cubanmiamiboy

Patrick...that first sequence of Hepburn's voice aparently coming out of nowhere and a second later her grand entrance descending in that baroque elevator is just priceless! I was amazed on how risque Taylor's white bathing suit was. That final monologue telling Sebastian's final moments with Taylor almost lowered to the floor underneath a table in the verge of a nervous breakdown...wow.

From the MCB website. MIAMI CITY BALLET PROGRAM III THE NEIGHBORHOOD BALLROOM Choreography by Villella As his life unfolds, a man strives to master the complexities of the human Dance of Life. When we first encounter him, he is a gifted, 17 year old aspiring Poet. We follow the Poet through the stages of his life, with its ever-changing rhythms, until he reaches his sixties – a time when he must look back and reflect upon the life he has made for himself. At each stage of his life, while confronting some very human temptations, the Poet must choose: between love and sexual desire, intoxication and lucidity, and his art and material success. Following in the long, romanticized tradition of artists and their self-destructive attraction to alcohol and drugs, the Poet, seduced by both throughout his life, loses the muse of his art and the possibility of genuine love. The Poet’s destiny and own Dance of Life are set in motion in the Prologue, when we hear the French poet Charles Baudelaire’s exhortation about life: “One must be intoxicated always … With wine, poetry, or with virtue, your choice. But intoxicate yourself.” In the end, it is the Poet’s character, as manifested by a lifetime’s accumulation of choices, that determines his destiny. Set in a neighborhood ballroom in New York, the ballet begins in the late Belle Epoque with the Boston Waltz and continues through the Jazz Age with the Quick Step, Charleston, Castle Walk and Maxixe, the 1940s war years with their Fox Trot and Lindy Hop and the 1950s with its Mambo. ACT I: “THE WALTZ: Our Lady of Oblivion” Original music composed and performed by: Francisco Rennó Act I takes place circa 1912-1914, at the end of the Belle Epoque and just prior to World War I. An intense, young bohemian of 17, the Poet enters the ballroom in his neighborhood for the very first time. Lily, an alluring widow and former actress, has come slumming to this bohemian outpost. She dances drunkenly with a group of four men, who are also out slumming. When Lily finally notices the young Poet, she dispatches her Chauffeur to invite him over to the bar for a drink. The Poet, however, has just glimpsed a beautiful, but elusive, young woman in white and is overwhelmed by unfamiliar emotions. The arrival of Lily’s Chauffeur startles the Poet out of his reverie. To bolster his courage, the Poet downs the glass of absinthe Lily hands him. She leads him out to the dance floor, and they begin to dance. By now they are both intoxicated, and Lily, a sexual adventuress, decides that as part of the evening’s amusement, she will seduce the shy, inexperienced and much younger Poet. Again, the mysterious woman in white appears briefly before him. When Lily has finished with the Poet, she departs abruptly with her Chauffeur, leaving the Poet abandoned and in an absinthe-induced stupor. The title, “Our Lady of Oblivion,” refers to absinthe, a potent drink that was the diversion of the day, favored by artists and writers of the period. It was also known as “the green haze,” because of the stupor-like state it induced in those who drank it. ACT II: “THE QUICK-STEP: Unspeakable Jazz Must Go!” Music by: E.K. Ellington, C. Mack, G. Kahn, W. Donaldson, J. Yellen, and M. Agar Act II takes place in the same neighborhood ballroom, circa 1925-1927. It is the Jazz Age and with Prohibition in effect, the ballroom has been converted into a “private club,” a speakeasy. The Poet, now in his twenties, has achieved a level of artistic and financial success with the publication of his first volume of poetry. Even so, it is a period of personal turmoil for him. This night the Poet meets Kiki, an artist and artist’s model, a free spirit well-known in the bohemian enclave. As she makes her rounds, Kiki comes upon the Poet and offers him a drink, which he downs. This makes The Two Young Women at the bar jealous, and they drag the Poet out to dance with them. Meanwhile, Kiki goes off to dance with the man she arrived with, while the Poet keeps drinking, trying to fortify his courage. Thus fortified, he is now ready to dance with her. He is completely enamored of the irresistibly adorable, clever and unconventional young woman, but the Jazz Age is a decant time, with its tantalizing combination of booze, free love and wild nights. As part of the ethos of free love, there is also gender experimentation, men who dress as women and women who dress as men. Wanting to make love with the Poet, Kiki leads him to a back room in the speakeasy. Following closely behind are the Two Young Women and The Young Man with a Moustache, all of whom want to join in. When, during this orgy, the Poet discovers the true sexual identities