cubanmiamiboy

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I was going to go, but I had a last minute trip to Barcelona, so I missed it. I've seen pics of it, and I don't see the stairs. MCB does the pre-Baryshnikov version.

Definitely. And remember the Cuban version comes from a very old link to those first Giselles in London in the 1930's. Dolin himself kept revisiting and retouching the production and personally rehearsing Alonso herself for important performances up to 1980, when Vasiliev went to Havana to dance with her. And Mary Skeaping staged her own version in Havana in the 1950's. Much of her input was erased by Dolin later on, but some stuff stayed. She even staged the Fugue Des Willis back then, but it did not survived after Dolin took over. There are definitely many aspects I was very familiar with from Alonso/Dolin version. 1- The elbow bending/arm covering of the Willis face while running. 2- Berthe's mime 3- The fast music ending. When I heard for the first time the for-Pavlova rearranging of the finale with the slow music-( first time I saw Giselle at the MET back in 2001)- I was puzzled. 4- The initial choreo for the "Gallop", in act I. Wrist bending for the girls. 5- The Willis turning their back and rejecting Giselle and Albrecht after Myrtha's branch breaks when she tries to curse them next to the cross.

Ok...22. I was wondering because I keep seeing her and Maxwell being referred as "girls". So this are 2 fully grown consenting adults taking all their feud to Instagram then...? I see...

Heads up.

I agree. I went to see the program for the second time at Broward and got her in this-(I first got Jenniffer Lauren un Miami). Carranza is old school MCB ...from that generation of dancers who were taught the variations the way Villella danced them or remembered being danced by his ballerinas...and back when he would demonstrate it all. His input is priceless, as many aspects and details of his stagings are from that NYCB golden period of 50's/60's, and before Balanchine made changes in many of his works. Eddie always had the green light to stage stuff the way he had dances them. And I hope Lourdes doesn't go away with all this. Please bring back Eddie's staging of "Valse Fantaisie 1953" !

I don't have IG, so I'm a bit behind the lines here, but....is Waterbury a "girl"...? How old is she ...?

Finally we saw some of the original ending of this ballet. But not all the music for the "Lever du Soleil.." was used by Ratmansky. I wonder why.... This is the complete segment

The original music for "The lever du Soleil et arrivee de la cour" is longer, with fanfarres that interrupt the slow music of Giselle/Albrecht. I don't know why Ratmansky didn't used all of it. As for what I've read, originally Bathilde arrives with the court searching for Albrecht, and she kneels and weeps when she witness the ghost interaction with her fiancee, and that Giselle motions toward her for Albrecht to go and be happy . Some of it is seen here, but sort of rushed sans the whole of the music.

Petite, petite, petite allegro everyone!!

Drew! That was the first thing I noticed!! Read the very last post here.

Who saw this today? So many wonderful details! So many nuances! And the Fugue is back! And Bathilde in the final scene!♥️

My bad! I posted in the wrong thread!😝

♥️Deleted. Wrong thread

Here's Ratmansky's take on this "lost" piece of Giselle. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157295743974191&id=647664190

The Spessivtzeva solo final diagonal is back in Russia!! Ratmansky has done a great job at paying homage to those few ballerinas and companies that kept it through the years. Alicia Alonso is dead now, and oh...she would had been so happy to see it danced outside Cuba. Spessiptzeva, Markova and Alonso must be celebrating up there. Bravo Ratmansky!! Brava Smirnova!!!♥️

I heard myself Villella referring to the character as a samurai, in one of his wonderful pre-performance talks. Of course there's no narrative there, but the words "samurai", "geisha" and "nuptials" are engraved in the work. They're constantly mentioned in articles about the ballet. But if you believe he's wrong, then...

I totally agree. I'm saying that in the eyes of the general public, seeing an Asian play Butterfly or Bugaku,.or seeing Leontyne Price as Aida vs a darkened skin Tebaldi, or seeing the Cuban Desi playing the Cuban Ricky makes it less confusing....more comfortable, perhaps less politically incorrect .

Disagreeing. America's most common knowledge of a Cuban was -(and still is for older generations)- Desiderio Arnaz-(Desi)- and his Ricky Ricardo. His way of acting is a parody of a Cuban guy with Latin short temper, but in any case, one always give him the benefit of his creation for being Cuban himself. Would it had been Jerry Lewis doing it, it would had been a different story. Perhaps Ricky would be offensive for the Cuban community. But as it is, it is not.

There would not be need for it The exaggerated, Cio Cio-Sam-like makeup-( black eyeliner pointing up, black eyebrows pointing up etc)- could be eliminated. I'm telling you...I saw it in here, with the changes for the MCB tea-( Asian dancers)- vs the NYCB tea. They both still looked somehow "naked" without the wigs, but in NY the two blonde girls I saw looked plain weird.

It it just that. A rehearsal. The samurai without his costume loses all. And he doesn't look menacing enough, btw. Bugaku without costumes is like Giselle pdd or the Black Swan pdd without costumes. As beautiful as the choreography is costumes are vital to the drama. Exactly

A-Your credentials are wonderful! And B- I have some too. I am a nurse.👨‍⚕️ But....C- our opinions are subjective, for both of us, Academy or not, and for every company who decides what to stage and whatnot there's also subjective opinion. As with La Scala's Raymonda presenting the good boy crusaders in full chest cross regalia vs ABT dropping the piece altogether. If there's something absurd would be to erase this beautiful ballet as if it is akin to the issue of the blacks slaves of La Bayadere. There's a huge difference in intention.

The piece is obviously a fantasy, an Orientalism, and as such will always be performed. But if done by an Asian company the whole issue of Yellow Face, "cultural appropriation" and such is eliminated. This year MCB Nutcracker followed NYCB "no yellow face" for Tea, but the dance was done at all times by two Asian dancers. And so it still preserved some of its intended allure, even sans wigs. I was told by a dancer that the two Asian girls was just a coincidence, but I don't believe so.

The originals....