In The Ballerinas, a sumptuously produced two-part ballet drama, Fracci places her rare artistry in the service of dance history as she recreates roles first premiered by such luminous ballerinas as Marie Taglioni, Emma Livry, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Elssler, Giuseppina Bozzacchi, Carlotta Brianza, Matilde Kschessinska, Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina and Olga Spessitzeva.
The nineteenth century clings to Carla Fracci like an invisible mantle – her aura, her look, her demeanor suggest everyone’s conception of the romantic ballerina. How fitting that this great poetic artist should portray some of her most fabled predecessors – the very ballerinas that, like Fracci, were the embodiment of romantic fragility and lyric classicism.
Giselle, 1841, with Carla Fracci as Carlotta Grisi and Vladimir Vasiliev as Lucien Petipa.
Carla Fracci and Vladimir Vasiliev- Giselle from the Ballerina 1987
Sleeping Beauty, 1890, with Carla Fracci as Carlotta Brianza and Richard Cragun as Pavel A. Gerdt.
The Sleeping Beauty – Carla Fracci and Richard Cragun
Les Sylphides, 1909, with Carla Fracci as Anna Pavlova and Charles Jude as Vaslav Nijinsky.
Les Sylphides – Carla Fracci and Charles Jude
Le Spectre de la rose, 1911 with Carla Fracci as Tamara Karsavina and Paolo Bortoluzzi as Vaslav Nijinsky.
Le Spectre de la rose- Carla Fracci Paolo Bortoluzzi
