Question by : 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?
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Answer by Nora White
the greatest dancer of all time is a guy. his name? Balanchine. Gorge Balanchine.
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Nakis says
The greatest ballerina of all times? As it has been said before performing ballet changes over the years, the technique as well, the physuque of a ballerina. There were of course some very great ladies in dancing before, like Maia Plissetkaya, Margot Fonteyn, Makarova, or Carla Fracci. Of these I believe Plissetkaya was a revolutionary in her times changing the concept of dancing, taking risks as well. And then came…Sylvie Guillem. She is my favorite I have to admit, since she has everything. The presencem the charisma, the technique which becomes invisible as she takes every single step, evry muscle of her extraordinary body to infuse these to the character she is portraying. Sylvie has litterally changed the image of the ballerina in dancing. Like Callas people now say there is an era before and one after Guillem (one of the reasons she has quite a few detractors). And she is equally impressive in classical and contemporray works. By the way she has not given up classivcal although she dances these less and less frequently. Just in 2011 she reprised her signature role Manon in MacMillans ballet at La Scala in Milan. It was an incomparable performance and I had the good fortune to be there.
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.
Jenn says
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.