cubanmiamiboy

The assumptions behind ad campaigns like the MCB one we discussed yesterday give fresh cause for anxiety. Not only do the men have to worry about whether their dancing meets the AD's standards, now they have to worry about whether they're sculpted enough to meet the standards of the company's ad campaign. If the new audience doesn't stay, does that mean the six-packs weren't up to snuff? The ballerinas have probably been fretting about being stunning since they were 8 anyway, but I do resent the PR folks using that adjective. Surely a woman who's devoted lord knows how many years to her art deserves to be showcased in a way that celebrates what she does, not how she looks. And they all look beautiful on stage anyway. Good. More food to feed the body of this already over hedonistic town...

http://www.medgadget.com/archives/img/calfimplant.jpg http://www.beautifulself.com/images/calf_bna2.jpg http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ronharris8c.jpg

Some of Petipa lost ones. Specifically "Cinderella" and the highly controversial "The Magic Mirror"-(Snow White and the seven dwarfs). I always think of them as the long lost sisters of "Sleeping Beauty". Edited to add: Also: The Mariinsky revival of "Ondine", Lacotte's "La Sylphide", Ashton's "Sylvia", "Esmeralda"...

re: legs. I perceive this as a debate that has divided opinions, largely based on cultural issues. I think up until the likes of Jennifer Lopez or Beyonce started showing off their bodies all over the place instead of hiding it or altering it, the aesthetics vision on legs and thinness in the media was very inclined to the likes who possessed, let's say, the "boyish look", a la Madonna or Calista Flokhart... http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IiplnYqAHO4/SvPX...a+Keys!.jpg

I think this is more a man's thing. Living on the beach had made me seen EVERYTHING in terms of implants and augmentations, but the few times I've seen fake calves it has been in guys-(one of them also having fake pecs, BTW...).

Get some GOOD PR person who knows what to do and really wants the job done and you'll see the difference. I always mention the New World Symphony here in Miami as an example. Compared to them, the MCB has a LONG way to go. Among other things, NWS ALWAYS keeps weekly notifications on the e-mail, complimentary events, notifications on local papers and what's most important, 50 % OFF ALL TICKETS FOR STUDENTS-(for being pricey tickets one of the MAIN reasons of the arts scene poor attendance ...) Also, they always keep all current and upcoming events on display posters in front of the theater, something I also don't see in the MCB building... ...and I could keep going on and on...

Oooh, Miss "V"...naughty, naughty girl.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7yEF8w4vRo...feature=related (@ 0.29) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqpCHoWqywA...feature=related (@ 0.33) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F5nFU-ENPc...feature=related (@ 3.33, 4.07, 4.29, and BEYOND gravity, 5.06 )

Ah, I see that parking is a common issue around, ah...?

Well...I understand where Patrick comes...and this is even more justified if one didn't even enjoy the performance-(been there). Now, what I have observed here in Miami-(a large, metropolitan city with a disastrous construction planning/design and non existent public transportation)- is just a full blown, massive stampede of-I would say- the 70 % of the audience to get their cars out of the parking garages around the surroundings of the theater-(which is a mess, due to fact that after $400.000.000 and 5 years delay the Arsht Center HAS NOT A PARKING GARAGE OF ITS OWN)- or to start dealing with the horror of the valet parking line-(which is an absolute nightmare...). That's why I have opted to go around the area and park in the street-(with the risk of getting your car vandalized in this dangerous area at night time... in the best of the cases...in the worst it can be just gone when you walk out of the performance, like it happened to my mother's ). So, I hate the sight of the running patrons..but somehow I understand it.

Based on my personal experience-(not with the Stuttgart specifically, which I'm not familiar with, but with theater attendance during my lifetime)-I would say just to go to the theater the night of the performance, in which some of the following can occur: 1-Someone has an extra ticket to sell...(and sometimes even just to give it away for free) 2-The theater sells tickets from a cancellation list. 3-When you inquire in the box office if there are tickets left for that night performance, you get the "Yes, we do" response, to which you happily get one while commenting "oh, but the website said it was sold out", to get the "Oh, wow...that's odd...no, we still have tickets left..." final words... Just a thought..

Yes indeed, bart.. They should also investigate the other side of the story...you know...the constant struggle for some of that means resisting the urgent temptation to just flush it down the toilett...

bart called my attention on the latest name on the MCB roster: Principal Reyneris Reyes, whose biography and photo aren't up on the website yet. I hadn't heard his name in years. I remember him very well during the second half of the 90's, when he made a speedy ascension up the Cuban ranks right after his graduation. What I mostly remember from him was his beautiful supple posture and that he was a very popular bailarin among the young audience. By the time I left the island he had been out for a while, and I never knew of his whereabouts afterward. I just read online that he has been a member of Royal Winnipeg Ballet from 1999 to 2004, which he rejoined after a stint with Boston Ballet that ended in 2007. I really hope that he can fill the gap left by Sarabita. Well, in any case, welcome to Miami, Bienvenido a Miami, cubanito !!!

