CarolinaM

Thank you JMcN, we are really excited in Barcelona!!

Thank you sandik! The premiere went really well. All the crew is very happy and they already have got contracts for other venues in Catalonia and France! For those interested you can read our article here: http://internationalversionballetymas.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-ballet-de-barcelona-is-born.html?m=1 Thank you!!

Amazing news! Today a brand new company Ballet de Barcelona under Artistic Direction of Chase Johnsey will premiere at Teatre Condal in Barcelona. 14 dancers, 7 nationalities (USA, Japan EU countries) and 39 days of life. Program includes some Pdd of classical repertoire with Chase dancing the Dying Swan and a new piece created by Antonio Carmena with the help of Marcus Salazar. Antonio, a former soloist at NYCB, has made a wonderful work in a Balanchine style. If you want to watch a bit of class or rehearsal you can go to Dance Magazine FaceBook page and watch them work in a streaming from 3:00pm today! Thank you!!

Yes it is really political, they do not like classical ballet, they only look after contemporary dance, they do not understand art, they have no criteria, neither any sense of opportunity... I'm crossing fingers for you to win the lottery!!! Thank you!!!

Thanks, Katerine and Janet!!! This is not an article in La Vanguardia, but a letter sent by a ballet lover... one of many that are being published these days on the news. You can also see the comments below. In all the letters there are also many comments. We are so many that loved this Company!! It is really incredible that the ones who manage Culture, no matter where but specially at the liceu, do not realize what they are loosing with Ángel Corella away, both economically and also artistically... A pity and a shame... What a country!!! :-( I hope I'm allowed to post a link in English for you to know a bit more about http://criticasballetymas.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/barcelona-liceu-opera-house-us.html And yes the Barcelona Ballet will be touring in Argentina beginning of June (now Ángel is dancing at the Paris Opera House the Dance of the Hours of La Gioconda). He is also scheduled in Peralada Summer Festival, for a solo and with Kazuko Omori in a pdd. The future of the Company? Very unsure I’m afraid…..

Thanks!!! Any pic, new, ... about Ángel Corella? Did he dance Giselle's second act pdd with Alina Cojocaru? Thank you!

Thanks a lot Bart and Angelica!

Yes, he truly is... he doesn't deserve to have to fight so hard for his dream... a dream that only would mean benefits for Barcelona under cultural and economical point of view. I can't understand why our authorities are so blind. As for lending the studios, as I reported, during ABT performances in Barcelona Angel was in Rome dancing The Dance of the Hours of La Gioconda with Letizia Giuliani but Carmen attended Saturday night so probably it was she who told ABT dancers to go to take classes at their premises.

