Tribute to Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse was 86. And she was one of the greatest dancers of the 20iest century to appear on the screens.
She was revealed to the audience thanks to this masterpiece called "Singin' in the rain" in 1952, where she had the greatest honour to become and stay the partner of Gene Kelly. And when you know how demanding Gene Kelly was during rehearsals and during the filming, starting the pieces again and again until everything was utterly perfect, you may imagine what it means to be and stay the partner of such a man.
Not only was she the partner of Gene Kelly, she also appeared beside Fred Astaire in diverse productions.
A ballet dancer, she prefered the cameras to the stages, and surely contributed in making ballet and dance in general more popular, at a time (50s) when ballet was still mainly considered as the entertainment in opera productions.
She contributed to modernise the image of ballet dance, such as Claude Bessy did at the same time, and Maurice Bejart was about to do a few years later.
Cyd Charisse received in 2000 the prestigious Nijinsky Award for her career, and, in 2006, the American National Medal of Arts.
On June, 18th, 2008, she was gone. A great lady that we should not forget.
(Photo: www.paulcacia.com)