[.ca] Farrell, Suzanne: Ellusive Muse

From Amazon.com:
Romantic triangles. Unconsummated passion. Jealousy. Revenge. Just another day offstage at the New York City Ballet for ballerina Suzanne Farrell and her mentor, legendary choreographer George Balanchine. Elusive Muse traces the development of Farrell into an extraordinary performer while trying to define her passionate professional and personal relationship with "Mr. B." (Farrell says dancing with Balanchine was "more passionate, more loving" than a sexual relationship would have been.) Relying heavily on interviews with Farrell and her longtime dance partner, Jacques d'Amboise (who calls her a "goddess" and the "last, great muse for Balanchine"), the film follows her evolution from awestruck student to inspiration--Balanchine created some of his most breathtaking ballets for her, and lengthy footage of them, including "Diamonds" and "Mozartiana," is shown. The story is as tortured as ballet's best: Marriage to another dancer causes their banishment from the company and she's forced to dance in Europe to keep her career alive, but she triumphantly reunites (professionally) with her mentor. While performance footage documents her artistry, interviews with other dancers and choreographers testify to her growing talent and help explain how Mr. B worked. "God sent her to me," he is quoted as saying. Here, the rest of us get to glory in his handiwork. --Valerie J. Nelson

The Muse Speaks:
In 1990 Suzanne Farrell, the once-leading ballerina of the New York City Ballet, broke her silence in Elusive Muse, a documentary covering her career and legendary relationship with George Balanchine. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary, Elusive Muse tells the story through interviews with Farrell and male NYCB dancers who danced with her during her career. If you know anything about NYCB, Suzanne Farrell, or George Balanchine, you probably know that Farrell was Balanchine's muse almost from the very beginning of her days with the company until his death in 1983 (with a 5-year break in the action during the 70s). What Elusive Muse gives us that we haven't seen or heard before is Suzanne's first person telling of her story. The video contains wonderful footage of her taking class, rehearsing, and performing Balanchine's ingenious choreography as well as intimate disclosure about the relationship she shared with "Mr. B." Suzanne shares with us about the emotional threesome between Balanchine, herself, and her mother; the strain the relationship put on her; and the loneliness of her life as the much whispered-about woman at the center of NYCB. She talks about the almost telepathic nature of their relationship (at least through the eyes of a naïve young woman), how their feelings were interwoven throughout the ballets Mr. B created, their way of physically consummating their relationship, her eventual struggles and inability to continue, and how ballet became her "salvation" in the midst of that struggle for this good Catholic girl with very provincial beliefs. Even though Elusive Muse was made in 1990, Farrell is still visibly affected when recalling the events from her time at NYCB with Balanchine, even to the point of tears. Farrell also talks about dancing for Maurice Bejart in Brussels. Bejart repeats what others say about her dancing-that Suzanne had wonderful technical ability and athleticism (she was an acrobat before she was a dancer), but it was her "musicality" and the soulfulness of her dancing that made her such an incredible standout. Indeed, Suzanne Farrell is easily short-listed for the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. We'll never hear Balanchine's side of the story, though his reticence on the topic may have been more of a determining factor than his death. Farrell has the last word on her relationship with the creative genius, and at the end she tells us "There are no 'if onlys' in my life." She shares a remarkable experience she had after Mr. Balanchine's death, an experience that reconfirmed her commitment to dancing. Performance footage: Apollo (in B & W) and Davidsbundlertanze with Jacques d'Amboise; Chaconne and Diamonds with Peter Martins; Romeo and Juliet with Jorge Donn; Concerto Barocco; Scotch Symphony; her final performance in Vienna Waltzes; and an absolutely exquisite Don Quixote with Balanchine in the title role. Her dancing in this piece transcends this world and alone justifies the purchase price of the video. There are many interviews with past dancers of the NYCB including Jacques d'Amboise, Arthur Mitchell, Paul Mejia, and Eddie Villella, as well as Maurice Bejart. Rehearsal footage and stagings include Slaughter on 10th Avenue with Maria Caligari, Tzigane with Isabelle Guerim and the Paris Opera Ballet, and Susan Jaffe in Mozartiana. Lots of wonderful stills as well. If you are a student of ballet history, a lover of NYCB, or a Suzanne Farrell fan, Elusive Muse is a required addition to your video collection, worth far more than its purchase price.

