A Robbins biographer, Amanda Vaill, wrote, "In its first movement the two partners indulge in a few folk-inflected gestures […] that seem to wink […] at some Russian past, as if the pair were saying to each other, "Didn't we use to do this, back there, back then?" --Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins (affilliate link)
The ballet was immediately a resounding success with New York Times critic Clive Barnes stating, "There is no choreography — with its mixture of character fervor and classic grace — quite like it anywhere."
(top) Makarova and Baryshnikov. Photo by Martha Swope, 1980.
(bottom) Makarova and Baryshnikov. Photo by Fred Fehl, 1976.
Comments