cubanmiamiboy

So how did we get from that to this...? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-pGGrCgZ2c

So then I find myself in a difficult position, as I DO love Chopin and still didn't "get" the 18 dance numbers... Confession...at some point I stopped watching to start just listening, which proved to be more pleasant. Anyway...I just found my playbill, and here is the cast of this performance. Maybe bart or Jack will get something out of this info, in relation with casting issues. I will also transcript some very few notes I scratched. Katia Carranza-pink Sarah Esty-yellow. ("Mischievous") Patricia Delgado-mauve Mary Carmen Catoya-green. ("Mazurca. Never on full pointe") Jennifer Lauren-blue Renato Panteado-brown. ("Devilish solo") Rolando Sarabia-purple Daniel Baker-brick. ("Athletic") Renan Cerdeiro. ("Who's this?") Daniel Sarabia-blue. ...and some from "Who Cares...?" "PDD Kronemberg/Guerra. (The Man I love). Beautiful" "Patricia Delgado. Red Solo. Tricks" "Great Finale!!" Not a lot, I know.

This is great news for the future of Cleveland's winter residency in its new, part-time southern home! Cristian, do you find yourself rerunning familiar choreography -- or even creating your own -- with this kind of music? I confess that I do. Oh,yes bart..I do that sometimes too. At some point during "R&J" some fragments of Martins' choreography-(which I saw a couple of times in NYC)-and even more, that of Lavrovsky-(from my Havana days)-came to mind. Now, for some reason I kept thinking on Gelsey Kirkland, and how wonderful would it had been to see her dancing to the score, after repeatedly watching her Tube balcony scene with Dowell in anticipation to the MCB running .

Yesterday I attended the Cleveland Orchestra Season finale. The program included Glazunov's "Nocturne in F major" from "Chopiniana", Chopin's "Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor" and Prokofiev "R&J". Of course, I was in heaven with the "Nocturne". I think Chopin's chromatic harmony fits beautifully with the lush Russian orchestral language of Glazunov, and find this to be one of the key factors in the success of the ballet. Loved it. "Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2" had Argentinean pianist Ingrid Fliter in the lead, who gave a rich, warm and beautifully harmonic interpretation, receiving a big ovation from the packed house. Prokofiev's "R&J" was a crowd pleaser. I peaked the woman next to me shredding some tears while listening to the ballet score, and honestly...this was a SUBLIME rendition of it. For some reason, the last two pieces were inverted, and "Juliet's Funeral" music came before her "Death". The Orchestra was masterly conducted by Mr. Vladimir Ashkenazy...quite a personality onstage. Beating the nightmare of downtown traffic was worth it. Now, looking forward to next season. BRAVO!

It's a great read, but you might now like to try Coryne Hall's Imperial Dancer - Mathilde Kschessinska and the Romanovs,which is a complete biography of Kschessinska, published in 2005. Hall knows a great deal about Russia in that period and has had access to a number of unpublished diaries, letters and papers. It's perhaps less romanticized than Dancing in Petersburg, but fascinating nonetheless and Kschessinska comes across as a remarkable woman. Did that already, and you're just right. Some fascinating details about K.'s family, her father Felix, her brother Joseph, her sister Julie. Also interesting how openly does Hall question the memoirs-(dates, facts, "lost" letters, and even the mere authenticity of many of K's claims). Even Anna Anderson into this book as well, at some point Hall mentioning that rumors were that Anderson was no other than the lost daughter of the late Czar Nicholas and Mathilde. Also, currently working on "The Romanovs: The Final Chapter" by Robert K. Massie-(this after being fascinated with one of the most popular icons at the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral in Helsinki, that of the late Imperial Family). Here Massie develops his story around the aftermath surrounding the death of Czar Nicholas II and his family and the painful testing process to identify their bones. Finally, I just started Charlotte Bronte's "Villette", with her recurrent theme of repressed feelings, social order and the quest for love and Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych"

In Cuba I saw sometimes some Basilios quickly placing his hand right on Kitri's breast, almost grabbing it, while she would pretend to be embarrased...I always found it hilarious...