Great dancing, interesting life:
In 1970, Suzanne Farrell, who since the mid-60s had become the latest of Mr. B's "muse-ballerinas", angrily quit the New York City Ballet. Balanchine's obsession had become smothering, to the point where the much-younger Farrell considered suicide. He was married (to another former muse), and Farrell married another dancer in the company. To Mr. B, this was a direct slap in the face, and to Farrell it was the only way out. The situation quickly escalated. Even 30 years later, she bursts into tears at the memory of essentially threatening Balanchine with an ultimatum. Balanchines response, of course, was equally stony, and Farrell walked out on her mentor. This sad, even sordid story is shocking to those who want to believe ballet is an endless stream of ribbons and tutus. This documentary of the legendary ballerina is a good balance between artistic and personal. There are clips of the younger, beautiful Farrell dancing in works like "Tzigane" and "Midsummer's Night Dream." There are also interviews with Farrell's husband Paul Meija, and other important people in Farrell's life, including her stage-mother mom. Life many documentaries it's essentially self-centered, and thus many other NYCB notables seem to not exist at all. Patricia McBride, Allegra Kent, Edward Villela, and others whome Farrell presumably danced with are not present for the documentary. Mr. B of course is no longer here, so we have to take Farrell's word about their relationship. The story has a happy ending: Farrell eventually returned to the company, and danced for Mr. B until his death. Farrell is a good interview subject: she's surprisingly expressive and candid. A good supplement to this documentary would be Farrell's autobiography, which goes into more detail about her pre-and-post-Balanchine years.

The Apple of Balanchine - Suzanne Farrell - A total Dancer:
Suzanne Farrell is every choreographer's dream. Arthur Mitchell says: "Suzanne Farrell is extremely musical, she is very fast and never afraid of falling off point", characterizing her as "the apple of Balanchine eyes". Suzanne has intelligence of movement. She can learn a role even without music, just by counting. Diana Adams taught her her role just by moving her palms. The age difference between Balanchine and his muse Suzanne was 42 years. There was a deep intuitive understanding between them. In Suzanne's words: "Balanchine in a way became younger when he worked with me and I became older, so we met each other at the same point of time, with our dancing choreography on stage it meant that all the years he had choreographed before I was alive, all the ballets that subsequently were dances, that where choreographed for other dancers, it was like I lived all his life plus mine". This video includes many clips of historic films and also a segment of Suzanne and Balanchine himself dancing together their own life in Don Quixote. After a period of separation from Balanchine, Suzanne received an invitation from Maurice Bejart and she began to worked with him. When she returned back to Balanchine she has improved: more mature, and more experienced and we get "Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins", guided by Balanchine, a subject worthy of special treatment in itself.

Prima ballerina assoluta!:
A thoughtful, well-prepared documentary. The right balance of talking heads and archival performance footage. Directors Anne Belle and Deborah Dickson clearly took the time to understand their subject. And Suzanne Farrell's full cooperation with the process is the single most important thing that kept this fascinating film from being one more cliche-ridden, outsider's view of the demented, masochistic world of ballet. Jacques D'Amboise and Arthur Mitchell, as well as Ms Farrell herself, go a long way to disprove the theory that dancers are inarticulate when not moving through space. Their recollections and insights serve as a nice counterbalance to Farrell's emotionally-charged self-assessments. Although much of the film focuses on explicating Farrell's relationship with choreographer George Balanchine (the film's creepiest moment of pathos is when Farrell goes into her bureau drawer and takes out a billet -doux from her mentor and reads it for the camera), ultimately it is Farrell's strength of character and survival instinct that leaves the strongest impression. The final words of the film are hers: "There have been no 'if onlys' for me." Although the DVD has no dynamite extras, it serves as the perfect format for this kind of film. After watching the film all the way through, you're going to want to go back and watch some of the dance sequences over and over.

Farrell review:
The information regarding the relational dynamics between Ms. Farrell and Mr. B was very interesting. Also the interviews were thoughtfully presented. Though, I wish there were more scenes of Ms. Farrell's dancing. The lack of dance scenes was very disappointing. The quality of the DVD is good.