Question by dancingcupcakes: who was/is the greatest ballerina of all time?
i LOVE ballet. and id also love to know who you guys think is/was the greatest ballerina of all time. i have looked up to Anna Pavlova for many years, but then i hear that Dame Margot Fonteyn was even better than Anna. ive also heard about Darcey Bussell, Sylvie Guilem, Svetlana Zakharova but i havent really learned anything about them except their names. so..who IS the greatest ballerina of all time?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Nora White
the greatest dancer of all time is a guy. his name? Balanchine. Gorge Balanchine.
Answer by Jenn
To pick one would be impossible for me. Dame Margot definitely amazing and worth mentioning! Some of my other favorites are Tamara Rojo, Suzanne Farrell, Natalia Osipova, and Alessandra Ferri.
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mintchips49 says
Trying to answer this is like trying to answer who was the greatest artist of all time or the best actor. It is really very subjective.
Ballet has changed over the years and the level of dancers abilities and training have changed as well. I don’t think there can be one “all time best” but perhaps the greatest of their era. Pavlova was amazing for her day, but watching video of her now, you can see that her technique has been surpassed by present day dancers. Margot Fonteyn was one of my favorite ballerinas of all time, but not because of her technique but because of her presence on stage. Having seen her perform live (yes, I am that old) I was mesmerized by her. Unfortunately that doesn’t come across the same way on film or video. Of the more recent ballerinas, I would have to put Sylvie Guillem at the top of my list. Her dancing was shear perfection and her body…well she is the definition of a perfect body for ballet. Darcey was also amazing but like Sylvie, no longer dances ballet professionally due to her age. Svetlana is the only one still dancing ballet on your list.
For any dancer to earn the title of Prima Ballerina, you have to be one of the greatest ballet dancers of all time. There are and have been so few “ballerinas” and many wonderful and talented ballet dancers who have never earned that title as well. If a dancer can call herself a ballerina because that title has been bestowed upon her by a ballet company, then she is among the greats. So many companies never give that title to any dancer.
@Nora White- Balanchine was known for his choreography and for being the father of Neoclassical ballet. Not as a great ballet dancer.