cubanmiamiboy

I had to come back here to this dormant thread to add to this GREAT Mel-after-Kirstein quote the other one from Simon via the MCB forum, as they seem to be quite a match.. Ha..! (Still looking for a third one... )

Lovely pics, Natasha! Now, THAT'S a production I would have loved to see. Aggrh...what a frustration I don't get vacations yet..!!

The Miami International Ballet Festival has been going on for a little on now. Tonight the Balletto Teatro di Torino from Italy will perform at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale. I might go, if i don't find anything more appealing to do tonight. If so I will report back.

Jeanette's laughing is so contagious..! For those who don;t know her, that's just the way she's onstage. As bubbling and energetic and VITAL. (I'm sure she would make a wonderful "Fille"...hint-hint! ) Anyway..thanks, bart for the clips. I would also like to know who's this person Scarlett. Any clue...anyone..?

Last nights offer was Viridiana, a more comfortable territory for me-(had seen it years ago, and it still does its stuff today). This is the infamous Vatican/Francos administration-banned-(described as blasphemous)-film and Palm dOr winner that was not to be released in Spain until 1977, after Franco's death, when Buñuel was seventy-seven years old. This is good ol school Buñuel…irreverent, satirical and dry humored-(still easy on the eye, unlike his Perro Andaluz). The film has some memorable sequences, as the one with the beggars taking a shot around their patrons table resembling that of Da Vincys "The Last Supper" , or that of the uncle trying on his late wifes high heeled shoes and corset in front of a mirror. Another high point of Viridiana is the appearance of Silvia Pinal, the stunning Mexican blond beauty in the manner of Kim Novak whose form fitting sequences in his movies are not ontological. I had a great night, although there were three people behind me who were obviously oblivious to the caption offering-(what did she say..?)-and thought the film to be super funny, according to the uncontrolled laughing from start to ending. Annoying. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxZFKPG3bVQ&feature=related

Miss Arencibia is one of the Cuban examples of the current trend affecting the ballet world today. Tall, elegant, lyric, long limbed, thin ballerina who seems to be always trying to look for the perfect placement and posture, but lacking in old school force and solid technique, which is the complete opposite case with Valdes.

How awful. By a simple question just keeps revolving around my head every time we get back into this "line/distortion/ubber extension" topic. What about the individual dancer common sense...? Aren't there enough videos where the sad result of this trend can be viewed, reviewed and revealed in its complete awfulness...? Don't dancers know about the general consensus among the audience on this aspect via this kind of boards or comments on Youtube and the like...? I am certainly probably one of the few people who DOES measure a good Odile-(not only, but also)-by her fouettes and a good Aurora by her balances and a good Giselle by her sautés on pointe. They are certainly not everything, but they are part of the role's backbone. They are tough cookies for sure but there's no way to avoid them. You either do them or you're not prepared for the role if you can't. Period. That's how I think. I don't care how malignant and beautiful and supple and lush and artsy and so on and so forth an Odile can be...deliver EVERYTHING, fouettes included and then we'll talk. No halfway allowed. I think there's also a generalized lack of need to get back to this theory-(not that it is the absolute truth, but...)-but I believe that unless ballerinas are not allowed to take on a specific role when they are not really technically prepared for it we'll keep seeing disaster after disaster. Yes, very elongated, supple, model-like creatures perfect for Vogue photo shoots with Leibovitz for not belonging to the stage.

The documentary is very delightful, with Bessy herself conducting it..(not other narrating "voices off" to be heard). There are several segments of her dancing...(the Youskevitch sequence from "Invitation to the dance", "Daphnis&Chloe" with Erik Bruhn-(what a gorgeous couple they made onstage...they looked like two vikings..! )-and that of her and Gene Kelly in the "Coffee House Ballet". Lots of praising for Lifar and Bejart-(specially for Lifar)-but not ONE word mentioning her senior peer-(rival?)-Chauvire or Nureyev. I wonder if there were issues about it back in the days. Very nice insight on the POB school by the time she directed it.

Right...about Stravinsky I knew. I was looking more into the "musique dansante" period...as in the Offenbach /Taglioni's "Papillon"-(Golden Idol of Bayadere nowadays)- or the Sapphire variation of Beauty. Are there more examples of this around that period...?

I'm going to go see this tomorrow. Will report back. From the Cinematheque website... http://miamibeachfilmsociety.memberlodge.org/calendar?eventId=367367&EventViewMode=2&CalendarViewType=1&SelectedDate=9/3/2011 "Described as the “Golden Silhouette” by Serge Lifar, French ballerina Claude Bessy was an admired etoile of the Paris Opera Ballet and ran its prestigious school for decades. Americans know her as Gene Kelly’s partner in his “Invitation to the Dance.” Herrault’s intimate documentary, narrated by his subject, features rare vintage classroom and performance footage of the dancer in her prime, including works by Kelly, Serge Lifar, and Maurice Bejart. (In French and English with English subtitles)" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7snjTyoXqWE Youskevitch and Bessy in "Invitation to the Dance" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RxyQzMVp5k

The Black Swan I saw of Skorik was full of the much talked about Mariinsky's "suppleness" and "upper carriage" and "flexible backs" and all that stuff...plus the usual heavy dose of distorted extensions, BUT ...when time came for the fouettes a major disaster took place... she couldn't even do 22 or 23-(all that while traveling all over the stage, VERY close to the pit). At one point she had to stop abruptly when it was obvious she was totally out of control and ready to fall and right there invent some choreography to supply for the emptiness midway the can-can coda music! .Embarrassment as I've never seen before, and let's consider that this was just the PDD in a gala performance...no tiredness from previous Odette here...

