cubanmiamiboy

And then, just when I thought that "Antichrist" was Trier at his most weirdness, here comes "Melancholia". I saw this tonight, and my head still aches... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6OsQg1wehk ...so watching this as antidote. It NEVER fails..! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLfviMasZ7U&feature=related

So I guess that by the time Ashton got his hand in the choreography in '51 he probably left the Grand Pas as it had been danced for 17 years before him... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y8FmtqWB3U ...and then ditto with Wright when he got it 33 years after Ashton... ...AND also ditto with Magaly Suarez for the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami only 71 years after Fedorova staged it...!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQIc-G5GGQY

The Nutcracker is coming back again, and so I'll make my yearly pilgrimage to see the two staging’s I always look forward to : Fedorova’s staging for BRdMC, imported from Havana by the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami and Balanchine's for MCB. Interesting noting that both versions were staged by two Russians who both got to dance it in the pre-Soviet Imperial Saint Petersburg production. Interesting too is the fact that both versions contain elements that were part of the Petipa/Ivanov production, in Balanchine's case a recreation of the Candy Canes dance and in Fedorova's the Grand Pas de deux. Now, as I was watching the gorgeous clip of Dowell/Collier dancing the Grand Pas from Sir Peter Wright's production for the Royal Ballet, some questions popped in my mind. Hopefully someone will shred some light on the subject. 1-What's the historical trail of the Nutcracker performances in England after the mid 30's Vic-Wells production and before the 1984 Wright's staging...? (We're talking about half of a century here) 2- Does Wright's production has a direct link with that first Sergueev staging for the Vic-Wells starring Markova...? 3-Was the Grand Pas preserved somehow in pre-Wright productions..? (It always amazes me the fact that the choreography came to Alonso via two very different sources, by Markova and Sergueev from England on one side and by Fedorova from Russia on the other, and according to her they were-(are)-identical. 4-Finally...was karsavina somewhat involved in the future staging of the ballet...? I'm thinking that even if she died six years before this production was created, maybe she had previously advised Wright on elements of the original choreography, just as she did with Ashton's "Fille"...? (I think I remember having read somewhere that Karsavina held some conversations about it with Wright but I'm not sure of the source of my scarce recollections...) I'm sure Leonid, atm711 and Mel can get me some of the answers, so thanks in advance!

http://30.media.tumb...dd007o1_500.jpg And remember not to over eat...! http://johnmanders.f...rk-tn-1617b.jpg Celebrating with Cuban pork and riice and beans here instead...find the turkey a little dry for my taste. On the contrary, my cats Tschen-Fu and Boo-boo are in an early fesive mood luxuriating in some yummy turkey wet food as I write !.

Lezhnina is a beautiful dancer, but the choreography of the Grand Pas is very confusing. There are several suitors involved, so the finishing product is a look alike of the Rose Adagio...supported developes/arabesques a la seconde and everything included. Again...just as if one is watching a nice but entirely new ballet.

Definitely, Natasha. The main difference I see between Hallberg and the example I mentioned is that Hallberg GENUINELY has star qualities, dancing wise speaking. Miss Hormgon, on the contrary, didn't, and that certainly added fire to the resentment.

I like the cotton candy look alike pink wigs in Vainonen's, Natasha..! Yes, those darn candelabri...!

Allow me here and now to take another take on this matter: Tsikaridze's. In his defense-(because I believe everyone has the right to be heard)- I somehow understand where he comes from. The Bolshoi is one of those companies, like the Cuban National Ballet, that has always had a good stream of output, but never the reverse process. Cold war and enclosed tradition has fed this practice, for sure. I remember one time, during the late 90's, there was one ballerina from Spain, Laura Hormigon, who was invited to guest in Havana. There was such a bad vibe all around. She never had a fan base. She was resented as an intruder foreigner taking away opportunities she didn't deserve from nationals in starring roles...she was pronounced an outcast and it was the rigoeur to criticize her performances at its most...the harshest the better. I can mange the resentment within the ranks of the company, and the poor thing never had the opportunity to be analyzed with a fair impartial eye. Miss Hormigon ended up leaving in a midst of controversy. Of course, ALL the factors I just mentioned might not present in Hallberg's case, but at least there's one I'm sure is present: resentment, and maybe not only from Tsikaridze.

My companions at the screening comented on Hallberg's honest demeanor and sweet manners while interviewed. He had high prasing words to talk about Zakharova with Novikova, and yes...one could tell he was just doing everythng he could to get her attention. In realty, it was obvious to everyone that he actually danced better than her, and this was not a case of a show stealing scenario, BTW. Maybe the pairing of her with Tsikaridaze could have looked more balanced...? (due to the diva issue on both sides...? )

But let's be carefull. This could be Gigorovitch's infamous production with all that bizarre candelabra business during the Grand Pas de deux and the praying-like poses. If so, I won't even try to see it. It is what you mention after going back and looking! No wonder it looks so different (photos) than the traditional Nutcrackers I have seen. It lists different characters also like he-devils and she-devils or Chinese dolls, etc. Is the dancing totally different from regular Nutcrackers also, or is it just the production that is odd? Bart...let's move this to a more appropriate place within the Nutcracker threads. We can luxuriate in the topc, which also fascinates me... Let's go here

