cubanmiamiboy

Heads up.

On 1/29/2020 at 11:57 PM, Emma said:

Tschai Pas:  Dynamic as always.  The fish dives were so daring it looked like Katia Carranza was at risk of falling out of Carlos Quenedit’s arms.  

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" !

8 hours ago, canbelto said:

But it's the new reality of how girls fight.

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 

2 hours ago, griffie said:

I also wasn't sure I liked Bathilde finding him at Giselle's grave at dawn. I wondered how she ended up there. Was this noblewoman out with search party for him all night, or was it that she couldn't sleep and wanted to visit Giselle's grave herself? 

 

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!!

14 minutes ago, Drew said:

 

( @cubanmiamiboy -- I think I asked on another thread what you thought of the diagonal at the end of Giselle's Act I solo; I had not thought to see that at the Bolshoi.)

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!♥️

3 minutes ago, Leah said:

Are you talking about the Bolshoi Giselle? This is about the new ABT ballet.

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!!!♥️

5 hours ago, l'histoire said:

Again, no. What really defined a samurai, beside his flat-out birth right of class, which is admittedly hard to depict in ballet? The sword on his hip. Don't remember Villalla wearing one 

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...

1 minute ago, canbelto said:

Desi was heavily involved in all aspects of I love Lucy though so he was creating his own character. It's a bit like Seinfeld mirrored a lot of Jerry Seinfeld's own personality.

This is more akin to a Japanese soprano singing Madama Butterfly. She wouldn't be wearing yellowface but Madama Butterfly is a Westernized fantasy of Japanese geisha. Very different from, say, Kenji Mizoguchi's films about geisha (his own sister was sold into a geisha house and he was close to her and took his inspiration from many things he witnessed).

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 .

6 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

It's a white person's fantasy of the Orient, not an Asian's. Having an Asian enact the fantasy doesn't change that. 

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.

3 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Picture for a moment a black person wearing blackface makeup, 

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.

12 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Here's a clip of two Sarasota Ballet dancers rehearsing Bugaku in practice clothes, which gives some sense of what it might look like as a leotard ballet. 

 

 

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.

11 hours ago, Rock said:

Thought further - about the last section where the girls are wearing long ceremonial capes that the guys billow and fluff. No actually steps really - it's all about working the capes. So without the capes what have you got? 

Exactly

On 1/25/2020 at 6:39 AM, l'histoire said:

I say that as someone who (a) has spent a hell of a lot of time studying "traditional" Chinese theatre & published a book on the subject with a reputable academic press and (b) is trained in the history of and also teaches the REST of East Asia (Japan and Korea).

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.

3 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Keep in mind that a Japanese company might not perceive Bugaku as being particularly true to their culture nor in any sense part of their heritage. They might find it more of a piece with Gilbert & Sullivan's Mikado and of no real interest, preferring to tackle truly top-drawer Balanchine instead.

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....

Doug Fullington....where are you when we need you....?☝️

I don't know how long before I re visit ABT's Swan Lake. The current array of female Principals don't attract me enough to jump on a plane as I have been doing for many years now.

But there's NYCB, a company I see here and there. Last time I traveled to see them was for their Coppelia, and was very pleased. So I have decided to try their SL, and see the great City ballerinas on it.  I have tickets for all performances from 02/14 to 02/20, including the weekend double take. I want to see my favorite NYCB ballerina, Ashley Bouder's Odile!♥️

What am I to expect, production wise....? 

43 minutes ago, dirac said:

Hello, l'histoire. I remember your posts on Bugaku very well and those who click on the link to "Are There Ballets That Should No Longer Be Staged?" can read them. I agree that the leotard experiment is worth trying.

Let's agree to disagree here. Bugaku without costumes would be even more senseless than Balanchine's experiment with Sylphides.  Bugaku, from the source it took inspiration, to its name, to the geisha-like way the females walk, to the samurai-way way the males stance and march around, to its grand stance on hair, makeup and costume design is the grandest Orientalist balletic fantasy/ode to Orientalism I have ever seen. You take that from the ballet, you erase it. I don't think Balanchine would be satisfied to see his piece morphed into a rehearsal-like situation.

Again....I can see perfectly this piece being performed by an all-Asian company, preferentially a Japanese one. Their heritage, their inner right. 

On 10/9/2019 at 8:50 AM, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Stripping off the wigs and the kimonos might not be enough to take away the taint of, for lack of a better term, the Western gaze. 

Stripping the ballet off the wigs and kimonos would be equal to erase it. I really don't think anyone who loves it would settle for such. And of course, the Trust would never agree to it.

I might be in the minority here, but I see it as one of the most beautiful, stylized, non traditional Balanchine ballets. 

I really hope it survives in non American revivals. Actually I REALLY would hope it could find a caring nest in an Asian company.

37 minutes ago, nysusan said:

 

The downside was that  I didn't find it very dramatic or emotionally engaging - not sure if that was due to the staging or the performances.

I have experienced the same issue with probably all Asian troupes I've ever seen-( as well as with most individual performers). 

This might be a possibility...

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/2155172/how-chinese-couples-find-it-hard-show-their-emotions-and-why