Post by Admin on Aug 25, 2016 22:42:34 GMT
- Madame Trepidovska, being once an "assoluta at the Maryinski," might be based on Russian ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska, who was the assoluta (Prima ballerina assoluta is a title awarded to the most notable of female ballet dancers) at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg and also taught ballet to children. (You can see footage of her dancing with her students in Paris, c. 1920s, here).
- Bain d'Oiseaux, the name of the ballet where Maudie plays a sparrow, is French for birdbath.
Jardin de Regrets is French for "Garden of Regrets"
Oiseau de Glace is French for "Bird of Ice" - Baron de Zabrus - Zabrus is a genus of omnivore ground beetles
- A ballet dancer named Serge Ibiskovski also briefly appears in Gorey's Scènes de Ballet (1976, Amphigorey Again).
- The original publication of TGB featured a short legend on the dust-flap, which was not reproduced in Amphigorey Too:(Source: Alexander Theroux, The Strange Case of Edward Gorey)[Maudie Splaytoe was] discovered at the age of five by Mme. Trepidovska, forged to fineness by 100,000 pliés at the bar, polished in the provinces, acclaimed in all the capitals of Europe, established in luxury by the Baron, yet, nun-like in her devotion to the Dance, she achieves apotheosis in her immortal role, La Chauve-Souris Dorée.
- There is a very interesting article by Allegra Kent, a successful ballerina, about her association with Edward Gorey. In the article, amongst other things, she comments on TGB and names his favorite ballerinas:Most drawings of ballet dancers are over-idealized and lack subtlety, but not Edward Gorey's. His have grace, oddity and sinuous, serpentine design. What is important in Edward Gorey's drawings is the oddity. Inside The Gilded Bat, Madame Solepsiskaya's hands and feet, overcrossed in fourth position, are huge. Her ballet discovery, little 5-year-old Maudie, has fingers posed upward, in attentive awe of ballerina-dom as her intended destination. She is one of the chosen in childhood. Later, in class, we see her slumped body positions, as she works with diligence and exhausted arms. We perceive the unrelenting nature of daily ballet practice. The book, published in 1966, was dedicated to Diana Adams, one of the glorious ballerinas of the early days of NYCB. Gorey adored her. Her length of limb and perfection of posture, plus her natural elegance and finesse, made her a unique creature and one of Balanchine's special interests. Later, I was to learn that Gorey had three such favorites: Adams, Patricia McBride and myself. Years after, some youngsters were added--Maria Calegari and Kyra Nichols. I was thrilled to be on his list.