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Image Courtesy of Patrick Fraser |
I am pleased and infinitely relieved to say that, a solution has been found. This past season in the ballet world has seen the retirement of many a great dancer of our time. To celebrate their legacies, I have decided to feature a great dancer in each post, starting from those who have recently hung up their pointes for good, and perhaps branching out to stalwarts of the past, and other notable but less renowned artistes.
In the course of these posts, I will provide insight into their careers, and where possible, indulge you with some of their work that is available on YouTube. To do justice to their contributions to the noble art of ballet and bring more to appreciate their consummate grace is what I hope to achieve, God willing.
Which brings me to another important question: of all the illustrious personalities to have graced the ballet stage, whom should I select to first showcase? Many prolific dancers achieved their status through different means, all of which merit mention and are strong arguments for the respective individual being first. Longevity in the art form is a solid contender, but so is rank. And in an art where the measure of performance is subject to taste and style, it is all the more difficult to ascertain one's virtuosity, and therefore who should take precedence over another. Should it be the ballerina who has originated the most roles, or the danseur who has served in the finest company?
And so I elected to begin with a danseuse whose career, in my opinion, ended prematurely.
Carla Körbes was a principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) in Seattle, Washington until her decision to step down and pursue other ambitions. Her final performance in June 2015 was a bittersweet affair. At 33, Körbes' choice to retire is a sorrowful one when considering her age and talent, but understandable in light of her injuries. Having suffered a knee injuring in 'Tide Harmonic', a work of Christopher Wheeldon, she then discovered a torn meniscus and further issues concerning her patella. That was when she made the decision in late 2014 that the season would be her swansong. The affixed video above documents her dancer profile in PNB.
Körbes, a fair-haired and lithe figure who hails from Porto Alegre, Brazil, began her ballet training at the age of five before attending Ballet Vera Bublitz at eleven. It was there that she caught the eye of Peter Boal, then a principal with the New York City Ballet (NYCB), leading to her enrolment at the affiliated School of American Ballet (SAB). After four years, she graduated into the ranks of the company as part of the corps de ballet in 2000, eventually being promoted to soloist in 2005. How far she might have gone in NYCB we will never know, for in that same year, Boal was named director of PNB, and Körbes followed her mentor there, taking on the rank of principal in 2006.
Here is a short of her pas de deuz with Justin Peck, a NYCB principal and fellow product of SAB.
Carla Körbes was a principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) in Seattle, Washington until her decision to step down and pursue other ambitions. Her final performance in June 2015 was a bittersweet affair. At 33, Körbes' choice to retire is a sorrowful one when considering her age and talent, but understandable in light of her injuries. Having suffered a knee injuring in 'Tide Harmonic', a work of Christopher Wheeldon, she then discovered a torn meniscus and further issues concerning her patella. That was when she made the decision in late 2014 that the season would be her swansong. The affixed video above documents her dancer profile in PNB.
Körbes, a fair-haired and lithe figure who hails from Porto Alegre, Brazil, began her ballet training at the age of five before attending Ballet Vera Bublitz at eleven. It was there that she caught the eye of Peter Boal, then a principal with the New York City Ballet (NYCB), leading to her enrolment at the affiliated School of American Ballet (SAB). After four years, she graduated into the ranks of the company as part of the corps de ballet in 2000, eventually being promoted to soloist in 2005. How far she might have gone in NYCB we will never know, for in that same year, Boal was named director of PNB, and Körbes followed her mentor there, taking on the rank of principal in 2006.
Here is a short of her pas de deuz with Justin Peck, a NYCB principal and fellow product of SAB.
Körbes dances exquisitely, like fragile porcelain whipping across the stage, but her strength is undeniable. Her body is not thin and precarious, but strong and muscled without losing any of its fluidity. Her movements are placed with subtlety; a turn of the wrist, a tilted head. As a Balanchine exponent she is technically brilliant, beautifully sensitive to music, while her dramatic flair has propelled her to great success in famed classical repertoire. That is not to say Körbes fares any less in contemporary pieces. The company's challenging and panoplied programme has ensured thus. Well-versed in the demanding dual roles of Odette/Odile, the breathtaking balances in Sleeping Beauty's Rose Adagio, or the magnificent leaps of Kitri, she has also risen triumphantly to the task of tackling works by Twyla Tharp, Jerome Robbins and Kent Stowell. This is a solo from Jean-Christophe Maillot's choreography of 'Roméo et Juliette'.
There is without shadow of a doubt that Körbes has sealed her position as one of America's most magnificent dancers. Her pure, graceful dancing has won her fans even amongst the highest circles. Fêted by Alastair Macaulay, New York Times' primary dance critic, on numerous occasions, he once said of her performance that "she is one of the finest ballerinas appearing in America today", and that when some "think her the finest", the occasion left him "in no mood to contradict them".
Körbes now moves on to LA Dance Project, where she accepted the position of associate artistic director. Along with her impending nuptials to Patrick Fraser, a Los Angeles based photographer, she no doubt plans to have more time to hone her identity in this ever-evolving craft, while devoting more time to pursuits of family and leisure. In closing, I leave you with this brief but enchanting video of her, one that captures the essence of her spirit and mantra even as she suspends mid-air in poignant movement. It's one that evinces a portrait of not just any ballerina, but a truly remarkable artiste. And while this may be the end of her time on stage, she certainly has not forgotten ballet. And I'm certain that it will not forget her too.
-Jac
- Monday, August 24, 2015
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