cubanmiamiboy

Ok...so it then becomes a matter of "Do I sleep with him and get the job or not ..?"

I always have a problem with the consensual part of all this affairs of sexual harassment. There's always the option to say "No" to an attempt at someone trying to jump on one's bed. And many times the attempts are consensually reciprocated and later on called harassment. I find that very wrong .

Alicia Alonso certainly can....

From the best real source. Mme Markova. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=546493822457746&id=283641878320565

Revisiting. As always...an anguished scream that keeps lacerating one's soul, and even more now ..when antisemitism rises its poisonous head once again. "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith for ever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never. From "Night" by Elie Wiesel. #NeverAgain ✡️

We had her "Calamity Jane" record at home when I was a kid, and my mom loved her films. Another icon from a long gone era has been lost. RIP Doris Day. https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/doris-day-dead-at-97

She gave many of us so much joy and uniqueness. Once in a while one sees that precious gem of a woman who steps out of the mere academical concept of "dancer" to be a full fledged "ballerina". And Jeanette Delgado IS a wonderful ballerina. We'll miss that million dollar smile too. MERDE IN YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS, MRS DELGADO!

Ok people. I'll be reporting. We all know she will be under a microscope. If anything, I believe she'll benefit from the general atmosphere of MCB, where mutual help, camaraderie and lack of drama has been the norm for years. MERDE to you, Kathryn! Edited to add: MCB has never been a "stick thin" ballerinas company, nor tall ones. She will fit right in, aesthetically speaking.

That might be the case, and I'd curious to see how the Imperial production of the ballet looked like. But the disconnection between the two acts is too visible, unlike every other Petipa ballet where the main couple always dances the grand pas. Hyppolyta and Theseus make a very brief showing in act I...not enough to fully connect it to act II. And then they don't even have a pas of their own! And the unnamed couple which takes over the meatiest dancing part of the act..too strange.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1519448898187212&id=10244171089

Actually...for a while now, and after seeing countless stagings, I now look at Gamzatti and Solor when Nikiya dies, and same with Giselle...I try to look into other characters around, like Hilarion. The fact that some of these trouble makers are portrayed quite different from dancer to dancer makes such climaxed moments like those very interesting to watch...

Very interesting article. Misty Copeland, again, is brought into it from her famous position....

This is the second time for this "re imagined" production. Much of what I wrote on the premiere of the work stays the same. It is a very high tech production, which as we know, takes places underwater here. Lots of fantastic computerized projections and moving backdrops. And I still have a problem with that. This ballet is basically about the interaction of TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS...one real and one that is not. If someone has no previous knowledge of the libretto-(or of Shakespeare's work)-, then the general feeling is that every character onstage is fantastic, because they quarrel and fight and make up under the ocean. So all the innuendo of why the humans are not capable to see their surrounding fairies is completely lost in translation. Yes, I know that many ballets of the XIX Century had real characters going under the water-(The Pearl, for instance)- but this is not just another fantastic tale...this is a very particular text that calls for a very specific differentiation in between the two sets of characters. The two human couples entering a realm that has been completely taken over by fairies. And how do you explain the why are this two couples under the sea...? Again...this ballet is just not another Petipaesque work with great classical variations to catchy musique dansante tunes as the center of attention. Mood and story are key elements. And that has not being achieved here. Jordan Elizabeth Long and Renan Cerdeiro were Titania/Oberon. Katia Carranza an Renato Panteado-(very classic MCB)- were the divertissement couple in Act II. And that silly screen in between dancers and audience was annoying. I saw it only one time, because I really never warmed to the whole thing. But in all fairness...I have never quite "got" the whole Balanchine production. I think Act Ii is a bit awkward and out of context, and sort of erases the main Titania/Oberon/Puck/Lovers story. Which is why I much prefer Ashton's "The Dream", with its more dancing-oriented approach and focusing.

He is tall and handsome. I loved him in the very short time he was down here. Damn...our loss, your gain...😟

I remembered it like that too. It was a straight up bummer. Not that anybody needs to believe ANY of what this sacrosanct newspaper employees have to say, but still. I remember not caring to much for that, given that it is now when Giselle is being danced non stopped in the five continents, and not 50 years ago. And Asia is quite a booming producing factory of highly technical dancers, and again....that wasn't the case 50 years ago. Nah....Homans is not the shrine of balletic ultimate world predictions. She writes very good-(I REALLY enjoyed Apollo's angels)- but that's it.