of the three intruders, he is shocked and confused. He races back into the speakeasy in a drunken haze. In the finale, Black Bottom, the speakeasy habitués, who knew about the sexual deception played on the unsuspecting Poet, make fun of his naiveté. ACT III: “THE FOX-TROT: Dancing in the Dark” Music by: H. Carmichael, M. Parish, E.K. Ellington, I. Mills, H. Dietz, A. Schwartz, W.C. Handy, A. Shaw, T. McRae In Act III, the Poet, now in his forties, has just returned to his old neighborhood for the first time in fifteen years, having spent that time in Hollywood working as an artistically and commercially successful screenwriter. It is circa 1941-1945, and the world is at war. He hopes that by returning to the neighborhood ballroom, the most familiar and cherished of his personal places, he will be inspired to write poetry again, to pick up where he had left off so many years ago. The act begins with couples swirling romantically around the ballroom to a big band playing Stardust. Ava, one of the leading Hollywood screen stars and great femme fatales of the era, tries to slip unobtrusively into the ballroom. She is, nevertheless, recognized by some men, but her Chauffeur deflects their advances. In contrast to Ava’s discreet entrance, the Poet makes his presence known immediately and unabashedly, arriving in the company of four gorgeous showgirls. While dancing with his four lovely companions, the Poet notices Ava, who has also noticed him. When Duke Ellington’s rendition of Dancing in the Dark begins to play, Ava lifts a cigarette to her lips and calls the Poet over for a light. He soon discovers that she is smoking marijuana, a popular intoxicant in certain circles during the war. Handing the Poet a marijuana cigarette, Ava lights it for him. They begin to dance a sweepingly romantic pas de deux that, for the Poet, is a passionate expression of his love and aching longings. When the next song begins, a handsome, young Pilot arrives in the ballroom and is joined by four of his buddies. Together they begin a rousing dance around the ballroom, all the while, the Pilot is scanning the ballroom in search of Ava. They had planned a lovers’ rendezvous at the ballroom that evening. Eventually he spots her with the Poet, who is not aware of the Pilot’s presence. At that moment, Ava sees the Pilot over the Poet’s shoulder. She pushes the Poet down into a chair and hands the already heavily intoxicated man another marijuana cigarette. He passes out for awhile, giving Ava a chance to slip away and join the Pilot. After a boisterous dance by the Three Smokers, Ava and the Pilot begin an overtly sexual pas de deux that is in striking contrast to the tenderly romantic pas de deux she danced with the Poet. At its end, Ava and the Pilot slip quietly out of the ballroom and into the night. When the Poet wakes up in a daze and realizes that Ava has deserted him, he is desolate. An exuberant lindy hop begins to play and the four showgirls try to cajole him out of his despondency and onto the dance floor. After several attempts, the Poet belts down a few swigs and rises to dance with them. Now that he has lost Ava, he believes there is nothing further for him to lose, so he might as well damn-it-all-to-hell and continue his old debauched ways. Act IV: “THE MAMBO: Mambo No. 2am” Music by: P.Prado, A. Valdez, C. Almaran , E. Lecuona, T. Puente, and R. Santos The “mambo” of “Mambo No. 2a.m.” takes place in the neighborhood ballroom during the 1950s. Its patrons go there to dance and watch a sizzling Latin nightclub show, which stars Rosalita, a stunning young dancer, and her partner. It is there that the Poet, now a successful television producer in his sixties, goes seeking Rosalita as a means to forget his lost dreams and melancholy memories. At this stage of his life, the Poet is the seducer, but he can no longer rely on his physical beauty and charm alone to attract beautiful women – he must offer additional incentives, such as expensive jewelry, to win their attentions. His last chance for genuine love was lost when Ava, in Act III, chose the Pilot, instead of him. He presents Rosalita with a diamond necklace and bracelets, hoping to ensure that following her nightclub show, she will leave with him and he will spend the night in her arms. When the show ends, Rosalita joins the nightclub’s patrons on the dance floor, but she is obviously more interested in her dance partner than in the Poet. Pursuing her on the dance floor, the Poet tries to embrace Rosalita and claim his right of possession, but she eludes him and eventually slips away with her dance partner. Once again, the Poet has been abandoned and left alone in the old ballroom. Consulting Edward Villella on “Mambo No. 2a.m.” was Pedro “Cuban Pete” Aguilar, a worldwide dance star in the 1950s and an icon of the mambo genre, referred to in LIFE magazine as one of “the greatest mambo dancers ever.” Adding to the authenticity of the experience, Barbara Craddock, instructor and partner to Pete, taught the Company’s dancers about the female’s role in mambo

