Skip to main content

The atmosphere of black and white

By
I have been doing a little research this morning for a book I am planning with Vladimir Zaglada and our translator, Lupita.

Long ago I found a wonderful website that I loved for its photographs and a brief essay on the nature of choreography. One day, I realised I couldn't find it any more.  I thought it had disappeared. It is a sadness to me that much of the history of Soviet gymnastics is disappearing; for example, try searching for pictures of Elena Shevchenko: there are few that really capture the majesty of her floor performances.

So I was very happy this morning, when I found Natasha's website again, in a truncated version, but including some of the old pictures.  I love the atmosphere of black and white and the sense of history they capture.

The site is the resume of now US-based, former Soviet team choreographer, Natasha Matveeva. Well worth a look and a read for the impressive list of gymnasts with whom she once worked.

Natasha Matveeva, her daughter Anya, and 1989 World Champion, three time Olympian Svetlana Boguinskaia, at Lake Krugloye National Training Centre in about 1989


Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous29 November 2012 at 19:36

    Yekaterina Lobaznyuk had just walked onto the floor at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and waited nervously for her musical cue when NBC commentator Tim Daggett broke the tension with clairvoyance:

    "Russian national coach Matveena, Natashenka says, 'These children--they come to us and together we make a piece of art. This is our life's work.'"

    I had to catch my breath.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown2 April 2014 at 13:07

    This is a quote that I have lived my teaching career by. Beautiful words

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous30 September 2020 at 09:19

    If you ever find the essay about choreography again will you please post it as a future blog entry? I love to read about choreography.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics

By
Svetlana Boginskaya, 15 years old, with her medals from the Seoul Olympics Nico translates the latest interview with gymnastics legend Svetlana Boginskaya, during a recent visit to her home country of Belarus. Svetlana Boginskaya: I was always a bitch* in gymnastics, so now I ask for forgiveness from everyone who came in contact with me. The National Olympic Committee of Belarus held a press conference with three-time Olympic Champion in artistic gymnastics, Svetlana Boginskaya. The meeting was devoted to the 25th anniversary of the Olympic Games in Seoul. In South Korea the Belarussian won two gold medals in the team competition and vault. As a gift to the Olympic Hall of fame, the famous gymnast, now living in the United States, donated one of her trophies that she won at the 1990 European Championships and a pennant for Best Female Athlete of the USSR in 1989. How happy we were when we could share with such stars as Boginskaya, Scherbo, and Ivankov,...
14 comments
Read more

Our Nelli Kim : a new documentary

By
Nelli Kim at the 1980 Olympics, courtesy of Nellikim.net I have mixed feelings about Nelli Kim.  She was certainly one of the most talented competitors the Soviet Union fielded in gymnastics, and that is saying something. She harvested first place  all around at the 1979 World Championships, her country's only gold medal in a somewhat disastrous competition for the Soviet women.  (That competition has become a very notorious one in history, if one remembers poor Nadia Comaneci's brave performance despite a serious wrist infection, and the winning Romanian team's sickeningly unhealthy appearance in Fort Worth.) Nelli was also a great performer and character.  Her career overlapped a time of fundamental change in the sport - when the lyricism of such performers as Tourischeva was overpowered by the pyrotechnical advances of the likes of Comaneci.  Nelli managed to reconcile the two qualities, and to span the gap between the two eras.  I don't think she ever r...
3 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more