I would like to share with you a bit about ABT's DQ and the three performances I had the opportunity to attend at El Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. First of all I think it's really a pity that the Liceu brings ABT just when Angel Corella is not with the company anymore and now when the economy is so damaged. Ok, of course it has been a gift for us balletomanes to see ABT’s DQ but I hope they will program the Barcelona Ballet next season as this is the company we have been expecting for ages and it should be Liceu's company and even more taking into account that all tickets were sold out for their Swan Lake in February while ABT's had some performances not full at all despite the different stars casted for each one of them. Ángel was not even in the audience as he was dancing the Dance of the Hours of La Gioconda in Rome with Letizia Giuliani. I have to say that I didn't like ABT's DQ settings. To start we see that so sad image of a bull being tortured in a city that declared to be against bullfighting (in the middle of a strong controversy) one year ago. This seems not to be a great idea (yes, I know, DQ is about toreros and so on, but that "painting" in the fan was hurting sensibilities, I'm sorry). I think they didn't bring all the original settings, I only recognized from Barisnykov original’s (VHS I have of this production) that first curtain I told about and those garlands that seemed more appropriated for Christmas time. What we saw at el Liceu at the bottom of the stage was a building remembering.... Istambul!!! Not Seville where I think this production is supposed to take place (even if in Cervantes book there’s no mention about Seville). Anyway... Let's focus on the dance. It was really a pity that for the opening night Herman Cornejo was injured. Cory Stearns who replaced him in a short notice has very good physique, he is smart, handsome and certainly with more time for rehearsals he would have done very well. His partnering with Xiomara was not sure and in the second porté of the two spectacular ones in first act he failed and I think this conditioned all the performance as far as pdd were concerned. Xiomara was brilliant in her solos with a spectacular final fouetés, including her arm raised while moving the fan. Cuban apotheosis that lead the audience to applaud enthusiastically. Aside of Xiomara, that first night we also were captivated by Sarah Lane, already known at el Liceu because she was the first Odette / Odile in Swan Lake by Corella’s Barcelona Ballet in February this year. Stella Abrera, also recognized as usual guest artist in the small group Angel brought to Spain, mainly Catalonia, before setting his company, was another must of that opening night. Sarah was a lovely cupid or "Amour", as we read in the program. Her dance was light and enchanting, extremely quick , her tips barely touched the floor. Stella for her part in the double role of Mercedes and Queen of the Dryads showed high class appearance on stage in all aspects, technically and interpretive, she took a well-deserved ovation. Yuriko Kajiya and Melanie Hamrick as the two friends or "Flower Girls" were very beautiful in their variations. In the role of Espada it was difficult to recognize the Sascha Radetsky we remembered from Central Stage. Also, why in this version Espada’s layer is so small? I din’t like this part, toreros do not use layers neither knives, but a kind of, I guess, “banderillas”…. Honestly all that was not very convincing neither their bright blue and deep-red suits. Saturday night was one of the most expected shows. Ivan Vasiliev and Natalia Osipova danced the main roles. And they didn’t deceive. It was about an absolute demonstration of the typical bravura of the two stars of the moment. Their pas de deux was the Russian version of their original company, the Bolshoi. We enjoyed their performance, we knew what we were going to see and knowing the weaknesses, in our opinion, of this production, we forget about and focused only on the dance. Vasiliev is a marvel of virtuosity as also Natalia is and in a ballet as Don Quixote one can better accept a certain lack of style. Nevertheless Natalia pleasantly surprised by her containment in the second act. As partenaires they perfectly fit and they offered an absolutely convincing rapport. The other main roles were almost all danced by the same cast. Sarah Lane was fantastic again, this time as one of the flower girls, Gemma Bond being "Amour." Luciana Paris as the other friend (or flower), was also very nice to see. And on Sunday afternoon, closing the shows, there was the quintessential ABT’s Kitri: Paloma Herrera. Born to dance, as defined by the local press, Paloma showed great class and mastery of a role for which she is world famous. It is a thrilling experience to see the Argentine star to tackle this role. Her developpés have the majesty of the great artist, her balances, her fouettés and pirouettes, her perfect feet. And her understanding of a role that, despite she has danced so many times, she continues to give it the perfect sense. That was the best ABT’s performance I saw. James Whiteside is a dancer to keep track of. Aside from his undeniable talent and ability to address the technical difficulties of the character, he immediately captures the attention and conveys to the viewer. Handsome and delicate partner to Paloma they created a really seductive climate that transcended and captivated audiences. Veronika Part assumed the dual role of Mercedes and Queen of the Dryads and it has been really a pleasure to discover this great ballerina. I liked much more the Espada of Alexandre Hammoudi . Sara Lane as "Amour" was totally captivating again. She is a wonderful dancer and it is a delight to see this small ballerina growing on stage. The two "flower girls" were Isabella Boylston and Christine Shevchenko, both very good. Obviously, each one of the shows had its own attractive and we celebrated that great opportunity to discover the amazing dancers of the great NY company, even if some of them we were already familiar because of Angel Corella. We never will stop praying the Liceu and the Catalan cultural leaders, to support our company Ballet, Corella’s Barcelona Ballet. If for the time being it can’t be the titular company at least that they schedule them every season. We all will gain. For more info and for those understanding Spanish you can visit the Spanish site “Ballet y más” were we have also published an interview with Paloma Herrera.

:-((( I'm going tomorrow (and Saturday and Sunday :-) ) and I wanted to see my belowed and much admired Herman... Is he injuried? I hope he is not! Anyway Cory/Xiomara will also be great, I'm sure :-) Many of us are going many days but I have a friend from Valladolid (center of Spain) who is already arriving tomorrow and will attend ALL performances I also noticed that Cory will be replacing Marcelo with Polina on Friday.

