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MCB Program III. Giselle


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I can't wait to see the casting for Giselle. Last time MCB did it I saw Guerra and Kronenberg and enjoyed it very much. This time I am hoping for a Delgado Giselle!

I'm with you on this, BB. I'm dying to see her in the role, particularly her mad scene, which should be a total challenge for such overly bubbling personality. I must confess being a little partial to the clips I just posted. The steps are there, but there are little romantic details missing...a head/torso subtle tilt,,,some port de bras-(can we get rid once and for all of all those "spaguetty/twiggy arms", just as two different posters in two different threads called them...? )- or even that particular, stiffness that makes the lithographies-inspired romantic poses so beautiful and unique within the art form. Let's see...the clips are from some years ago. Maybe they've worked on those details.

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Whaaaaat....?!?!?! ARE THEY FRIKING' KIDDING..?!?! NO MIAMI GISELLE AND ALBRECHT FOR THE BEST BALLERINA AND BAILARIN OF MCB...?!?! JEANETTE DELGADO AND RENATO PANTEADO A NON SHOW...?!?! Jesus. This is beyond ridiculous. Let's bring a new change of direccion soon in the company, if that's what it takes, honestly. I will seriously consider even going to any performance.

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Cristian, I love Delgado the best too, but maybe it was her choosing. Maybe she didn't feel ready to do Giselle. Just trying to find the positive in this. At least we will see her Myrtha and see if she can be stern and imperious!

I think Kronenberg is a nice dancer. You will still have fun when you go!!!

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Jeanette was ECSTATIC to be able to do Giselle and more than ready...Kronenberg can't no longer hold the technical demands of difficult roles, and the pairing of Albertson/Cerdeiro is just painful to even imagine it. If there's someone who is NOT Albrecht, is that young, fragile kid... The whole thing is just a major disaster, disheartening and beyond comprehension. I need personal input on this-(not to worry, I know it can't be posting material...). But as I said...WHATEVER.

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Treading lightly here. wink1.gif

Jeanette Delgado would also have been my choice for the most intriguing Giselle. With the proper coaching (something I don't know that MCB can provide) she could be astonishing -- in BOTH acts.

The oddest aspect of all the Miami casting is that Jeanette will be dancing on Opening night and Sunday, in Miami. .... as Myrthe. blink.pngwacko.png

I'm glad to see that Callie Manning will dance Myrthe as well. This won't be the first time in the history of this ballet that Myrthe has the potential to be the most fascinating dancer on stage. Can't wait for Act II.

There are three casts for Peasant Pdd. Tricia Albertson with Kleber Rebello; Jennifer Lauren with Shimon Ito. And Nathallia Arja with Kleber Rebllo. All fine dancers. My expectations have been raised most of all by the Arja/ Rebello pairing.

Casts for the Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Naples performances haven't been announced.

So what about Giselle? Speaking only for myself, it seems that companies like MCB have the resources and the will to present serviceable but never thrilling performances of this complex and iconic work -- very professional etch-a-sketch versions, one might say. (I feel the same about MCB's Don Q and non-Balanchine Coppelia. The Cranko R&J, well-coached, was an exception: something with the look and feel the work was actually suppose to have).

In past, Act I has always seemed weaker than Act II, with the weakest links having always been the tone-deaf performances of the aristocratic hunting party. (Peasants are easier to fake if you imagine them to have the same motivations and behaviors as the kids in a Judy Garland - Mickey Rooney picture, circa 1940s.)

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No, Helene and bart. The Delgado sisters are Miami born and raised-(and they both speak perfect "Cuban", BTW...happy.png ). Yes, I'm a little un-aggravated about the Giselle issue by now. Whatever it is, everybody knows who's who and which dancers are constantly pushed in your face while others keep waiting. Same situation, different company. Still, the fact that Giselle is such a rare animal in the MCB zoo makes it for a very frustrating case, given that the two best dancers in the company won't be dancing the leading roles. And then instead you get Cerdeiro, that kid that still looks like an apprentice onstage...?!...and next to veteran Albertson..?!?! This again will take me back to my Blanche Dubois case scenario that I used to imagine back in the days. I'm going tonight, of course, to see Myrtha. Danilova wrote in her book that it could be easy for a Myrtha to steal the performance from Giselle, given that the two roles used to be given to Principals. Tonight is the typical scenario. We'll see.

Edited to add: Extra, extra..!!

Ok...I came back from my first performance. The ballet presented was "Myrtha" clapping.gif

More to come when I'm done with the three castings...

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Cerdeiro does look like a kid, but he may surprise you with what he can muster for Albrecht: iconic roles can bring out the best in dancers. I hope he got supportive coaching along the way.

I remember reading an interview with Heather Watts, who when Martins first proposed she dance with Jock Soto, many years her junior, all she could think about was mutton and lamb. (Not a quote, but the same concept.) Martins said, "No, you'll look great together", and a partnership was born. In Seattle, one of the partnerships with the most charisma and simpatico is Kaori Nakamura and Lucien Postlewaite. (Nakamura moves like a 24-year-old, which helps.) And, of course, there was Fonteyn and Nureyev, which, at the time, many, including Fonteyn herself, questioned. The Albertson/Cerdeiro partnership might work out just fine.

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Ok...I came back from my first performance. The ballet presented was "Myrtha"...clapping.gif

More to come when I'm done with the three castings..

I was wondering: maybe, in a wierd way, Myrthe might actually be a good introduction to Giselle for Jeanette.

Act II is so different from Act I, though the two acts are of course linked by story and themes. Act II is more like a Balanchine abstraction (one of those story ballets without a realistic story,) like La Valse. Cristian, both of us feel in the gut that Jeanette Delgado has the resources to be a superb Giselle. On the other hand, maybe Myrthe is a good starting point for Giselle herself, especially for someone without a lot of experience in narrative ballet and who has yet been challenged by the need to create pathos in a complex, highly detailed role (as Giselle's is in Act I). Hmmm. ....

P.S. I wonder whether there have been great Giselles in the past who started out as Myrthe. If it's at all possible to achieve, I'll place my bet on Jeanette.

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Cristian, have the casts Friday and Saturday been those originally posted? I mean ....

-- Friday: Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra, with Jeanette Delgado as Myrthe

-- Sat: Mary Carmen Catoya and Reyneris Reyes, with Callie Manning as Myrthe.

If so, I'm especially interested in hearing (in detail, please) what you thoughts about Catoya/Reyes. I would not have suspected that Catoya would create the kind of Giselle that makes "cubanmiamiboy" enthusiastic. And few of us have seen much of Reyes -- a veteran Cuban dancer who was a principal at Boston and Royal Winnepeg -- even though this is his second season at MCB. I'm thrilled that you loved them, and very curious to know what it is they did that made them stand out for a viewer who has seen (what?) a hundred or so Giselles.

If you can talk about Manning (a favorite of mine, as you know) I'd be grateful. My own feeling is that she could be a superb Myrthe, with just a little tweaking having to do more with matters of focus and "address" than to anything technical. I'd love to hear what you think, especially if you can

P.S. You have revitalized my enthusiasm for the Kravis season, coming up in a few weeks. tiphat.gif

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bart...I just came back from the matinee with Albertson and Cerdeiro. May I retract from my former words on Cerdeiro...? Well, I was proved wrong, people...innocent.gif

More to come...

I was impressed with Cerdeiro in Ballet Imperial (Program 2....second show that I saw). He doesn't look like he would pull off roles that are heroic, but his dancing is really good. He just looks too young and lanky, but there is artistry there.

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