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National Ballet of Spain


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I've never seen them, BW, but from what I've read about them it seems that the word "ballet" in their name is inaccurate. The programs they are presenting on their American tour, at least, appear to feature just about every kind of dancing except ballet.

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Thanks Ari! That is what it looked like to me - which seems a bit odd, since one of my daughter's ballet teachers urged her students to attend...perhaps she thinks it would be a good opportunity for them to see other forms of dance? :)

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I think that perhaps there also is some confusion because "ballet" might have a slightly different meaning in Spanish than in English (well, in France it is often used for any kind of dance company, like "Ballet Preljocaj").

They have a home page there:

http://balletnacional.mcu.es/ingles/home.htm

It seems to me that their repertory includes mostly traditional Spanish dancing (especially flamenco). Their first director was Antonio Gades.

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Thanks Estelle, unfortunately for me - I could only read their history as the rest of the info was in Spanish and sadly, I do not speak it.:) The City Center site does give a very basic overview and I'm sure you're correct about the term "ballet" being used a bit more loosely than we in the USA are used to. :)

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I think (emphasize the "think") that this is a company that was trying to have a "ballet company" -- in the sense of a company of dancers with a repertory -- but using Spanish dance vocabulary. I did not see it, but some friends did and found it very interesting. In other words, there may be a story, but it's told through Spanish dancing. I don't know whether they have "abstract" works or not, but it would be the same thing -- the steps, aesthetic, etc. is Spanish.

There's a tango group trying this too -- Tangokinesis. There are dances, ballets, whatever, but the language is tango. I thought they were fascinating. The program started with something we'd all recognize as a traditional tango, and then each piece got more abstract, until the last was a Balanchinesque concerto -- but the language was tango!

If anyone sees this, I hope you'll report.

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