But let's be carefull. This could be Gigorovitch's infamous production with all that bizarre candelabra business during the Grand Pas de deux and the praying-like poses. If so, I won't even try to see it. It is what you mention after going back and looking! No wonder it looks so different (photos) than the traditional Nutcrackers I have seen. It lists different characters also like he-devils and she-devils or Chinese dolls, etc. Is the dancing totally different from regular Nutcrackers also, or is it just the production that is odd? Bart...it s an odd production. To start with, it is an entirely different ballet done to Tchaikovsky's score. You don't have a series of diverstissements offered to Clara and the Nutcracker by the Sugar Plum Fairy. You won't have a Grand Pas de deux danced by the anfitrions themselves, the Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince Coqueluche, to honor their guests at their best. instead, you have a dancing display-(during the second act)-done by the female character, here an adult renamed Masha, who's the one doing the thing with a red dressed danseur, who's supposed, I think, to be the Nutcracker. Yes...there is a battle with evil forces if I can remember well, and other strange touches. I own a DVD with the late great Mme. Maximova and Vasiliev on this, and saw it only once. And then, there's the darn candelabri...

That's true, Natasha...! The darn candelabri was there...right during Cinderella/Fortune's sequence..!!

From my own, personal experence-(and to respond the OP queston)... To mess up wth your knees when fantasizing about having a ballet dancer turnout, just to discover that you have none and you're just dangerously rotating your knees out.

But let's be carefull. This could be Gigorovitch's infamous production with all that bizarre candelabra business during the Grand Pas de deux and the praying-like poses. If so, I won't even try to see it.

The negatives: Zakharova's first Act tutu. Hers was a full blown crotch exposure situation. Her tutu was too short, too high on the waist, so her undies were fully exposed. That plus her over the top extensions, well, do the math. During the Rose Adagio every time she passed a suitor in the diagonal of arabesque penchees , the one left behind had her butt right on his nose. The Lilac Fairy should have been renamed "The Grey Fairy". Completely flavorless, as if she didn't wanted to be there. The absence of mime. Did Lilac's counter-spelling ever ocurred..? If so, I missed it. The Panorama and scenery changes during the boat trip. The Bolshoi just opened with some state of the arts machinery, right...? Why then such a poor scene here...? No moving backdrops-(that was aware off)-thru forests or anything. The musical cuts here were a crime. The White Cat was nowhere to be found. At one point I even assumed that this was another dancer thrown at the very last second to substitute the chosen one, and then there was no time for the cat makeup and tail. Only her male companion was dressed as a cat. She was just another dancer in a gray tutu with a boat-shaped hat I think. The final tableaux-(actually all of them)-was-(were)- quickly cut down with descending curtains right at the second Lilac was in her lifted position. The unchanging flooring design. The forests never really became forests. The awakening scene. Too confusing with all this people around. Too busy-(and this is a very quick scene, musically speaking, so that should be addressed in the choice of choreography for the fast seconds. Zakharova never never announced she was to become Queen with the signature gestures of arms in couronne during the Rose Adagio. I can understand she's probably not that strong in balances and didn't have the luxury of time to do so, but the miss was too evident. The Procession of characters at the marriage act. Totally ineffective. The background was dark, Aurora and Desire were nowhere to be found, and the whole thing happened in a blur. Actually the scene didn't even happened INSIDE the castle. The positive That the Bolshoi opened and Sleeping Beauty keeps to be staged, danced, admired and criticized by the world, hence alive, strong and well. Again, Petipa lives!

Where's that iconic step of the fairies when they take a pose lining up front semi-seated on the floor with one leg extended to the front at unison, torso slightly bended to the back...? That seems to be untouched in every staging of SB I've seen, but it's gone here...Instead they do a triple sequence of tour jetes and then a little pose standing up. Also not crazy about the floor pattern at all and all the feathers business. It looks too much Rio-Carnaval like. Then, what's up with baby Aurora's nurses....? Are they supposed to be nurses of courtiers...? Why are they seated...? They usually stand up, hence telling us about their position as royal servants, but not here either.

Edited: Double post

Has enybody here experienced Jamie Bernstein-(Bernstein's daughter)-onstage ever...? Well, I did, and I would be interested to hear from any other receipients of her, um, "performance"-(to put it somehow)-if any around here...

And 'm very inclined to believe his claims about the bronze being substituded by plastic moldings covered in gold paint. Our Art Deco disctrict in South Beach contains many examples of buildings having been totally knocked down and substituded with replicas made of plaster due to the so called "inabilities to acomodate modern high tech. fixtures into the old infrastructure". They look beautiful, yes, to the non expert eye, but if one got to see the original, and then the process of substitution, then one feel as being lied about it. You KNOW that you're not seeing the real thing...

...which is always exciting..! ;-)

AAh...the quest for perfection... I don't know...for me, this is actually an interesting take. I'm really sick of seeing the same boring shots of arabesques and deep penchees...

The Nutcrackathon has oficially started...!!

Does the version wth Yoshida has her slide over the silk cloth being pulled by Coqueluche...? The Dowell/Coller has it, and it's beautiful to watch, apart from being a nice little accent from the original choreography as the pic wth Nikitina shows.

If anything, it contains the MOST glorious Snow Scene and Waltz of the Flowers I've ever witnessed, live or filmed. I've seen it live both by City Ballet and MCB, and the pace seems to have slowed down a bit in both sequences.

Failing completely at seeing the issue with the pic over here, to be honest... What's the part needed to be cropped...?