27 replies to this topic

[cubanmiamiboy]

Time has come for me to talk about a ballerina that holds a very special place in my heart,  Lorna Feijoo.  Back in 1991, and just as her big sister Lorena was getting to be known as a young, promising starlet, Lorna was still at the ballet school.  I started noticing her right upon her graduation performance-(where she danced the role of Kitri).  It wasn't really until Lorena defected that Lorna started her rising path within the Cuban ranks, and by 2001, the year of my departure from the island, she had already established herself as a Primera Bailarina.  
Miss Feijoo wasn't what we would call a "naturally gifted" dancer.  It was well known that she had to work really hard to show the merciless Cuban balletomanes that she was worth to  watch.  She didn't have Osipova's jumps, Zakharova's extensions, Valdes' balances or Part's beauty, but soon enough it was clear that she possessed a unique quality that eventually popped out in every performance of hers. She was-(is)- EXTREMELY musical, being her phrasing and legato works truly marvelous, and so resulting in our renaming of her as the "Queen of Accents".  She was definitely THE Cuban Giselle of the 90's, being her dramatic qualities another of her trademarks.
I've never seen her dancing after she defected, but I believe that in Boston she has continued to be the very reliable, sensible to the music ballerina that I got to see in La Habana from her very beginnings.  Miss Feijoo eventually became the one ballerina I really loved the most, probably along the lines of Rosario Suarez.
Great to know that she'll be back to dancing after having her baby girl.  Good for you, Lorna, and thank you for all that dancing!!

As Odette, with Toto Carreno

[its the mom]

Christian, I am looking forward to seeing her back on stage.  I think she has a few small things in the upcoming Elo program, but will perform Titania in Balanchine's Midsummer in April.  I know she is also doing the principal role in Balanchine's Divertimento #15.  Was sorry she wasn't back for La Bayadere.

[cubanmiamiboy]

its the mom, on 04 March 2011 - 10:41 AM, said:

[She] will perform Titania in Balanchine's Midsummer in April.  I know she is also doing the principal role in Balanchine's Divertimento #15.

Please, it'sthe mom, tell us about it when it happens...!  

In Don Quijote with Oscar Torrado


In the Black Swan with Toto Carreno-(with a very scary moment toward the end of the coda)


In Coppelia, with Igor Yebra.

[jsmu]

I would say she's worth a trip to Boston all by herself, if she's dancing anything at all good. smile.
You should have seen her in Ballo della Regina a few years ago. Ashley said that Feijoo was pretty much
her favorite current ballerina and that Feijoo could do anything. (VERY high praise, needless to say,
from a preeminent Balanchine virtuosa)

[cubanmiamiboy]

jsmu, on 06 March 2011 - 09:44 AM, said:

I would say she's worth a trip to Boston all by herself, if she's dancing anything at all good. smile.
You should have seen her in Ballo della Regina a few years ago. Ashley said that Feijoo was pretty much
her favorite current ballerina and that Feijoo could do anything. (VERY high praise, needless to say,
from a preeminent Balanchine virtuosa)

Oh, jsmu, I actually DID see her amazing performance in Ballo when she premiered it in Havana...back in 2000!  
And for the record, she gave an outstanding performance, but with a little detail.  Right during some silly little running section, she slipped and took a grand fall on her butt...! That was one of the very few times I've seen a Principal fall during a performance, but because it happened in such non difficult part of the choreography, she just got up and danced the rest of the whole thing better than before.   .  Interesting enough, the incident can't be proved, because when they showed the video on TV later on, the very moment had been edited by repeating a previous fragment in slow motion.  It took only like two seconds, so for those who hadn't been there, it never happened.  But hey...I KNOW!!  
Anyway...Miss Feijoo was, as usual, just divine.  

And here's Merril Ashley's quote:

"If I was reduced to one ballerina in the world, Lorna would be the one I'd want to see in anything..."