With great pleasure I just received the news that Miss Gonzalez-(our beloved "Ofe")-is currently working as a professor and stager at the school of dance of the "Teatro dell'Opera di Roma", where she has staged the Cuban versions of "La Fille Mal Gardee"-(after Alonso-Romanoff-Nijinska-Dauberval/Hertel) and Coppelia. Brava Ofe! http://en.operaroma.it/artisti/scuola_di_danza/organico and here...her unforgettable role in "Majisimo"

In my never ending search for Giselle material, I came across this clip of the great Mme. Chauvire dancing her farewell performance, which I think is priceless given the scarce material of her available on video. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQFujJbuppY

...of course, Giselle's entrance...! -(am I getting to repetitive with my only answer to a certain numer of questions...? :blush: )

I saw this a couple of times early on at NYCB, and I would tend to agree with Richard's remark, because it's all lovely, but can get a bit boring unless the performance is really inspired. I was just thinking of 'Les Sylphides', which definitely is a Chopin-based ballet of genius, but it has a drive through it that is considerably stronger than DaaG, if I'm recalling the latter correctly (quite long ago, I haven't seen it in recent years.) Some sort of stronger sense of 'narrative' in the Fokine, is that it? Ok Patrick, so reading your post has just done it. I think you just hit the spot and touched some sensitive issues that I had with my first and-(so far)-only run of DAAG. First, and to be totally honest this time, I'll say it: I did get bored. I found the he dancing to be too much alike. I hadn't looked for any pre-performance references, wanting to have a fresh, "real" first look at it without a preconceived notion, and I guess I couldn't "see" all that has been said about it here. I perceived it as a long series of dances set to a very dragging rendering of Chopin's pieces. Oh, and also about Patrick's reference to "Chopiniana"-(which, BTW, is one of my all time favorite ballets EVER)-I sense that many factors of Fokine's ballet-(absent from Robbins')-makes it a winner : A complex, rich choreography for the Corps-(actually the actual USE of Corps), the costume design and in general the beautiful neo-romantic atmosphere of the whole thing. Finally, but surely an extremely important factor in my own balletic standards, the happy decision to orchestrate Chopin's pieces. Never been a fan of ballets set just to piano scores. Plus...I found it a bit too long. Still...I will see it again, for sure. In any case, one should be always open to possible surprises...(who knows...a different cast, or a faster tempi...)

From the Arsht Center website. http://www.arshtcenter.org/tickets/calenda...ew.aspx?id=5989 http://mail.tmsmail.us/bin/display_msg?id=...52E58F227F8C2BE Planning to go of course...

I just saw all the parts. Very interesting indeed...! It gives an ample look at the Ballet School and a little tour around La Habana. Thanks miliosr..! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlOYra_wzKU...feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R69nt28t_FU...feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EY_MppyvG8...feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB2KijxArgg...feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr7ct7n8ZXQ...feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rElOgfkVih8...feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4CyxnFLV0I...feature=related

Edited: Moved to the MCB forum.

I just finished the memoirs of Her Serene Highness Princess Romanovsky-Krassinsky-(no other than Mathilde Kschessinska... ), which I loved. Curiously, in this detailed account of the long life-(99 years)-of K., all the great Mariinsky ballerinas of the last years of the Imperial Ballet get their spot-(Preobrajenska, Karsavina, Trefilova, Egorova, Pavlova, etc) and even Bolshoi's Geltzer, along with her younger followers-(Danilova, Doubrovska). Everybody BUT Spessivtseva. Not only once . I wonder why...

Lovely pics. Would love to see Bouder's whole "Giselle"...

