Cuban school of ballet - distinctive features?

[silvy]

Hi

I felt promted to post this after reading an article by Clive Barnes on a past issue of DanceMagazine. He tells us about his impressions on Cuban ballet and dancers when he saw them at Havana Festival. One phrase stuck on my mind: "they are fearless".

Aside from this, which other features would you consider distinctive of Cuban ballet style?

I just thought this might be of interest.

silvy

[Michael]

Training to produce an Heroic physical facility, particularly among the men, derived from the Soviet school. The absence of self consciousness or a debilitating sense of irony. Scrupulous attention to certain fine points of classical training, such as, for example, an entire company in which attitude back is presented with the working feet rigorously held below the level of the knees. When they dance one of those Petipa variations in Don Q by four or six demi soloists to a moderate waltz, the presentation is light, on the music, and with the emphasis held appropriately on the upbeats. It's essentially a sub set of the Russian School -- but the Russian School as it was transmitted circa 1960 and preserved in a purer and more anachronistic form than the Russians themselves preserve it today.

[silvy]

Michael:

Thanks for your reply. Could you please explain a little bit what you meant by the following:

The absence of self consciousness or a debilitating sense of irony

I am afraid I did not understand

Thanks!

Silvy

[Michael]

To put it in positive terms -- An innocent quality. A straightforward and uncomplex approach to their varied repertory. For example, their Don Q is a sort of "people's hero", a statue called to life in the village square to repel the French invaders during the Napoleonic wars in Spain, encircled by mantilla wearing village mothers, peasants and maidens -- Without an utterly innocent approach, it could have appeared as post-Soviet Soviet bombast. It did not. Instead it held dramatic value. The slightest hint of irony, on the one hand, or pretention, on the other, would have been fatal here. Instead they played it like they believed in it. I can't think of another company which could have done that.

[BW]

silvy, check out today's links. There's a post with a link titled Dance Cuba...

[Victoria Leigh]

Silvy, they dance Giselle using the style of technique of the period when it was created, which is quite charming and wonderful! I loved it.

[silvy]

Thanks both Victoria and BW

I imagine their Giselle will be something not to miss. Is this also true of the Petipa classics?

silvy