Miami City Ballet held another of its Open Barre Series performances today, this time dedicated to the official retirement of Principal Miss Deanna Seay. I couldn't attend-(got off work at 7 PM)-and even the intermezzo was over by the time I got there after barely making my way to the horrible traffic by driving like a madman. I was very upset to read here via bart about her injury while dancing her last performance in West Palm Beach, hence canceling her scheduled numbers for the Open Barre . I'm SURE she would have put on a beautiful performance in this intimate, warmer venue, the MCB own little theater in the school facility. Now,if Miss Seay is reading this, I want her to know that down here in South Florida we truly thank her for all the beautiful dancing that she gave us all this years. I believe that each and every dancer has at least one specific, unique quality that distinguish her/him from the rest. In Seay's case it was the noble feeling that she always gave to her role approaching . She is a dancer with a very distinctive CLASS, which along with her exquisite classical line, maturity and wonderful delicacy made me believe even more in that there's way more beyond mere technique. ...and she also "opened" my eyes to the Diamonds Pas de Deux. We love you, Deanna, and we will certainly miss you!

Of course not. I remember in Cuba when sometimes foreigners would be amazed and confused at the ushers request to drop their water bottles, not even to get into the auditorium, but even to make it to the theater lobby. The Lorca theater in Havana-(the ballet house)-has a patio with a café where people can have a snack during the intermezzo, but EVERYTHING has to be dropped before getting into the lobby. I guess it is also a cultural thing...as a kid one would be told to drink and go to the bathroom before performances. And if one would even TRY to sabotage a performance with an improper request, one only had to get "the look" from either parent plus "NOW YOU WAIT, AND SHUT UP!" to be quiet for the rest of the time. When I got to US I was-(and still are)-TOTALLY amazed to see all this food vending inside the theater, where one can see a huge garbage plastic container in the middle of the $400 000 000 theater lobby next to a woman wearing a $50.000 diamond ring while holding a greasy donut on her hand. Honestly...I truly don't get it...

Some new entries have been added to the now extensive article on Wikipedia's "Fille". I found some other clues about Alonso's staging besides that of her using of the Romanoff/Nijinska/Gorsky version via Ballet Theatre. It seems that she also learned the role via Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo. "In 1942 the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo also presented their first production of La fille mal gardée, staged by the former ballerina of the Imperial Ballet Alexandra Balachova in a version largely based on Alexander Gorsky's production derived from the Petipa/Ivanov staging of the late 19th century. Many of the dancers who worked with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo went on to use Balachova's version as a basis for many revivals throughout the world. The celebrated ballerina Alicia Alonso danced Balachova's staging of La fille mal gardée throughout the 1940s and 1950s, which she would go on to stage for the Cuban Ballet in 1964. As a result the majority of ballet companies in the Caribbean and South America regularly perform productions derived from Alonso's staging to the music of Hertel..."

Watching and comparing several videos of "Spectre..." I came across this charming, liberal version with Patrick Dupond and ...Lilian Gish! Beautiful performance by Dupond...(actually doing an amazing jete to get into the room as no other that I've seen-not even on the clips by Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Legris or Ruzimatov). I also love his port de bras, and the curtain calls are beautiful too, showing Miss Gish kissing Dupond's hands right after he kissed hers... From the Youtube OP "Legend of stage and screen, Lillian Gish, appears with Patrick Dupond and fulfills a lifelong dream at the Metropolitan Opera Gala, celebrating 100 years of performing arts at the Met. In her introduction, Miss Gish recalls a performance of "Le Spectre de la Rose" with Vaslav Nijinsky that she had attended with her sister Dorothy and Charlie Chaplin over 65 years before. Taped on May 13, 1984". Enjoy!

Divine Lorna, iczerman. No, of course I didn't forget her-(haven't been able even to fall under the spell of a ballerina ever again...Jeanette Delgado from MCB very close, but not there yet). I was just saving that clip for a future thread I want to open for the one and only "Queen of Accents", but hey...glad that you found her anyways... And here's her sister Lorena during the same sequence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0vOzLQai9M

I'll add a very popular Afro-Cuban expression-(from the Yoruba dialect)- for luck to yours: ACHE PA'TI, MACHO!!!

Ah..the omnipresent marketing detail. Sorry. Always forget about it-(blame it on my communist upbringing....)

Yes, yes, YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!

bart...it would be difficult to really describe in words what Sarabita was in his early career...he was FIRE onstage! Never seen so much control in multiple pirouettes in a dancer EVER...or such elegance and command in the classical/romantic roles. The Sarabita that South Florida got to see is just a totally different dancer from that of Havana...from night to day. If anything, this clip-(which I have posted before, I know)-shows him from those early, glorious days...

And then...Sarabita was, since the very starting...WAAAAAAAAAAY superior in terms of technique than, let's say, Acosta-(whom I also had the chance to see in his early career). Difference being, Sarabita never had Acosta's consistency and reliability,,,

If he could go on to ABT...

As we know now, Rolandito Sarabia is no longer part of the Miami City Ballet roster. Thanks to CarolinaM, it looks like now he is is listed in the cast of the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami for their upcoming presentation of Le Corsaire in the Festival de Peralada, Cataluna-Spain. Now, the interesting part is that he's listed as a member of the Houston Ballet-(!) This is the casting, from their website. Lorena FEIJOO (San Francisco Ballet), Xiomara REYES (American Ballet Theatre), Rolando SARABIA (Houston Ballet), Taras DOMITRO (San Francisco Ballet) Miguel Ángel BLANCO (Joffrey Ballet) and Hayna GUTIÉRREZ, Kaleena BURKS, Raydel CÁCERES, Valia GONZÁLEZ, Christine HODGES, Jordan LONG, Grace POWERS, Gleidson VASCONCELOS

Edited: double post.