Lorna in Carmen


In Giselle-(Spessivtseva's solo)


In Cinderella

[jsmu]

That is especially amazing because I once saw the equally divine Kyra Nichols fall (a BIG fall, not a little one) on her tush in Ballo!
it wasn't a running section, but rather the series of turns into arabesque plie, which she went for as if the world was ending in ten minutes,
and I'll never forget how gracefully she recovered.
wasn't Feijoo great in Ballo? I once saw her in Diana and Actaeon and she's one of the only people who can make me sit riveted through
that entire thing, much less actually enjoy it!

[vipa]

Thank you cubanmiamiboy.  From the video you posted she certainly is worth a trip to Boston.  I have a relative who lives there, so I really will make the trip.  I'm amazed by her for many reasons - she actually made that Don Q variation interesting to watch!

[cubanmiamiboy]

jsmu, on 08 March 2011 - 02:50 PM, said:

That is especially amazing because I once saw the equally divine Kyra Nichols fall (a BIG fall, not a little one) on her tush in Ballo!
it wasn't a running section, but rather the series of turns into arabesque plie, which she went for as if the world was ending in ten minutes,
and I'll never forget how gracefully she recovered.

There you go, jsmu...they're human...just like us...!  

jsmu, on 08 March 2011 - 02:50 PM, said:

...wasn't Feijoo great in Ballo? I once saw her in Diana and Actaeon and she's one of the only people who can make me sit riveted through
that entire thing, much less actually enjoy it!.

I know...I've never seen a ballerina throw those arrows during the coda the way she did...!

vipa, on 08 March 2011 - 07:05 PM, said:

Thank you cubanmiamiboy.  From the video you posted she certainly is worth a trip to Boston.  I have a relative who lives there, so I really will make the trip.  I'm amazed by her for many reasons - she actually made that Don Q variation interesting to watch!

Vipa...try to get her in a romantic role , Giselle if you can.  At this point I believe that would be her strongest point...

And about this...

cubanmiamiboy, on 06 March 2011 - 09:00 PM, said:

...here's Zakharova's Carmen, just to make some comparisson...

[Jayne]

For the youtube link to Swanlake (In the Black Swan with Toto Carreno), I know it's not really "polite" for the crowd to act like figure skating fans, but I *loved it*, because the performances definitely deserved the audience reactions!

[cubanmiamiboy]

Jayne, on 15 March 2011 - 01:07 PM, said:

For the youtube link to Swanlake (In the Black Swan with Toto Carreno), I know it's not really "polite" for the crowd to act like figure skating fans, but I *loved it*, because the performances definitely deserved the audience reactions!

I know...even now, ten years after, I still get a little carried away sometimes-(last time was during Lorna's sister Lorena's great fouettes in DQ with the CCBM)-by whistling and the like.  I got a couple of dirty looks and turned heads...
Oh whatever...

[Helene]

Lorna Feijoo was my very first Kitri -- she performed in Seattle on a tour with National Ballet of Cuba.

Today on its Facebook Page San Francisco Ballet posted this clip from Sesame Street featuring Lorna and Lorena Feijoo in what look like "Lambarena" dresses:

https://www.youtube....h?v=wVER-AoKBRY

[Birdsall]

cubanmiamiboy, on 15 March 2011 - 06:57 PM, said:

Jayne, on 15 March 2011 - 01:07 PM, said:

For the youtube link to Swanlake (In the Black Swan with Toto Carreno), I know it's not really "polite" for the crowd to act like figure skating fans, but I *loved it*, because the performances definitely deserved the audience reactions!

I know...even now, ten years after, I still get a little carried away sometimes-(last time was during Lorna's sister Lorena's great fouettes in DQ with the CCBM)-by whistling and the like.  I got a couple of dirty looks and turned heads...
Oh whatever...

Is whistling a common thing to do when you are happy about a ballet move? Just asking, because I think in opera it would be considered an insult like you are making fun of the singer.

[Birdsall]

Can't wait to see her at "Spanish Night" with Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami next weekend! Can't wait to see Sarabia again too!

[Amy Reusch]

And here,,, with Grover!

[diane]

Re: whistling at the ballet (because Bart Birdsall asked a few posts up) - where I am (Germany) whistles from the audience are used to show appreciation, whether in opera, ballet or acting-theatre. The performers are not supposed to whistle backstage, though, due to superstitions. ;)

-d-