Skip to main content

The atmosphere of black and white

Image
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:

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

Komova should have won!

By
It was a very tight battle in the North Greenwich arena today, with American Gabby Douglas beating out Viktoria Komova by a mere 0.259 points (see results below) and the legendary Aliya Mustafina sealing her comeback from that career-threatening injury with a well deserved bronze medal. Yes, she suffered a fall from beam after her Arabian somersault but elsewhere she was at her best, a real endorsement of the work of the Russian coaches in nursing her back to almost-top form since that fateful day in 2011. Komova had a faultless competition apart from a step on landing her Amanar vault. Frankly, she must feel utterly shattered after coming second once again by a very small margin to an American who was treated very generously by the judges. Komova soared and took every beam move to the max, rounding off with her rare double Arabian dismount in fine style; Douglas literally sidled along the beam, seeming frightened to take her feet off the apparatus for all but her somersaults. Kom...
45 comments
Read more

'Mustafina is no longer in pain' - Valentina Rodionenko

By
Picture of Aliya Mustafina, courtesy of RGF Valentina Rodionenko has provided some updates on the Russian teams and how their preparation for Worlds (Nanning, China, 3 to 12 October) is progressing, via Allsports (http://www.allsportinfo.ru/index.php?id=84328) - The teams are now at camp in Italy, in two small towns close to Milan, by the sea, where the girls travelled on 29th June and the men on 1 July.  The athletes aren't only training, they can also relax. - Komova is working out at Round Lake, she didn't go to Italy.  We will see how she does at the Russia Cup, which will be held late August in Penza. Tatiana Nabiyeva is looking good in training and the other girls are also working.  Ksenia Afanasyeva won't have time to prepare for Worlds, and Anastasia Grishina's participation is also in doubt, we just don't know if she will qualify for the team.   We have hopes for Aliya Mustafina.  As always, she is our number one.  It would be great if there were t...
30 comments
Read more

The State of the Art - Gymnastics in 2013

By
Just picked up Peter Aykroyd's 1987 book  International Gymnastics: Sport Art or Science?.  Seeing it reminded me that gymnastics is in a constant state of flux and change; its identity has been subject to debate and conflict since the earliest days of competitive gymnastics, well before it existed in the form we recognise today.  I want to try to talk about the state of the sport today, how it compares to past models, how it arrived at this point, and what are the questions arising. I make no apologies for publishing the picture comparisons on this page, which were created by Lifje.  Some have seemed to find them rather challenging in the past, but they are not airbrushed or altered in any way.  Yes, the pictures are purpose selected for the sake of comparison, but they express a truth about the direction the sport has taken over the past few years.  They are not so much about Russia versus America as artistry versus athletics.  I do not pretend...
41 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more