floridian, on 12 December 2010 - 03:38 PM, said:
Just to clarify...
Magaly's new company is Florida Classical Ballet, FCB; there is another company in Palm Beach named Florida Classical Ballet Theater.
Thanks for the clarification! I edited the OP accordingly.
Moving on:
I just came from the MCB opening night. Theirs is, as we all know, a Balanchine production. I won't be talking about his staging per se, for which I've done this at length before, but rather about the ups and downs of tonight's performance.
The Downs:
A charmless Clara and Nutcracker kid. If the main thing of Balanchine's staging is to make real children the heart and soul of the ballet, then they better try to make them more alive next time. This observation is extended to the party kids, which at some points were like little lifeless robots following given steps, many times not even smiling. In Act II Clara and the Nut looked as if they had been placed in time out in the back of the stage. Where are the gestures of amusement and the surprised faces when presented with such feast...? Also, in the video they are given a table full of candy and other delicacies, so they can be entertained eating-(as kids usually do)-while watching the show. If this is not part of the original thing, then it was a great idea to insert it.
The Snow Scene's tutus. The romantic skirts didn't move too much. They were stiff and not very full, thus totally breaking the illusion of the floating entities swirling across the stage that worked so beautifully in the video. Also they didn't have the right attack that got me so much-(again)-in the DVD. Those were crazy snowflakes, at some point even looking as if they were really the body of a snow storm, right when the snow starts making this concentric movements with the wind. The Miamians snowflakes were sweet smiling girls...too sweet.
The substitution of the devices the snowflakes have in their hands, from
the ones resembling real snowflakes -(and very much like the original Imperial ones)-to
silver glittery branches, again loosing the intended effect.
The mourning of the Company's loss of the BEST Candy Cane-(Daniel Baker) and Tea-(Alex Wong) I've EVER seen. Baker's jumps with that hoop and Wong's Grand Ecartes were priceless.
The absence of live music, which made the whole thing look even more schoolish than ever...
The Ups.
Two dancers made the night for me. Principal
Patricia Delgado as a wonderful Dewdrop and Corps member
Nicole Stalker, who was FEARLESS and committed to light up the stage during the Waltz of the Flowers.
At the end of the story, I should say that the auditorium was packed, and people had a great time, according to the cheering heard during curtain calls, so don't mind my non sense rampage. If the audience is happy and nice revenues are collected, then the mission has been accomplished.
Next, Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami-(tomorrow night).
1
Now I have to call her and tell her.
. Well, not only am I trading the Russians for the Floridians, but also I just realized that the 
. She used teen girls and boys for the party, and so all the girls were on pointe, but totally credible as girls...(I think this is the right choice...to use young students, but old enough to display technique..). For the first time I was not annoyed by the kids playing mice onstage. They were very cute, because there were a lot of girls, with little tutus, and they were rehearsed to be naughty and annoying around Clara, instead of violent...Clara looked very fed up and wanted to kill them all...! 
