cubanmiamiboy

I'm with Natasha about "bringing the baby on", but the thing is ...it is not that easy. One of the most important things for ballet to be successful is to have a continuity...to be passed on, rehearsed, seen in multiple theaters, savored by many dancers, lovingly cared by different generations, its choreography engraved in people's minds. It's got to transcend time and space. That's the only way it will ever "get" into people's bones-(both dancers and audiences). I've been a witness of this phenomenon in Cuba with Giselle, Coppelia and Theme and Variations, and I see it here very clear too by the passionate and knowledgeable way you guys talk about Symphony in C, Agon or Jewels. N. Sergueev's SB has this continuity...being even the base for many productions outside Russia. Then it is natural that Lilac's helmet looks as strange and invasive as it does to many. We discuss ballet here all the time...the majority of us has seen SB a gazillion times-(many even as lucky as Natasha to travel and see different versions), and so maybe we're up and ready for a change-(one that has the glamorous last name of "imperial")-but for someone like Asylmuratova, who grew up and retired with the tutu'ed Lilac, then suddenly seeing her gong back to hills once in a while could prove a tremendous mistake. It took more than 50 years for Sergueev version to be where it is today in people's minds. It will take, I think, more than that for the reconstructions, partially because I don't believe they will be adopted by many companies outside Russia. I know in the next case it was the choreographer who was up for the change, but...can you guys imagine if a video recording of the first version of Apollo-(choreography, Chanel head caps, tutus and everything)-was suddenly discovered....? How many of us would be up for the change to adopt it with open arms...?

"The shoe information"... I can almost visualize Marie... "Daddy...you almost KILLED ME last night with that variation...are you INSANE...?!?! Go look for Mathilde if you want to so she can dance it, because I'm done with it...!"

This is a very interesting thought, and one that has popped in my head too while reading about the reconstructions. I particularly enjoy the vintage feeling in many things in life-(from ballet restorations to fashion revivals to mid century thrift stores furniture buying, etc...)-but I wonder about the ahead of the times audiences that are basically made of our very ahead of the times societies...Is everyone on the same boat about enjoying this curious-(although beautiful)-specimens...?

My envy to your experience has already turned from its originally green to black, Natasha. One question regarding the Act III Grand Pas. Did Vikharev retain the choreography of the Adagio, specifically the traveling shoulder lifts for Raymonda and her ladies-in-waiting in couronne to the oboe musc...? (I've always found this particular moment of the choreography fascinating...very mysterious and dramatc...)

Agree. The ballroom scene seems to have been more complex originally with the Pas de Six. It looks to me as if all this variations-(Andante con Moto included)-were talking about specific particulates of the different princesses who dance them. And then there's Sobeshchanskaya's Pas' music-(Tchaikovsky, or T's arrangement on Minkus...?)-which I think is more beautiful that the Merry Makers interpolation.

Ok...so I'm taking chances and picking Morris over this and this and this..., so let's see...

Eric, what I gathered from Schooll's book is that there seems to be a generalized consensus on ignoring the photo of Marie wearing her Prologue tutu and pointe shoes-(even is it is a studio photo...not a performance one). Then, after reading the various explanations from the book, one get the idea that there was indeed a classical variation created by Petipa for her daughter, which was very simple, which didn't survive too long due to the ballerina's diminished-(not absent)- capabilities as a classical dancer, to be replaced for the one danced by Egorova in 1914 and allegedly created by Lopukhov-(which I assume made her way to K. Sergueev staging). Then, at some point in between the two, Pavlova and karsavina danced a different one in their 1907 debuts, of unknown authorship. I personally like the plasticity of character Lilac, and I don't think the ballet looses too much by returning the fairy's original design. This s what Maries contemporaries had to say -Fyodor Lopukhov on dancing Marie. L. declares that he was selected as a young corps to support Marie Petipa during the Prologue, an idea that gets supported by the pic of a tutued Marie next to her attendant and wearing pointe shoes. -Elizaveta Gerdt in non-dancing Marie. Pavel's daughter, who danced as a child in the original production where Marie Petipa was Lilac, declares that Marius daughter NEVER danced on pointe during the first run of the ballet up until retirement in 1907. -Peterburskaya Gazeta. This newspaper reviews a performance of Anna Pavlova's debut as Lilac in 1908. Vera Krasovskaya suggests that Petipa arranged a new variation-(not danced by Marie before)- for Pavlova and Karsavina who also debuted in the role the same year. Pirouettes and entrechats are mentioned in this review. -Fyodor Lopukhov on non-dancing Marie. L. also says at some point Lubov Egorova was the FRST ballerina to have danced the classical Prologue variation as we know it today-(hence contradicting his first statement about suppporting the tutu-pointe attired Marie in the Prologue)-, which he himself created for a performance at Krasnoe Selo in 1914. Later on Pavel Gerdt requests for Egorova to pass the variation to her daughter Elizaveta, and the directorate of the Mariinsky theater was explained that this was an original Petipa variation which had been cut off by Petipa himself during the ballet early days do to Marie's inability to dance it. -Stepanov notations. The notations mention two variations. One with Marie's name on it and the other one sans name. re: Lilac.. ...and for the audience to watch.