Didn't Homans basically declared that ballet is dying...in that infamous epilogue...?

Piñeiro is someone who should be interesting to see in the role. She's a Cuban ballerina, and as such I'm sure she too grew within her schooling revering the role and watching videos of the fantastic generation of Cuban ballerinas who excelled on it, including of course Alonso. Perhaps this is a debut for her here, and I don't think she danced the role back in Cuba, so I'm sure she will give her best .

Ojh...he LOVES the cheering and whistling! And he LOVES his bravura roles. He didn't have neither one here with MCB. If he's near retirement, having such success in such lavish production of the quintessential Petipa is certainly a triumph.

Sarabita's-(Rolando Sarabia)- career has been quite a rollercoaster. I saw his amazing beginning as a very young Principal in Havana-(I believe he wasn't even 20 when he was promoted). Then I saw his lukewarm passing through the Balanchine repertoire here in Miami. He wasn't really made for leotard or abstract ballets. And he gained weight here. And then his ocassional dancing with the now defunct Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami, in which he sparkled-(Don Q, Giselle, La Fille Mal Gardee, Swan Lake). And then his period as a freelance, which I thought were his last days as a dancer-(no company and approaching 40). This "come back" stage is truly a wonderful thing. I think he should forever be grateful to Julie Kent for having believed in his inner great artistry. I'm very happy he's back dancing his beloved Petipa repertoire. MERDE on his future endeavors!

Agreed. Although I am willing to be that a classical company who doesn't has to fight the racial issue for this ballet-(like Ballet Theater of Harlem)- wouldn't struggle on this piece, if correctly coached. Or at least not to the struggling point of ABT's "In the Upper Room"...I bet...😶

And still Tharp's works are widely staged by ballet companies. Is "In the Upper Room" completely faithful in style and technique in such stagings to what Tharp originally conceived...? Who knows...maybe, maybe not. But neither is Giselle, or Sleeping Beauty. And if Tharp wouldn't had been staged by MCB, I would had probably never seen it. So the ballet company at least has the merit of making it accessible to audiences. And I agree with you in something at least. And here is the big bomb: I wouldn't like to see NYCB doing "Revelations" either because this is a work too deeply intertwined with black-America...its stories, sufferings and traditions. A company of white dancers doing it would be a travesty. And I am willing to bet this was the same rationale Arthur Mitchell had in mind when he decided to make his all black dancers Giselle historically credible by setting it in this particular community of free blacks who themselves owned slaves-(Louisiana). Perhaps no one would nowadays do what he did with his Giselle. Maybe it could be considered offensive or politically incorrect now, but I honor his thought process about not wanting to impose a Polish -( Silesia)- community of characters on his black dancers. The same can probably be told about "Revelations". I don't think anybody would dare to present a whole company of white dancers to embody the social struggles of black America.

Exactly. And I assume not because of lack of technical capabilities.

Perhaps. Or not. I guess we'll never know until we see it up there. I say NYCB because it is this company most of the people of this board are familiar with and might "picture" doing it

I also read that he was invited to stage a work for ABT back in the 70's. The work had one big solo for a male, and ABT insisted on giving it to the only black dancer of the company...nor the best. I don't know how the story ended, but it met Ailey's displeasure. Still wondering about the shock value of "Revelations" being danced by any other ballet company.

I saw a round of "Revelations"-(one of my favorite pieces of dance, period)-in December, at City Center, and then once again here...just last weekend. I'm not familiar with the past of the company, but as we all know, this is not a heterogeneous dance company, racially speaking. From the performances in NYC and here again, I noticed two white dancers, both of whom were portrayed in "Revelations". I did some researching, and found that Mr Ailey wasn't particularly fond of trying for the company to look homogeneously black , but it is also a reality that the company and its repertoire has heavily targeted and speaks to the black community. And I was thinking while watching the red haired, ultra white girl with the hat and the fan toward the end surrounded by black dancers how much of the core of the piece-(like slavery or Gospel church services)- and its significance within the black community would be as relevant as the dance quality itself?. Or in other words and to put it simply...would the fact that this very few white dancers within this company are very good technically be enough to make their spot a non spot for a black dancer...? I know that this same issue is constantly discussed in this forum but in the opposite way-(few black dancers within classical ballet companies)-,but it still raised my curiosity, given the historical and racially sensitive significance of the issues told by "Revelations". Going further...would you imagine "Revelations" being danced by your favorite ballet company...? Say...NYCB and its all white ensemble...? Honestly, I don't. Thoughts...?