CriticalDance Forum

Recently I have seen a trend for female lifting,supporting male dancers.After witnessing a truely remarkable show by Brazilian dance troupe Cena 11,in which the female dancer quite easily lifted her male partner on a number of occasions.
I also recall a ballet lift occuring at the very end of a performance,where the female held in her arms the male dancer and then proceeded to walk with him,carrying him up the stairs of a castle tower.
Please if anyone can inform me of the name of the ballet in question, and of any other scenes or dance performances that have female lifting male in then i would truely be very greatful.
Links to video's or clips would also be very welcoming.
Thank You

Not really dance... But this is the speciality of the french skaters Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat.

I seem to remember a few other dance teams doing 'woman holding man' lifts during the most recently Olympics. I think one of the Italian teams does such a lift.

And I'm sure there are other dance examples...

Kate

In Balanchine's La Sonnambula, the sleepwalker carries the dead poet offstage in her arms at the end of the ballet. Maybe in some production she carried him upstairs. Here's a link to a review of La Sonnambula from Dance Insider that describes the action.

And, by the way, it was never easy for the sleepwalker to lift that man...remember, she has pointe shoes on! You see the candle winding it's way up the stairs after the dancers' exit upstage into the tower...a lighting special effect! Visually to the audience, it appears as though the sleepwalker is carrying the poet to her chambers aloft in the tower.

Thank you for the replies on this topic. If anyone knows of a link to a video or a clip of the final scene in La Sonnambula,(where the sleepwalker carries the poet), then i would be very greatful.
Thanks again.

I saw Australian Dance Theatre recently, and I believe there were several times where a woman lifted a man.

There are definately examples in contemporary ballet, but they escape me now. Perhaps someone else can provide more details.

Kate

This NYTimes Review of a contemporary piece mentions a woman lifting a man.


Reviews of Rafael Bonachela's "Linear Remains", danced the Rambert Dance Company, mentioned several instances of men being lifted by women. In addtion I found an article that suggested ballets by Nacho Duato and Christopher Bruce might include women lifting men.

Hi,
now and then there will be scenes of women lifting men, but it is not going to be the normality. #

1.Men are usually too heavy for most women

2.To rehearse and get these lifts to work takes a lot of time, and that is normally not avaliable in a creation process. Do not forget, many cohoreoghraphers have less than two months to create a full evening ballet.

3.Many factors have to come together: you need a very strong woman, a lighter man and of course a very good lifting technique.

But like I said it will happen now and then.

What I see more often than before though is lifts where women lifts woman. I believe this comes from a more diversed education within contemporary schools at the moment, where women are being thought good lifting techniques.