This upcoming Saturday the there will be a special performance of Giselle at the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach, to pay tribute to the career of Cuban ballerina Dagmar Moradillos. For this occasion Jose Manuel Carreno will dance her Albrecht. I have recollections of Miss Moradillos during the early 90’s as very young, talented and promising ballerina, taking all the classical roles in Havana, including that of Giselle. The thing is that she eventually left the company and the country sans Mme’s blessing- (AKA defection)- eventually landing in Miami, where she joined a semiprofessional company while also teaching, and somehow wasting away her talent. On Saturday she will dance for last time before retirement . Miss Moradillo is from the same generating of Toto Carreno, so it will be a real pleasure to watch these two members of the old school dancing together again. I‘m also bringing my friend so he can have a point of comparison between this version-(derivative of the Alonso after Markova/Dolin)- and the upcoming ones from MCB-(which I suspect follows the Soviet/Russian generalized trend). I want to wish both Moradillos and Carreno a successful performance, and I will be there to cheer and whistle. Miss Moradillo @ 2:40 in “Tarde en la siesta” (Alberto Mendez/Ernesto Lecuona) In Giselle.

It took an Italian ballerina to go to Russia to create the role. Now it took a Russian one to go back to Italy to revive it. Bella Novikova!!

I found her painful to watch...(aside from the non dancing issue...)

Is there an available list somewhere the provides the names of the ballets-(and their coaches)-that are part of the collection already...?

Tonight I made it to Fellini's "Giulietta degli Spiriti"-(1965). Fellini's cycle started last week in Little Havana, but I wasn't able to make it until tonight due to work. To bee completely honest, there was just nothing much that was too fresh or relevant in this fantasy film that takes us into the head of Fellini's actress wife Giulietta Masina who plays another Giulietta, a bored wealthy bourgeois Roman housewife in her mid-30s with no children. The film opens as Giulietta prepares an anniversary party, where during a session held by a clairvoyant she learns that she can hear otherworld voices. She then escapes into her imagination as she retreats into the past, present and future to give her routine life more meaning. As a side story, Giulietta is most concerned her hubby is having an affair after she hears him speaking another woman's name in bed. Disillusioned with her reality and trying to escape from a marriage that is failing, Giulietta comes to believe more and more in the spirit world. The film is somehow taken over by Sandra Milo, Giulietta's exotic and liberated high-living neighbor, who plays three bizarre roles and manages to be strange but uninteresting in all three roles. Anyway, it could be either because of being so tired after my long work session or something else, but I gotta say I found myself bored with the film fantasy sequences and not overly impressed with all the freak show sequences and dips into surrealism. Next, Amarcord.

The first time I saw Diamonds...(via the POB DVD)-I was struck by the similarities. Still, I think the Diamonds PDD is just one of the loveliest I've ever seen. Still, on the whole, I take T&V at any time...(certainly partially due to how do I relate to it in terms of ballet viewing time, but also because I perceive it as superior choreographically...). Rubies I never got to like.

I don't know either, but working the hospital night shift really gives me the advantage of getting the most out of the days...(although sleeping time gets reduced... )

I found the anchor's screaming very over the top...sort of a Nancy Grace bad copy...

It looks as if Miss Gillis had no idea that the numbers and harsh attacks would be part of the interview. The whole thing-(regardless of the veracity and good intentions of the anchor)- looks to me as plain bullying, to be honest.

One little thing here...let's not shift the whole weight/responsability to the AD's side...it wouldn't be fair...

