cubanmiamiboy

Yesterday I went to see a couple of performances from the Side Step Festival The Side Step Festival is a biennial international festival organised by Zodiak Center for New Dance. http://www.zodiak.fi/index.php?option=com_...d=1〈=en The festival consists of performances, workshops, seminars and artist dialogues. The Zodiak Center is a great venue housed in several edgy decorated basements in a rough looking building located in an old industrial section of the city. The place has art galleries, dance studios and other gathering places where book discussions and lectures also take place. There was also a buffet being served, and many candles all over the place. A very artsy atmosphere. The house was FULL packed of mainly youngsters, the majority showing some edgy looks and avant garde fashion statements. I could tell that this type of events has some loyal following among the young members of society here. Talking with a very nice girl I found out that the main goal of the Side Step Festival, which is run by dancers and choreographers, is to disseminate amongst the audience more information about the different trends within contemporary dance, its working methods and practitioners, The festival has the aim of creating an intimate atmosphere in which the interaction between dancers and choreographers and the audience may be deepened. Artist from home and abroad also encounter one another in the ‘artist dialogue’ debates, where the festival’s artists presents their starting points, approaches and views on dance to the audience. Visiting international dance pedagogues have also offered dance professionals workshops on methods and techniques that are used within contemporary dance. And then there were the performances. Both were edgy, weird modern productions beyond my limited comprehension, so I better post the links . Note of interest, at least to my US standards: BOTH performances displayed full, LOOOONG frontal nudes, both male and female. The stage was less than 5 feet from the audience, which seemed very used to the trend. I SOLO MENT. Performed by Dario Tortorelli and Cecilia Moisio. http://www.wardward.be/e-2choreo-isoloment.html RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITIONIST. Performed by Miguel Gutierrez (US): http://www.sivuaskel.fi/index.php?option=c...6&Itemid=69

If we are still talking within the limits of the OP religious issue, then yes, I agree... Other than that...

Another Somova-like mannerism. Never been very found of it for Aurora.

Just finishing "Netochka Nezvanova"-(by Mr. Dostoyevsky ). This was his very first publication, and although never completed, the themes and issues which dominate his later novels are all here: the extreme suffering of the individual, the recurrent questions on spirituality, the inspiration of madness and above everything, the position of the main character on the expiation of sin. It is a little book, but very intense...too much at times.

So after some thinking, I made up my mind and made my way to the The Aleksanteri theater, also known as the "Old Opera House" by locals to watch a ballet performance. http://www.aleksanterinteatteri.fi/historia This charming XIX Cetury venue is is located near Hietalahti square and the charming Sinebrychoff park. Completed in 1879 to serve as a theater to local Russian troupes, nowadays the building is home to occasional theatrical performances and concerts. The National Theater and Opera companies moved there in 1918; the National Theater moved away soon after, but the National Opera remained at the theater until 1993, when the new Opera House was completed in Töölö. The National Ballet school also operates there. Now, about the performance...well, that would be something else. I was mainly attracted by the fact that the performance poster showed beautiful MINNA TERVAMAKI, principal dancer with the Finnish National Ballet, in a classical pose and wearing toe shoes-(yes...DEFINITELY a plus). http://www.minnatervamaki.com/ With a little help from Google I found out that Miss Tervamaki joined that company in 1986 and has danced all the big classical roles. Besides, Tervamaki is quite a celebrity outside of the ballet world over here; she has taken part in ballet competitions, galas, and fashion shows. This amazonian blonde beauty has also been seen on the cover of various magazines and national commercial ads. Her partner was set to be dancer/choreographer ROBERT SHER-MACHHERNDL, director of the Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet of Colorado. http://www.lemonspongecake.org/Lemon_Sponge_Cake/Home.html The whole performance consisted in an hour plus contemporary Pas de Deux. Now, from the Programme notes... "In Liquid-Space, the couple meticulously investigates extreme combinations of movement, sound and silences. Expressed through the choreographer's unique technical and musical style, the emotionally charged work juxtaposes ballet technique, pedestrian movement, and gesture. "I feel a responsibility to take bold steps, reach for new information," states the choreographer about his new work, set to minimalist electronic music by Berlin DJs Pole and Thomas Brinkmann." "The choreography is intriguing, and I appreciate the challenge it presents at this point in my career.", also noted Tervamaki in the Programme. Well, on the other side, poor cubanmiamiboy was-(I know, AGAIN )-lost in translation. The music was an electronic "something"-(I am really unable to describe it better)-and it would just keep repeating a couple of unpleasant sounds over and over...an over. The couple wandered around the stage doing everything and anything possible, including a fair amount of classical steps, jetes and even fouettes for her. At some point I even almost fall asleep. Embarrassing, I know... After the performance was over, a long ovation took place, along with several curtain calls and lots of "Bravos" from the audience. I think that, again, some cultural shock was somehow involved in my inability to appreciate the performance better. Will be back.

The Dutoit has it. Problem being that you will not be able to separate just Odile variation. The whole Pas de Deux-(Adag./2 variat./coda)- comes as a whole...as only one number.

bart...strange enough, even being so much snow and with temperatures from minus 5 to 0 degrees, I remember being way colder in New York with temperatures on the lover 30 s. It is because the air. It is a dry winter here. But, to tell you the truth, I start missing the beach already...

...Ah...if only one could be there...!