What is Kickstart, Amy? I’m sorry I do not know what’s this… of course, any help or any idea would be very welcome. No, Natalia, I do not think that in Spain Corella’s troupe is seen this way “unofficial Disgruntled ex-ABT Dancers Stage”. In fact there is no other ABT or ex ABT dancer in the troupe. Well Herman Cornejo danced at the beginning but he is not anymore. There are many Spanish dancers but they come from the English National Ballet, Zurich Ballet, etc. or it’s their first company as professional dancers. Yes, Sarah Lane was given the chance to dance her first full SL thanks to Corella and people in Barcelona liked it very much but tickets were already sold out before knowing who would be performing the main role at the premiere. BB is very loved by Catalan ballet audience as is Ángel Corella. Regarding funds, yes, Spain has many problems but there are funds for some dance “experiments” that make me feel truly ashamed when I see them and I know that this is what our politicians permit it represents Catalonia’s taste of dance. I think that also many locals do not want Corella’s troupe because they have fair. They are afraid audience can compare and for sure they would lose, so they are pushing politicians to not give support to them. No, it will not be easy… but it’s clear they will fight. As you Bart say ticket sales, individual patrons, sponsorship and of course keeping on asking for the promised aids… Me too Drew I feel badly for Corella because, brave and generous, he has made many sacrifices to his own career as a dancer to create a quality classical company in his own country and all this has not been rewarded as he and his outstanding dancers deserve.

No, Spain has always had very good teachers and very good dancers, many of them are principals in the best companies and it has also had some companies, the most important one was the National Ballet that when Duato was appointed as artistic director turned to a contemporary one. Now they wanted it to be again a classical company and they hired José Carlos Martínez (former star at the Paris Opera Ballet) to do so, but for the time being no classics but Kyllian, Ek and other contemporary pieces. Teatro Real (Madrid) and el Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) are the most important opera theatres in Spain but none of them has a ballet company, neither the Royal Family do patronage, maybe the Queen would like to do but as for the rest of the family…. well I better shut my mouth about this family… In Madrid there is the Ballet de la Comunidad de Madrid of Víctor Ullate and in Barcelona there is the Ballet David Campos but none of them are able to stage Classics as Corella’s do. Ullate is more neoclassical and Campos with his small troupe makes his own versions of the classics. Corella has brought what we were asking for by years but now neither politicians nor the Spanish dance world brings any support to them, only the audience who always pack the theaters where they are performing, i.e. El Gran Teatre del Liceu with Swan Lake, each day with lots of people queuing looking for a ticket. But next season Corella’s Barcelona Ballet is not on the ballet program of the Liceu and it’s not because of the crisis as they are bringing very expensive companies as for instance the ABT with D.Q. Incredible but true. Outrageous! And sad yes, so sad…..

Sad news http://international...logspot.com.es/ It's a shame what happens. Hope politicians will ammend this situation but anyway we'll keep on fighting. Audience really want this company, nothing can compare... We never have had in Spain anything similar and can not permit they disapear.

I love Carmen dancing Wheeldon, I think that she is outstanding dancing neoclassical ballets. But I haven’t had the opportunity to see her dancing Swan Lake. In Tippet’s blue my preferred one is Maria José Sales, she is so lyrical… the one I think better understands and transfers the essence of that pdd. About Swan Lake, I saw different casts at el Liceu and while I enjoyed very much Aaron Robison and Sarah Lane partnered by Momoko Hirata and Ángel Corella, the couple that did me feel without breath was Momoko Hirata with Ángel Corella, I can say they were the best I have ever seen…. And the audience got crazy after the show… I do not know what the cast will be in Detroit but I hope it is this one with Robison as Rothbard and Virelles or Radev as Benno, other dancers to keep an eye to are Yuka Iseda, Kazuko Omori, Maria José Sales, Cristina Casa, Ana Calderon… and also corps members Jonatan Díaz and Tracy Jones… and of course the great Fernando Bufala but he is recovering from an injury and he can’t dance much yet.

Thanks a lot!! Taking into account how much Angel and all the troupe are fighting and investing to get this dream come true: Spain having a classical ballet company in such economic situation, they truly deserve worldwide ballet audience interest. I’m happy to know you came to see them and I’m more than happy to read your comments. Proud of Barcelona Ballet dancers and please, those of you who can, do not miss Swan Lake in Detroit.