cubanmiamiboy

Oh, and just as I'm watching it, i just discovered a very brief, very old snippet of a clip of Mme. in the pas de chat/pirouette sequence of her variation in T&V!! (at 26:52)

I just received this link. An excellent documentary by Radio Television Espanola-(Spain). Enjoy! http://www.rtve.es/mediateca/videos/20101007/imprescindibles-alicia-alonso-07-10-10/896715.shtml?ref=nf

Just came back from the Arsht Center, and I must officially announce Jeanette Delgado as our Miamian very OWN T&V REIGNING QUEEN!!! . Trying to put in words what I saw in tonight's performance I think would just be in vain...the only thing I DO really want to underline is that I BET Mme. Alonso would have been VERY proud of Miss Delgado if given the opportunity to see her dance her role. Renato Panteado did Youskevitch's honors, and also up to my standards . It was simply BEAUTIFUL. Two thumbs up for having live music back, particularly in this ballet. Sadly, I couldn't make it on time to see the first two ballets...even racing from Key Biscayne to Downtown, due to over extended working hours, but according to the program, the leads in Bugaku were Wu and Garcia-Rodriguez.

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=arthur+mitchell+bugaku&prev=/images%3Fq%3Darthur%2Bmitchell%2Bbugaku%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7ACAW_enUS325US326%26biw%3D1003%26bih%3D300%26tbs%3Disch:1&imgurl=40272b32eca2acc5

So now just a few hours left until curtain rises tonight!! yaaay!!! I CAN'T WAIT to see Theme and Variations!. I haven't seen this little jewel of ballet live in years, and having the orchestra back makes it even more thrilling. I mean, is there any other opening that can give you more sense of grandeur with that timpani's exhilarating sound drumming in your ears...? (Perhaps one can compare it to the opening of the Swan Lake ballroom act...)It really makes you very alert and prepared for what's coming. And then, I want to see how do they treat that PDD. Here we have one of the most beautiful melodies ever used for a duo, and so simple at the same time, with those 3/4 opening bars in pizzicatos, while the ballerina is basically walking over clouds, barely touching the floor while lifted and carried away by the danseur. In this sense, I can't really say which PDD is more beautiful, T&V or Diamonds. To be honest, many times I imagine this ballet as the extended 4th Act of Sleeping Beauty, with Aurora, Desire and all the fairies and their attendants celebrating the wedding. Could this be arranged like that at some point...? Will report back...!!!

You just read my mind, Mel. I've always wondered if that first melody following the Entree would be danced by all the dancers, and not necessarily a variation for just one of them, and if this was the case, then who owned this variation, the danseur or one of the two ballerinas...?

Yes, thanks Mme. Hermine!!

He,he..."bad bad girl!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OWkDI2jJI4 Just curious, but...did they used the same kitty-causing-the-blackout plot for the first intended murder in the remake...?

bart...Wu is certainly not a "strong" per se ballerina, but I can definitely see her in the geisha role. I also think her body type and facial fixtures would add up to the realism of the role, don't you think...? Also, for what I perceived from the clip, this role requires some sort of detachment/coldness, which I think both Albertson and Wu can deliver somehow.

I was wondering if the deleted Pas de Trois "Andante Sostenuto"-(1st variation)- from the 1877 rendition of the score is being used in modern productions of the ballet. Is such a BEAUTIFUL piece of music... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BKNW6W/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0015RD60S&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=11MB1MGDRCZXXZQS223G Thanks!

I just j

bart...I can also think of two other Principals whom I usually skip from my "ideal casting" posts... Wu and Albertson. How's that...?

MIAMI CITY BALLET 2010/2011 SEASON Program I FANFARE Choreography: Jerome Robbins Music by Britten Jerome Robbins’ tribute to Queen Elizabeth II – its premiere took place on the night of her Coronation in 1953 – is an enchantingly bright and goofy take on Benjamin Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.” BUGAKU Choreography: George Balanchine Music by Mayuzumi Balanchine’s most erotic ballet, a highly stylized Japanese mating ritual, Bugaku was created on Allegra Kent and Edward Villella. One critic said it had “the subtlety of Japanese painting on silk, the strength of Japanese wrestlers.” Another described how “The lovers stalk each other with expressionless hunger.” A third suggested that it might well have been called The Deflowering. THEME AND VARIATIONS Choreography: George Balanchine Music: P.I Tchaikovsky Set in a spectacular 19th-century ballroom to the soaring music of Tchaikovsky, this is classical ballet at its grandest. The cast is large, the costumes lavish, the dancing elegant and joyous with strong, bold leaps and sharp, crisp moves. Long recognized as a Balanchine masterpiece!

Thanks Tutumaker for those links. I just found this preview of MCB production... Weird indeed...

Another MCB season, and as usual, some new-(to me)-Balanchine's. Scotch Symphony, Western Symphony, La Sonnambula...are some of the "new" ones this time. Some way or the other I've picked up here and there from you guys some clues from these ballets, but for some reason there's not too much talking in BT about Bugaku. Could you give me some clues as what to expect...? perhaps some details to be aware of...? or for the matters whatever recollections you could have from the ballet in previous incarnations and/or some of its most memorable dancers...? Am I asking a lot...?

Wise words...let's spread them out there, for God's sake...! RIP Miss Sutherland

Carlos Acosta and dance critic Donald Hutera explain what makes Cuban ballet so special, plus vox pops from the start of the UK tour.

Thanks, Carbro...It was a simplified rendition of Fokine's, but they did their best. I took my friend and my mother with me because I assured them that "being the first, this could be the last and only time you guys will be able to see Petroushka live..."

What's on the right side of her right side of her supporting leg...?

Perhaps it could by my lack of abilities on computers, but for some reason when I click a specific link-(let's say, her "schedule")-the page doesn't give me enough space to scroll that little button on the right all the way down to be able to finish the reading...

That wax-like ballerina image is kind of creepy...

On Sunday I will be watching this company production of "Petrushka", a ballet I haven't seen in years...since my Havana times, and for which I have fond memories. http://www.artsballettheatre.org/russian_ballets.htm ABTF's Production. BNC's Production. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H93Hami8I5o&feature=related

Back in the 80's reading Vargas Llosa in Cuba would get you in trouble with the official authorities. From him I read the powerful "La ciudad y los perros"-(The city and the dogs).