My case is slightly different. When I was growing up we were so behind in Cuba technologically that videos didn't exist-(it wasn't until 1980 when my grandmother started traveling here to see her other daughter that we had a VHS for the first time)-and TV wasn't too appealing to me...lost of old Soviet/Rumanians/Bulgarian and the like films, which we couldn't even understand. Now, on the other side, the movie cinemas were kept intact, and old the old films from the American Pre-Castro era were recycled over and over and over. Matinées on Sunday mornings were delightful for us kids...(Charlotte's Web and all the Disney candies were my favorites ). Anyhow...that and the fact that movie theaters never got to be transfered over there to the multi-rooms complexes we had here, but still preserved in their 20's/30's old buildings-(still until today)-made me grow a love for the whole ritual, which I still enjoy...I go to the movie theater as I go to the Ballet...dressed up and everything, probably a little more casual. The Miami Beach Cinematheque is a wonderful place...they took over the old City Hall and revamped it as an old movie theater, and they also have exhibition halls and a mini-café inside. There's a current trend all over the County about it, and so far three places has been restored, where they present all the Nouveau European films, retrospectives, restorations and Cannes, Toronto, Sundance and many other festivals offers. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2411/2283934391_67d86881cc.jpg http://www.bizbash.com/content/editorial/StoryPhoto/big/e201497067-Cinematheque.jpg http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/MBC%20at%20HCH%20DRAFT%20auditorium.jpg Tonight I might go to the Coral Gables Cinema to see the French film "Point Blank". That will relax me after my two hours swimming training..

Yesterday I went to the premiere of a retrospective on the filmography of Luis Bunuel, presented at the Miami Beach Film Society. Many years ago-(as a teen)-I was highly impressed and shocked by his “Angel Exterminador”-(The Exterminating Angel), and I had also seen “Viridiana”, the first title in the trilogy of his /Alatriste/Pinal collaboration. I was really looking forward last night’s presentation, as it was his “Un chien andalou”, which I had never seen before-(I’m definitely NOT a film/DVD guy, and subsequently I’ve always tried to avoid renting all this “cult films”, which I believe will always belong to the big screen). Anyway…full of hopes I went, and then…I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Besides the fact that I had had an exhausting day at the hospital, I didn’t find all this non sense engaging enough. Whereas I silently laughed when I first saw Duchamp’s toilet, or got really cranky after 10 minutes of Cunningham’s company’s act, here I just got bored. By now I completely accept the pattern-(I call it my own “intolerance for fat women with dirty feet syndrome”, borrowing a fellow poster’s phrase he used to describe his perception at some attempts at inept contemporary dancing). Anyway…as I said, I left the place very bored. I only found interesting the slicing eyeball sequence… Oh…they also presented “L’Age d’Or”…but by then I was partially out… Looking forward to the restored copies of Viridiana and El Angel Exterminador though…… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pib9zv1dHcE&feature=related

As usual..."Sol Hurok presents...".. :thumbsup The two captions are very interesting... The "Leningrad Kirov Ballet" hand in hand with "The Leningrad Mariinsky Ballet". I wonder if this was Hurok's marketing idea-(considering that maybe he thought that the American ballet connoisseurs would be attracted by the old name)- or the Soviets', just for the same reason.

I've watched it from time to time, but after one has lived in South Beach enough time, realization comes that you don't have to turn on the TV on to look at that kind of stuff. Here is an everyday, giant, massive-scale production of Jershey Shore, just in real life, thousands of "Situations" and Snookies and J Wows and Ronnies included... Anyway...back to J Crew...

Ha,ha...I wonder the same sometimes, Helene. Working the night shift makes you see the life in a totally different perspective...

Tonight's pick took place at the historic Tower Theater. There I went to see the German film "Unter Bauern"-("Saviors in the Night")- by German director Ludi Boeken. Unter Bauern tells the remarkable true story of Marga Spiegel and her family, German Jews living in Westphalia at the beginning of World War II. Despite being patriotic Germans and Nazi sympathizers, the Aschoff family-(farmers of Westphalia)-hid Marga and her daughter Karin, risking everything to rescue their neighbors from deportation and certain death. The film is based on the best-selling memoirs of Marga Spiegel, who is currently 98 years old and still lives in Germany. If is showing around your area, try to catch it...

From 0:27 to 0:50. Enjoy! I wonder who the Black Moor is...

There's a longer segment, but I can't find it now... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFGTgf-tJ2g

Black tutu-ed Willis...? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-rsqp3yIoM&feature=feedu

They are...! The first guy in front looks like a movie star. I wonder if he was placed there strategically by the photographer...

Pas Seul starts at 2:11. From a poster: "I know how happy and thrilled Alicia was in that Giselle because she told me she received multiple curtain calls after the variation. Many in the ballet world at that time were not acquainted with the Spessivtzeva coda diagonal and the Russians were enthralled and mentioned it afterward to her. Alicia replied, "The diagonal coda belongs in the variation because it's Olga's variation". The Russians have always done the piques around the stage as you know. Only Markova & Alonso did it". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMyYsjm278Y&feature=feedu

Ah...thanks for that pic, rg. This is indeed the BT's Nijinska-after Gorsky/Petipa staging that Alonso, along with that of Balachova for the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo-(in which she also danced)- used to stage the one for the Cuban Ballet in 1952, still faithfully kept in repertoire. Alonso has extensively praised Kriza's interpretation, using it as her main model in her staging. Lovely picture.

Chase is "danseuse" and Shearer is "ballerina"...? Is there any logic behind this that I fail to catch...?