, Glenn!
February 24, 2013 at 9:47 pm
Nice modern version.
I still prefer the old Etoile Ballet Gala 2012 – Anastasia Kolegova – K.Sen-Sans – Dying Swan [HD]
February 24, 2013 at 9:57 pm
Glenn Jerome Everette On YouTube there are a series of posts that look to be pieces of a documentary called Free to Dance, but I can’t find a page with all of the pieces of it together. But it is here:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Free+to+Dance+full+documentary&oq=Free+to+Dance+full+documentary&gs_l=youtube-reduced.3…44378.46641.0.46846.16.16.0.0.0.0.159.1344.11j5.16.0…0.0…1ac.1.fCTsTzIL6So
February 24, 2013 at 10:01 pm
Gabriela Anghel It is a beautiful performance of the original by Anastasia Kolegova! Note to folks, do watch it even though because of the recording of a live performance, the first 30 sec. are in black (still that wonderful score by Saint-Saens in the meanwhile!) but then she comes thru vividly and beautifully of a piece as Giselle Minoli noted was done in 1905. Thank you Gabriela Anghel for the share.
February 24, 2013 at 10:17 pm
It is lovely Gabriela Anghel. You know what I can imagine some creative director having the courage to do…is staging a performance of The Dying Swan with four dancers on stage – a ballerina, a break dancer, a modern dancer and a Jazz dancer – all performing it at the same time in their own style. Somehow I think Fokine would have approved. Ah, to dance…
February 24, 2013 at 10:32 pm
There you are, Paula Schell! I see you.
February 24, 2013 at 10:33 pm
Who? Me? 😉
February 24, 2013 at 10:34 pm
Yeah. You!
February 24, 2013 at 10:37 pm
Kena Herod Giselle Minoli & Gabriela It would be wonderful if y’all could sync the two movements for us laypeople http://youtubedoubler.com/75tS
February 24, 2013 at 10:38 pm
Looooove this. I started out in jazz and learned to break (por quito) from a hispanic boy I went to Jr. High with. I had the ballet body, but not the inclination — I didn’t like the bleeding feet or distorted joints…so I went modern. I miss the dance world…but I like the security of having a regular paycheck to provide for my family. I long to get back into something with movement…. Only a few more years before my boys are out of high school and I will get back to my first love….
February 24, 2013 at 10:43 pm
Hi, everyone…you know we really can’t have this conversation about The Dying Swan without including the lovely Oksana Baiul skating it on ice. Talk about lyrical Kena Herod. She was perfection, IMHO.
February 24, 2013 at 10:46 pm
Do your boys appreciate dance Paula Schell? You will get back to it. I, too, left it for many, many years. One of the great joys of my life was to get back to it, but to ballroom dancing, mostly the Tango and Bolero, which I love. I can’t imagine my life without dance. How lucky you were to learn break. I think it is absolutely incredible.
February 24, 2013 at 10:48 pm
Giselle Minoli see what Glenn Jerome Everette did above–my heart is breaking in more ways than you or anyone else could imagine on so many levels: http://youtubedoubler.com/75tS Glenn Jerome Everette I don’t have such ability but what you shared was utterly amazing. I think Arthur Mitchell, who was in a roundabout way the inspiration for this post, would approve. Thank you again Glenn!
February 24, 2013 at 10:52 pm
Nah….they got my geek nerd genes Giselle Minoli. I would LOVE to learn ballroom!!! It’s my dream…I’m afraid I will never find a partner willing to do it with me. To learn Tango…..~faints~
February 24, 2013 at 10:55 pm
If I’ve said it once I’ll say it a million times…I wish I had learned the Tango when I was growing up. I would have learned so much more about myself…and the definition of what it means “to partner” Paula Schell. It’s really invaluable. I didn’t learn it until I was older. But I am so grateful I did. The Argentine Tango is like nothing I have ever studied. Nothing.
February 24, 2013 at 11:04 pm
A shout out, since it is about Black History Month and dance. So, here is one of my and my daughter’s favourite Canadian companies: http://www.balletcreole.org/index.cfm?pagepath=The_Company&id=17197. (P.S. we’re also US citizens with deep roots in St. Louis, Mo.)
February 24, 2013 at 11:06 pm
Glenn Jerome Everette you’re killin’ me here. I’m stunned. I have goosebumps. Thank you so much. Has everyone else clicked on the link that Glenn created on YouTube? Fabulous.
February 24, 2013 at 11:09 pm
Kena Herod from the moment I saw Lil Buck’s interpretation I wanted to see a traditional version along with it. This dance is part of our collective heritage. I believe every interpretation adds to our understanding and expression. That’s what I love about dance. It’s a language we all understand in our cells. My Zen teacher told me that many Zen masters are former dancers. It’s something about being in the body that resonates with being Zen.
