34 replies to this topic

[cubanmiamiboy]

jsmu, on 23 February 2013 - 02:31 PM, said:

I don't think MCB ballerinas have much interest at all in those kinds of roles ...

A WILD guess, IMO...!

jsmu, on 23 February 2013 - 02:31 PM, said:

Valdes, on the other hand, doesn't have the option of just popping in to one of the few companies which do real Balanchine, not to mention obscure Balanchine....

This is true. She has had only access to Terpsichore, the Sylph of SS and the T&V, Tchai.PDD and Sylvia PDD-(real Balanchine)- leads-(when Ballo was staged, Ashley only selected Lorna Feijoo to dance it)...but hey, having had first hand view of a full original T&V vid with THE lead on it for a compprehensive portray should be enough,right...?

[jsmu]

A highly educated and plausible guess.
Wow, Valdes did Terpsichore and Scotch and T&V and Tchaik and SYLVIA pdd?!?!?! I had no idea. Dayum. would LOVE to have seen her in Sylvia and T&V.
did you see any of these? wonder how she was as Terpsichore and in Scotch? (not her' type' of roles on the surface) Not sure what your last sentence was there.....??? lol

[cubanmiamiboy]

jsmu, on 26 February 2013 - 07:45 PM, said:

A highly educated and plausible guess.
Wow, Valdes did Terpsichore and Scotch and T&V and Tchaik and SYLVIA pdd?!?!?! I had no idea. Dayum. would LOVE to have seen her in Sylvia and T&V.
did you see any of these? wonder how she was as Terpsichore and in Scotch? (not her' type' of roles on the surface) Not sure what your last sentence was there.....??? lol

Actually my live experiences with Valdes are very limited.  I left the island right when she was still a soloist, and a very obscured one by the divine Lorna Feijoo, who I place as the LAST ballerina who really carried the golden lineage of the Cuban ballet.   All those Balanchines are part of the Cuban repertoire, and with the exception of Ballo, are performed sans licensing.  As I said, when Merrill Ashley went to stage it, only Feijoo was selected to dance it.  As per now, Valdes is first cast for all the ballets, including those by Balanchine.  About my last sentence...when Alonso decided to re-staged T&V for her, a full video of the ballet with her and Youskevitch dancing it was taken from her personal arcades for the purpose.  I knew the video existed, but it wasn't until I saw some clips that I realized how precious it is to have that very first account of such gem for a dancer.  I can't wait until someone post the revival on Youtube, although maybe it will be difficult with the Trust and all that.

[jsmu]

Yes. I saw Feijoo do Ballo in Boston. brilliant. I think Ashley didn't pick Valdes for that because it's a 'jumping' ballet and Valdes' obvious virtuoso talents are in turning and balancing.
(And, sometimes, footwork....but Ballo has all kinds of arcane HARD jump combinations and of course the Don Q kick-your-head jete. Not that Valdes can't jump--
but Ballo is very advanced in its jump demands.) The recent Ballo at Royal Ballet had Lauren Cuthbertson, ugggggh--what Ashley saw in her/picked her for is inconceivable
from the clips which came out, especially since her alternate (first cast I think) was the dazzling and flawless Marianela Nunez. talk about unflattering comparisons!!!!
I cannot even imagine a film of Alonso in Theme. That is something that must be seen and made available. (Youskevitch, who fought Balanchine every step of the way and wanted only to do
the same tired old steps and schtick he always did, I'm MUCH less interested in seeing--but to see the original virtuosa doing the great role? OMFG.

[elena]

So I am scheduled to see Viengsay and Osiel dance here in Puerto Rico, they will be doing Swan Lake with the company Ballet Concierto, I will see it on Friday. I have not seen either of them or a Swan Lake live (I own many DVD's of it, and seen other clips online, but never in person!) I know that because of logistics and company size it will be different than what I have seen on video but I am very excited for this anyway

Pst-viewing edit* I was always impressed by what I had seen of Viengsay (and Osiel) online, but nothing beats the live experience - strong technically, musical and passionate! Blown away and feeling lucky I got to see this Ballet Concierto and their dancers did really good as well, it's been 11 years since they staged a SL... I was very impressed and happy to see this in my country!