Hello there! Well, I just came from a beautiful concert held at the Helsinki Russian Cultural Center by the Free Cossacks Choir, an amazing folk vocal troupe that gave a two hours performance for a full house, which consisted of mainly Russians. I got to know about the concert because they also performed during the Divine Liturgy this past Sunday at the Helsinki Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral, which I attended. At the service they performed "a capella", the women wearing beautifully crafted long dresses and over head veils, the men wearing an ornate rendition of the typical white army cossacks uniform. The hymns were very solemn. The program tonight was totally opposite, very cheerful folk songs and lots of national dances. At the very end of the performance one of the men danced to a song while maneuvering a spear over his head. At some point another man came out waving a huge old imperial Russian flag, with the two heads eagle. Then the man with the spear knelt down and kissed it with a deep, respectful bow. I was moved. I couldn't´d find a clip of this troupe, but here is a similar troupe, so you can have an idea of this performance. Tomorrow I will be going to Sweden. Will report back!

Especially if your very first encounter with the snow gets you buried up to your knees...!

If a ballerina chooses not to show off the balances in the RA it will never look as it was done per choice, I am afraid. The Rose Adagio is all about them. Just as that other old thread about Odile´s fuettes.

My Myrtha was and always will be one of the four Cuban "Jewels": Miss Aurora Bosh. She OWNED the role for almost 50 years in Cuba. Her demeanor onstage was just that of total COMMAND. While actively dancing, she was the tallest of them all, and she could easily outshine the best Giselle in a given performance, a traditional thrill that seems to be getting lost. In the next clip Miss Bosh was very close to retirement, and her technical abilities were somehow diminished, but boy could she own a night like nobody else...! Her Myrtha wasn´t a suffering broken heart being...hers was a pure malignant entity, ready to destroy everything on her path. I was lucky to be in this very performance in 1991, during that multiple all-Principals memorable Giselle, and can testify that she was one of the highlights of the night.

It is certainly true that they are less likely to have recourse to supernatural explanations for natural phenomena. Not necessarily a bad thing. No...not a bad thing at all, but I suspect that the waking up of Clara from the Cuban prouction has nothing to do with dialectic materialism.

Reporting from snowy Helsinki, Finland!! What a beautiful city, my friends...but my God...HOW COLD!! The snow is covering the whole city. BRRR.. Well, today I went to one of the activities of Sibafest, a music festival that has been taking place for three years now all around town. http://www.siba.fi/fi/sibafest/programme_in_english/ Today´s concert was held at the Bock House, also known as the Old Town Hall, a beautiful XVIII Century building which also served as the official residence for the Governor General, the Tsar's representative in Finland for two decades in the first years of the XIX Century. Beautifully restored to its former splendor, the City of Helsinki nowadays uses it for official receptions and gala occasions. http://www.virtualhelsinki.net/helsinkipan...a/eng/bock.html A small ensemble chamber ensemble offered music by XVIII Century composers Thomas Bytrom, Domenico Cimarrosa, Osip Koslovski, Ivan Pratsch, Jan Ladislav Dussek and Dmitri Bortnianski. All very charming, but especially interesting the piece "The Sufferings of the Queen of France", by Czech composer Jan Ladislav Dussek-(1760-1812). Dussek lived and worked in France up to the very days before the outbreak of the French Revolution. He had been reportedly a favorite of Marie Antoinette, and so this composition was written to mourn the very last hours of the Queen. It was performed as a dramatized recitative by soprano Reeta Haavisto accompanied by pianist Olga Witthauer. The whole thing had quite a pro-monarchy feeling. Will be back. Tomorrow I will be attending an orthodox service in the beautiful Uspenski Cathedral. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/finland...x-cathedral.htm

I've been following your detailed comments on Mme. Sowoda, gold comb. For once I always find fascinating how this old professors acted, either in class or outside. The detail about not kneeling while taking a bow is very interesting, which I knew about already via the autobiography of Danilova. I believe she said that only if royalty was present one would kneel. So yes, gold comb...please keep writing about Swoboda.

I know this will be a shocker for all the serious knowledgeable music lovers-(which this board has in good amounts)-, but two of the tunes that I find myself listening to in my CD player while driving over and over AND OVER right after they're over are 1-Minkus' Entrance of the Shades from Bayadere and 2-the Sugar Plum Fairy Adagio from The Nutcracker.

Oh, omnipresent Somova is back...

Yes indeed, Helene.

Yesterday I went to see Cuban soprano Eglise Gutierrez in one of my favorite roles: Lucia de Lammermoor. She was OUTSTANDING! I went with my girlfriend, and when I looked at her after the madness scene, she was weeping. Yes...My cubanita was a rotund success. On the other side, I can't get over all this futuristic sets that seem to be so fashionable in opera productions right now... http://fgotickets.org/Tickets/EventDetails.aspx?id=642 http://eglisegutierrez.net/

Better than ever, bart!. Michael Tilson Thomas knows REALLY WELL how to advertise his troupe. I just went to an all-Bach concert, and they did sell out, as usual. They also have this free informal sessions, called "Musical exchange", where musicians discuss different topics, answer questions and play related music. Most important, they keep a very aggressive, steady e-mail alert plan, so they keep sending notes a week in advance, along with huge discounts for students and partnership with local clubs for concert/after-concert packages On top of that, their future Miami Beach home construction, Frank Gehry's beautiful City Center, is advancing very fast. http://www.nws.edu/NewCampus/

This is true, Jack. I wish they could send their PR to receive some classes from New World Symphony's PR.

Yes, indeed, Jack. Bernstein's Symphony is "The Age of Anxiety". It was certainly an odd program, and I could tell audience was "anxious"-( )-while The Age...was playing while waiting to listen to Beethoven's. The theater has been TOTALLY SOLD OUT in all performances.

Taylor Swifft for Album of the Year instead of Lady Gaga's...? Can't believe it.

Love when she feeds her carnivorous plant with bugs...

Wow...Lady Gaga ROCKED on the opening act along with Elton John. Pink's wet number and Beyonce's fierce routine were great too. Black Eyes Peas are rocking the stage right now...