February 24, 2013 at 11:09 pm
Glenn did it mashing up Lil Buck and Gabriela Anghel’s video link. Amazing.
February 24, 2013 at 11:11 pm
Glenn Jerome Everette You. Are. The. Bomb. 😉
February 24, 2013 at 11:16 pm
Thank-you Gabriela Anghel for sharing that beautiful interpretation. I think it as one of the first ballet movements I saw as a child.
February 24, 2013 at 11:16 pm
And sad thing is, unless I’m missing something, one cannot +1 on G+! Correct me if I’m wrong. What a perfect side by side of 1905 ballet and 2010s dance of the same music and concept!?! And the ending of their bows? It is if the two are acknowledging each other!
February 24, 2013 at 11:36 pm
And greetings Self-Rescuing Princess Society and Cat Bessing…
Well, in that sense that art forms are universal all artists speak to one another across cultures, genres and ages…Yes, they are/were acknowledging one another Kena Herod.
February 25, 2013 at 12:20 am
For anyone who might wonder about the above conversation, Glenn Jerome Everette did this wonderful side by side of Giselle Minoli’s post in part thanks to Gabriela Anghel’s link. Urban dance plus ballet!! 1905 meets 2011. (P.S. the ballet part is 30 sec. in dark but then wonderfully comes thru): http://youtubedoubler.com/?video1=JZumgHLSW10&start1=0&video2=WHzYBpS_UcA&start2=0&authorName=gje
February 25, 2013 at 1:16 am
i think it’s so cool how he mixed hiphop with ballet.
February 25, 2013 at 1:46 am
Dance is the breathing of one’s soul…
beautiful post Giselle Minoli .
February 25, 2013 at 3:02 am
So wonderful and fluid, so beautiful. Thanks for this share Kena Herod and for passing it on and your comments Giselle Minoli . Have a good week both of you.
February 25, 2013 at 8:04 am
amazing
February 25, 2013 at 1:43 pm
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 25, 2013 at 2:41 pm
I like different styles of music and dance and always stay open for something new.
This is really amazing, thank you Kena Herod and Giselle Minoli 🙂
February 25, 2013 at 2:45 pm
Jelena Milosevic for some reason I watched it over and over again yesterday. Please click on Glenn Jerome Everette YouTube link and watch Lil Buck dance The Dying Swan side by side with Anastasia Kolegova…It is so worth it: http://youtubedoubler.com/75tS
February 25, 2013 at 2:48 pm
They made it really good: look second time 🙂
February 25, 2013 at 2:52 pm
Anyway, it is great opportunity that classical music “come” to younger people, who didn’t grow up with it, and that they really can enjoy this wonderful music
February 25, 2013 at 3:04 pm
You are so welcome Jelena Milosevic. It is always a delight to hear from you. I particularly love how new generations of artisans can reinterpret “the classics” in ways that expose them to new generations. There are those who find this disrespectful. I however find it the essence of respect. To Fokine, to Pavlova, to Saint-Saëns, to the Swan herself!
February 25, 2013 at 6:59 pm
This is great but let’s not assume he didn’t grow up with classical music.
February 25, 2013 at 7:06 pm
Allegra Cole I don’t think that is what Jelena Milosevic meant…I think she meant “viewers/listeners,” not Lil Buck…
February 25, 2013 at 7:11 pm
Ah…yes! Apologies for misunderstanding. Thanks again for sharing this!
February 25, 2013 at 7:13 pm
😉 Allegra Cole. I feel certain Lil Buck himself is versed in many different genres of music…but I would love to know.
February 25, 2013 at 7:27 pm
Allegra Cole I do mean as Giselle Minoli said, about more younger people, who will, because of Lil and more another young people, who just interprate classic music their own way, get closer to this music.
Why I say this,it’s because it makes people from different sides closer to each other, because it makes them feel same as we all are, but same time uniqe , because we can feel it different way…
I hope, you do understand what I want to say, in my not perfect english 🙂
February 26, 2013 at 3:48 am
Your English Jelena Milosevic can be perfectly understood, because it’s always so perfectly passionate in its opinion…
March 3, 2013 at 2:48 pm
Giselle Minoli and everyone else, you might be interested in this 20 min. documentary about Lil Buck performing in China: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/taking-american-dance-to-china-and-bringing-back-a-film/?ref=dance
March 3, 2013 at 3:56 pm
Good morning Kena Herod…very enthusiastic about watching this and grateful for you pointing it out to me! Thank you!
November 13, 2015 at 5:33 pm
Oui Olly Kabongo…lui est!