cubanmiamiboy

I know the most of you guys will enjoy this clips as much as I did. Brava Maya! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoYJvFPBhdA&feature=related

Helene's post on the Snow White film made me remember to ask your guys something I've been thinking of for a while now. This is about Emilio Aragon's "Snow White" ballet DVD with Tamara Rojo in the lead. Can someone fill me in about this production..? Is it worth it...? Thanks in advance!

A little nice tribute from one of us members of the legion who considered Miss Charin the grandest ballerina of the Cuban ballet.

This clip is very painful to watch... I know!...I so miss that...

I agree with you, Natalia, and more than all that, Valdes is a totally committed ballerina, she dances non stop everything and without fear. She's strong, hasn't suffered too many injuries and you can always count on the fact that she will be there onstage to deliver a good, exciting show. Perhaps not the most refined, princess-like ballerina, but nonetheless great to watch and very reliable. Being reliable in the world of ballet is something I perceived as precious...and I really appreciate that virtue of her. The next clip of her is an unfortunate one, and it has created quite a buzz among the posters. Valdes was scheduled to dance the Diana&Acteon PDD with Carlos Acosta, who was visiting at the moment in Havana. That very same day she ended up in the Emergency Room of a Havana hospital with an acute asthma attack-(which she has suffered since she was a child). They all tried to prevent her to perform that night, but she announced that her fans had been waiting for a long time to see her and Acosta together, and neither them nor Acosta deserved her absence. Her appearance caused a big controversy, but the audience knew how to appreciate her stubbornness. At 7:21 minutes of this clip, you can tell clearly that Valdes is about to faint, but nevertheless she finished her PDD. Brava Viengsay! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAtacKtfVGI&feature=related

How frustrating...I WANT IT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!

Maybe you're right, Natasha. I noticed that Frometa's name is still listed in the CNB roster, and a little digging into the Spanish Company shows that this troupe/school was founded by Alonso and many of its professors are Cubans. I really hope this is the case, as it is quite hard to find fast, capable substitutions to go in line with the fast pace to which the male stampede is happening lately... How ironic...Miami and Havana are being wounded in the same spot at the same time...

As Lissette in La Fille Mal Gardee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxsXqTaer_M&feature=related

I wonder if my old record contains the whole ballet.

Javier Torres in: "The Leaves are Fading" with Annette Delgado http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXRgYnPOhTA "Giselle" with Barbara Garcia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R_73xOcz_w&feature=related "Swan Lake" with Yolanda Correa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AXgfJw7dMY&feature=related

It is funny...SITM I never "got"-(even after multiple viewings), whereas SIC "got" me since the very first time...!

I LOVE this music...it is pure champagne...so happy and alive and viennese!! I'm DEFINITELY a "musique dansante" kind of guy...

Aaahh...Now I can see something. Both days the leads of T&V have been given to four American-born dancers. I don't think this is coincidence, and I think this is a great idea. I mean...the Cuban audience will be seeing an American company, and then it's fair that they're presented with genuine products of American ballet schools by American born dancers. Considering that they're a minority in ABT-(only Kent, Wiles, Hallberg and Stiefel are American-born among the Principals, and Kent and Stiefel probably somehow out of the picture for bravura variations), then the list is even shorter, so that's why soloist Stearns and Corps Boylston came into the picture.

Today I went to the kick off of the Seraphic Fire Choir's 9th Season, masterfully directed by Mr. Patrick Dupre Quigley. This time Mr. Quigley chose the magnificent Rachmaninoff's Vespers-(All-Night Vigil) for the opening concert, which was extremely moving and beautifully sung to a full house. His was an outstanding version. The choir has a very warm and rich sound, especially from the basses, who gave some amazing basso-sostenuttos. As we know this piece requires an enormous range of color from the more introverted "Blagoslovi, dushe moya" to the wildly joyful "Khvalite imya Gospodi", and even though being the day as hot as 85 degrees, and the setting the airy, small Community Church of Lincoln Road in the middle of South Beach, Seraphic Fire made me remember that other beautiful performance/service while at the magnificent Orthodox Uspenski Cathedral in Helsinki. I was in heaven. Bravo! http://seraphicfire.org/

...AND it has tutus...

Alonso better starts promoting some men within the company if the exodus keeps going on in the fast lane...This most be really fresh, for he's still listed in the CNB's roster... Oh, BTW...I just realized that after Toto retires, ABT needs a Cuban relacement...!! (not to forget you, Xiomarita...you've done a beautiful job, but this is a hint hint for the bailarines out there.... ) http://www.balletcuba.cult.cu/Biografias/javier.htm

Could it be Tango, by Androsov? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_uAMQNpIhk

I like to be able to subdivide, as in the aboved post "Classic" vs. "modern". I'll make my own subdivisions: XIX Century- "Giselle" (All time favorite,IMO) XX Century- "Chopiniana" Balanchine- "Theme and Variations" It's fascinating how often Symphony in C has shown up on this thread. (Me, too, though I switch favorites frequently.)Anyone have any thoughts about the reasons for Symphony in C's amazing resonance and appeal? I add myself to the fan base.

I was shocked to find via Facebook that Romel Frometa, ex Primer Bailarin of Ballet Nacional de Cuba and Viengsay Valdes' most frequent partner, is no longer listed in the Company roster. A little search on his name took me to the MADRID JUNIOR CHAMBER BALLET COMPANY-(Spain)- website. Looks like CNB is getting wounded all over again... Good luck Romel! En Coppelia with Viengsay Valdes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nRwfEUgqw4&feature=related En Don Quijote with Viengsay Valdes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crr7H-Wqd70&feature=related En Chopiniana with Barbara Garcia y Yolanda Correa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WXzaSaASnM&feature=related http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.teatromadrid.com/content/cartografias09_pajaro.php&ei=Iy6lTIT2M8GAlAfrkITRDA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dballet%2Bde%2Bcamara%2Bde%2Bmadrid%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GWYE_en%26prmd%3Dv

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wkMSc5DjQ18/SPeSjoWY-SI/AAAAAAAAFOQ/dPyqjUlQybg/s320/Curtis-HOTw-Marilyn-300.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ukv_BTIqSwc/TFmcRQYnj2I/AAAAAAAAA9M/2CG0aN40jr8/s1600/TonyCurtis001.jpg

Thanks bart, for that pic...! Vaganova's persona has always intrigued me. In every single book or autobiography I've read regarding the ballet Imperial times she's always described in the same way...non pretty, not too much popular etc...and then, she was the only one of these Primas who didn't flee the Soviet Revolution....

Are those sparkling earings perhaps suggesting that Vaganova, like Kshesinskaya, liked to show off her real jewels onstage...?

I saw "Some like it hot" for first time as a kid, and I remember being undecided on who had the prettiest face, Marilyn or Tony. http://www.fanpix.net/picture-gallery/239/1841239-tony-curtis-picture.htm . Then "The Vikings"...oh, I was FASCINATED with this film...(and so that's how my fascination with this culture started). This is so sad... RIP Mr. Curtis.

Weeeell...he certainly is, Leigh...which I can tell from his "Other Dances" in "Jersey Shore"-(AKA "clubbing")-

Sadly, that's still the case...