I'm reading an interesting book on the history of the great nightclubs and casinos that made La Habana-(AKA Havana)-of the 40's and 50 the nest of the biggest mafia-controlled gaming network outside US. The whole thing started with the "Havana Conference", which was held during the week of December 22, 1946 at the Hotel Nacional, being its masterminds Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano. The Havana Conference is considered to have been the most important mob summit since the Atlantic City Conference of 1929. Anyway...the point is that one of the major establishments that were mob-controlled during the pre-communist times was the famous "Tropicana" nightclub. And here is where a little ballet history is involved... "The great Tropicana productions begin in this decade, although the nightclub situated in Villa Mina or Mansión Truffin (corner of 41st and 72nd, Marianao) was still lacking the extravagance that it would later acquire. Perhaps the show that inaugurated this era was the one entitled "Congo Pantera" (1940 or 1941) which presented Rita Montaner, Julio Richards, Carmita Ortiz, Ignacio Villa (Bola de Nieve) and the great drummer, composer and singer Chano Pozo. This super-show, which is of interest to us here because of the participation of Chano, was in part the result of pure chance, due to the presence of the great ballet choreographer David Lichine in Cuba. Lichine had come to the country with Coronel Basil's Ballet Russes , which in spite of its fame went bankrupt, leaving its members to manage on their own. Hired to do this show, Lichine took two of the leading figures from the Ballet, Tatiana Leskova and Paul Petroff, and part of the Coronel's dance corps. He also found a number of extras (figurantes) "of color" to fulfill the demands of an international tourism eager to see "tropical exoticism", all of this with a distinctive Afro-Cuban music and original choreography, to which Julio Richards contributed, along with all of the resources of staging, lighting and wardrobe. "Congo Pantera" turned out to be historic for various reasons, which can be reduced to the encounter of three such dissimilar performers as David Lichine, Chano Pozo and an individual who also participated as an assistant to Lichine and Richards, whose name was Roderico Neyra, later better known as Rodney. This encounter Lichine-Rodney-Chano Pozo would be for the world of show business in Cuba as important as the one between Chano and Dizzy Gillespie was for Afro-Cuban jazz or Cubop some years later..."

Thanks for the encouragement, Kfw...I was feeling somehow aprehensive-(and a little embarrassed)- about presenting my first time impression on this iconic ballet.

I need a second run. Definitely.

Broward performance. Dances at a Gathering Thanks, Kfw for the clip. Legris is certainly always a pleasure to watch. If anything, I should say that Renato Panteado did honor this soft, poetic approach-(he opened the work today). NOW...(and please, please, just consider this as a superfluous/amateurish view/approach to this ballet: I did not click with it. Needless to say, as soon as I got home, I watched Giselle...always my best antidote. Still...there were factors that I know made today's performance especially dense and heavy: I was tired and hungry, plus it was a matinée-(I am NOT a day person at all. A while ago I had given up matinées performances, but because I couldn't make it on Friday, then I decided to go for the daytime. Not good). I don't have my program right now. As soon as I locate it, I will take a look at some notes I made and also will identify today's casting. Of course, I will give it another try here in Miami. Who Cares? bart...

bart, I was going to go to the opening last night, but I couldn't make it on time after work. I might go tomorrow to the matinée, so let's see. Oh, BTW...(and I hope not to get to repetitive about it, but..)-BOTH Dances at a Gathering and Who Cares? are new to me. Any suggestions...?

From the MCB website. Dances at a Gathering — Jerome Robbins’ masterpiece. Ten dancers, live Chopin piano music, endlessly beautiful and original invention – a celebration of dance, dancers…and life. Back for the first time since its triumphant premiere here four years ago. Program IV also includes Who Cares? Broward Center: March 12-14, 2010 Adrienne Arsht Center: April 9-11, 2010 Kravis Center: April 16-18, 2010 Anybody went to the opening last night...?

NOW, as I was posting, I got REALLY angry just thinking about it, so let me just add something else. About the Academy...what a joke! Bunch of pretentious, self-congratulatory, ego driven characters. Farrah's supporters should be glad the Academy left her off the list rather than taint her memory with their smarmy stench. Rest in peace, Miss Fawcett.

Bottom line, Fawcett was loved as a pop icon worldwide-(one just have to look at the thousand comments on her infinite Youtube tributes). Not only that, but the fact that she was brave enough to show her struggling to the world in her battle against cancer and raise awareness about the issue, makes her omission even more noticeable and despicable. If on top of that you add the fact of the inclusion of others with lesser impact either in the film industry or the pop culture-(e.g Brittany Murphy)-the final result just shows a plain, unjustifiable, tasteless , cold and careless behavior. Farrah didn't even have on her the controversy on moral/legal issues that Jackson had and for which he has such a 50/50 % of divided opinions worldwide. Still, the Academy included him. Just the thought of it makes me nauseated. This is the last year I watch the Oscars.

That's more the way I felt about Kidman's award. I thought she was the least interesting thing in 'The Hours', and both Streep and esp. Moore were both much better. I don't really think Julia Roberts is such a great actress, but I did think she was very good in 'Erin Brokovich', which is conventional, but enjoyable, pulp, sort of 'Norma Rae Revisited'. Oh Patrick... Moore DEFINITELY topped Kidman there-(whom I can't EVER seem to "get". A totally watered down performance, prosthetic nose and everything...)