Not just men in tights; they're stars
Marc Platt was a redheaded "rowdy" guy who wanted to work with pretty girls. Paul Maure was a skin-and-bones opera singer who discovered he'd rather take ballet class three times a day. Andrei Tremaine's mother brought him to his first class against his will, while Victor Moreno took his doctor's advice to "get more exercise."
As for George Zoritch, teenage heartthrob extraordinaire, discovering ballet proved both humbling and intoxicating. "I was never going to be a Nureyev, but I was the essence of whatever role I played. And in the end, that's what counted," he says.
Platt, Maure, Tremaine, Moreno and Zoritch share the same claim to fame: All performed with the storied dance companies collectively known as the Ballets Russes, which from the 1930s until the early '60s continued the traditions of the original company, founded by Serge Diaghilev in 1909.
Veterans of Ballets Russes
These men danced with some of the most celebrated ballerinas of the 20th century and went on to successful careers as performers, choreographers and teachers. Now in their 70s, 80s and 90s, they will gather tonight at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre to watch dancing, drink Champagne and remember the era captured so adroitly in the 2005 documentary "Ballets Russes."
"We have respect, both for each other and the older gentlemen," says Tremaine, speaking for the "kids" -- himself, the 78-year-old Moreno and the 81-year-old Maure -- about Zoritch, 90, and Platt, 93. "I think it's great that those of us who still remember can get together."
Presented by the Burbank-based Media City Ballet, "The Men of the Ballet Russe" will include selections from ballets the five honorees appeared in in their heydays interspersed with archival and recent film clips that will include a photo montage narrated by Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo star Frederic Franklin, alive and well at 93. Such local dance dignitaries as Glenn Edgerton, formerly of the Joffrey Ballet, and Charles Maple, who danced with American Ballet Theatre, will give speeches, and the program is to culminate with a black-tie reception that will double as a 90th birthday party for Zoritch.
"I wanted to bring these men back in the limelight. They still have stories to tell, and I want to show the younger generations that this is where ballet comes from," says Natasha Middleton, artistic director of Media City Ballet.
- John Taras, 84; Choreographer and Ballet Master Apr 06, 2004
- * Deni Lamont; Ballet Dancer With 3 Prestigious Companies Nov 14, 1991
- Ballets Russes revival Jun 07, 2007
