6 replies to this topic

[cubanmiamiboy]

Three male dancers have been promoted to Primeros Bailarines: Ernesto Álvarez, Elier Bourzac and Javier Torres.  Well deserved, guys...CONGRATS!!!  

[Helene]

Congratulations to them

[bart]

Cristian, is this the equivalent to "principal dancer" -- or something higher, like "etoile"?

[cubanmiamiboy]

Good question, bart..
For a while I got used to the term "Principal dancer"-(following the common trend of BT)-to name the top category within the Cuban ranks, but then I realized that this would be somehow misunderstood for those who get to know the ranking system of Alonso's company, where Principal Dancer exists too, but stands as an inferior category of that of Primer Bailarin or Primera Bailarina.  The best translation I can think of would be that of Premiere Danseur or Premiere Danseuse.  The Cuban ranking system goes as follows:

1-Prima Ballerina Assoluta
2-Primer Bailarin-(Premiere danseur/ballerino)/Primera Bailarina-(Premiere Danseuse/Ballerina)
3-Principal Dancer
4-Premiere Soloist
5-Soloist
6-Coryphee
7-Corps A
8-Corps B
9-Corps C

[Estelle]

cubanmiamiboy, on Oct 30 2009, 03:56 AM, said:

The Cuban ranking system goes as follows:

1-Prima Ballerina Assoluta
2-Primer Bailarin-(Premiere danseur/ballerino)/Primera Bailarina-(Premiere Danseuse/Ballerina)
3-Principal Dancer
4-Premiere Soloist
5-Soloist
6-Coryphee
7-Corps A
8-Corps B
9-Corps C

Wow ! So there are even more rankings than the POB (which now has five categories: étoile, premier danseur/ première danseuse, sujet, coryphée, corps de ballet, and used to have seven because there used to be grand sujet/ petit sujet and premier quadrille/ second quadrille, at least until the 1960s).

I wonder if there are other ballet companies with as many categories as the Cuban National Ballet ?

[bart]

Thanks, Cristian, for your response.  This IS quite an impressive list.  It suggests a remarkable devotion to (and faith in) the principle of hierarchy.  Although this is the product of a Communist syhstem, it seems awfully close to something one might find under Louis XIV, the Romanov tsars, or the Vatican.  

Any ideas about how or why this sytem was developed (or adopted) in Cuba?

[cubanmiamiboy]

cubanmiamiboy, on 28 October 2009 - 07:17 PM, said:

Three male dancers have been promoted to Primeros Bailarines: Ernesto Álvarez, Elier Bourzac and Javier Torres.  Well deserved, guys...CONGRATS!!!  

Bourzac is one of the five dancers that just have defected in Canada...