Tonight I went to the opening night of the Festival Miami, an annual music event that opens the South Florida arts season while expanding academic opportunities for students. As per their website, Festival Miami presents between 25 to 30 concerts, master classes, and lectures over a five-week period. Each event falls under one of four themes: Great Performances, Jazz and Beyond, Creative American Music, and Music of the Americas. Tonight's program was devoted to the French Horn,and it was called French Horn Celebration, feauturing The Frost Symphony Orchestra directed by conductor Thomas Sleeper. Gunther Schuller's Horn Concerto No. 1 was one of the offerings. This is a 1943 modernist piece Mr. Schuller composed when he was just 18, and it was played by the fine American hornist Richard Todd, whose own ceLebrACiOn was also on the schedule-(the acronym hinted at in the title is that of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, for whom Todd wrote his seven-minute work). Two other horn-heavy works, Haydns beautiful Symphony No. 31-(my favorite piece of the night... )- and Richard Strauss'-(never one my favorites)-Till Eulenspiegel rounded out the evening. Less than seven minutes long, CeLAbraCiOn is a delightful piece with good, soulful tunes over a variety of swinging Afro-Cuban grooves and big-band inspired sound from the trumpets-(it was music one could perfectly imagine as if being in the La Habana Sans Souci Cabaret and Casino from the Meyer Lansky era. One could call this Todds Cuban Overture, and it was obvious that he was having a great time onstage. If anything, I was happy to see the horn as the guest of honor for once. The horn actually has a large and excellent solo repertoire, as well as being one of the most treacherous but lovely orchestral solos. Maybe we dont think of it that way very often, but in bringing two hornist-composers to Coral Gables to kick off Festival Miami, organizers are reminding us why we should.

Thank you all for your input and encouragement..! I will go, definitely, and will report back.

From the MMDG website... Performance Details October 14-15, 2011 8:00PM Miami, FL Adrienne Arsht Center Ziff Ballet Opera House Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami –Dade County Ticket Info Box Office: 305.949.6722 PROGRAM -Festival Dance -All Fours ---INTERMISSION--- -V ----------------------------------------- Program subject to change without notice. http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/performances/594

I think this statement resumes the whole thing very well.

Well, no, rap is predominantly a black genre discussing black issues and history, certain white rappers who have a contribution to make have succeeded within the genre... Exactly, just as ballet is a Caucasian-European genre which also discusses the past, customs and tales of their people, and also there have been certain black dancers who have had too a contribution to make and succeeded within the genre as well. So yes, actually. And talking about powdered wigs on black dancers and athletic solos here's all of it contained in this clip. Let's see ig Gounod will ever be given the Albrechts and Siegfrieds...

But the case-(thread)-here is not about comparison on commercial market value, Simon. This is about artists who belong to a different race to that of the majority of their peers in their respective stage jobs and are trying to be looked at with a sense of equality by their audiences and treated with fairness and given the same opportunities as their prevalent race peers by their bosses, and both rap and ballet have representants that contain all of the above. So there's DEFINITELY a case here. Edited to add: And this is depending on which scale are you using to determine that said stature, BTW.

Or watched the parade of little Ariels on Halloween of all races. (I'm not sure if you have that dress-up/candy begging tradition in the UK, Simon.) How many of those Ariels are joined by Mulans, Jasmines, Pochahontases, and Tiana's? It seems that the ethnically diverse Disney Princesses are marketed and popular for a year or two when the movies are first released and disappear from the collective consciousness shortly thereafter. When gift shopping for Disney fanatic children in my life I've noticed that the princess gift sets tend to include Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel and the others are usually missing. It seems that a European style ball gown seems to be necessary to the continuing popularity characters. This is true also. My whole point goes as far as to just to acknowledging that the situation does exist, and is plainly graphic for everyone to see, and that there is also the fact that this is a situation that has traveled beyond the borders of the Caucasian-based European countries-(let's look at Quiggin's examples or the one I provided with real, valid testimony of a black ballerina in one Company that certainly "looks" and "acts" as being completely integrated...that of Alonso's). We all see it every time we go to the ballet, or the opera, for that matters, and probably, if in a lesser scale, to a concert hall. Dancers within the troupes are more exposed to the troubles and frustrations that this situation can carry, but the bottom line is that ballet companies are structured in a pyramidal, non democratic, centuries old casts system full of well preserved traditions that are unlikely to change because they are an essential part of the very skeleton of the art form...down to the simple custom of that final class reverence, which I still find beautifully amusing and outdated...but still enchanting. I can't really come up with a solution in a personal level because this is a grand scale situation and also I don't think AD's have the total power to change all this though...