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They are both crowd pleasers. They are both highly physical. They are not shy. Neither of them seems to have any problem with the "showing off" factor. Baker makes his ballerina the star. Alex IS the star if dancing with someone else.

I recently saw the final of a retrospective of films based on Tennessee Williams works. Hence we had A Streetcar.., "The Rose Tattoo", "Baby Doll"-(one of my favorites, BTW)-and for the grand finale they had "Suddenly Last Summer". I had never seen SLS in a big screen before. In fact, the last time I saw it was many, MANY years ago, in Cuba, in a bad copy on TV. Here we had a completely restored copy in a movie theater. I usually try to avoid watching films on DVD, as I'm a true believer on the magic of the cinema. Wow, I had forgotten how STRIKINGLY BEAUTIFUL Elizabeth Taylor looks here...(There is this GIANT close up of her at one point that is just surreal) Aside from the disturbing story....

Patrick..you are absolutely right about Moore. I always felt that Kidman stole the Oscar from her then. Her very few moments in "A Single Man" are delicious.

Currently reading Frances Welch' "Life at the Court of Anna Anderson: A Romanov Fantasy".

I felt like if I was flipping thru the annual issue pages of Vogue...He even used real models to portray a couple of characters. A little too overwhelming.

"All this raving about Agrippina Vaganova and her method, and not a word mentioned about her teacher, Olga Preobrajenska. I consider it my greatest fortune to have studied with her in Paris where I received a wealth of knowledge. Preobrajenska merits the credit—and not Vaganova, who was only lucky to study with Preobrajenska and receive the finer points and details." George Zuritch

The great Cleveland Orchestra has just started their new season, which at some point was threatened by a musicians strike that ended up in a happy settlement. I couldn't go to their opening weekend-(I was too busy across the plaza enjoying Divertimento # 15 ), but last night and tonight I had a blast. Last night they performed Beethoven's 5th-(can't get enough of it), and tonight they played his Eroica. Other pieces were Verdi's overture of La Forza...and Bernstein's Symphony no. 2-( nope...never been a fan of his music, to be honest). But Beethoven's made it up for a great night for sure!

Much depends on the national or ethnic origin and the length of time the family and/or group has been in the United States. Yes, our primary identification is to the US, but the secondary identification is rarely absent altogether. Assimilation is a multi-generational process. True...if you ask many young people that one find here in Miami speaking perfect "Cuban"-(yes...not Spanish, but "Cuban")- with none English accent whatsoever "Are you Cuban..?"...the answer being..."Yes, I am"...and so.."from where in Cuba..?" to finally get the "No, I'm Cuban but I was born here in Miami. My parents are from there". This is a very common thing to hear. There is a cute t-shirt that sells really well within the Cuban/American youngsters community that reads: "Made in USA with Cuban parts"

Patrick...the only fact for me to choose Helsinki as my vacation destination was that I have a long time friend there-(from my teen years)-which I haven't seen since 2001, the year that we both left Cuba. He got married and went off to happily live in Finland with his significant other whereas I decided to defect to US from a trip to Mexico-(notice the different wording of the leaving categorization...?). So anyway, he has invited me many times to go to visit him, and now I decided that this is the perfect time to do so. I will be paying only for the ticket-(a plus)-besides getting to see my old pal again and finallly seeing the snow for the first time in my life. bart, Alymer and cinamonswirl...thanks a lot for the input on the ballet. I will try to see if I can locate any clips of it. Once over there I will be taking pictures and will post them on my flickr page. Helene...I'm very tempted with the chocolate store suggestion!-(yum!) atm711...I will DEFINITELY try to visit Tallinn...it seems to be an interesting option. Thank you all!

Helene, I will be there for two weeks. Originally I thought about going to Russia for a couple of days-(my all time dream being attending a Mariinsky's ballet performance), but I've found that the process is quite complicated. One needs a visa, which is only to be produced if one holds a confirmation from the place one is staying-(hotel, etd)- and for the exact period of time to be spent...and all this WITH the American passport...(I became a citizen last year). So I don't know...I don't have time to do all that before I go, so I will try and go to the Russian embassy in Helsinki to see what can be done, Aside from that I will check your suggestions. I definitely want to visit a neighbor country. Can't wait to be there. I'VE NEVER EVER SEEN THE SNOW IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! Oh, Helene.. I ADORE chocolate..!! Gotta check the place for sure.

Hence I'm sure many of the lists here-(mine included)-would be incomplete.

On February 2nd I plan to go on vacation to Helsinki, Finland. Once over there, of course I will be exploring the balletic environment. Hence I checked the Finnish National Ballet website, and so the search of the period that I will spend there shows performances of John Cranko's "The Taming of the Shrew", based on Shakespeare's work. So question-(s) Has anybody seen this work before...? Can somebody give me some input on this company..? (Couldn't find too much information online... ) Thanks in advance! http://www.operafin.fi/produktiot.asp?polk...;2&tyyppi=1

Does this mean they are rescheduling Sleeping Beauty for May? Or what? I think they posted the note with the ambiguity tone on purpose, so there could be the possibility of a last minute miracle. Other than that, before the announcing of the Beauty, the original full length programed for 2010 was to be Coppelia. For some reason I suspect that they will revert to that. Fine for me...I haven't seen the Cuban Coppelia-(or any other as a matter of fact)-for many years.

http://www.cubanclassicalballet.org/programI.html

Sunday Matinee. Tricia Albertson was beautiful on the pizzicato variation of Div.#15. Her usual calm, elegant demeanor was perfect for the structured Mozart score. Love her total reliability... a VERY important factor to consider in a ballerina. Alex Wong in Valse Fantaisie was as airy as he could get. Such great ballon! . His tour jetes were stunning. The Golden Section had only one Principal today: Jennifer Kronemberg, but nevertheless they were superb. In S.on10th.Callie Manning STOLE the Strip Tease role from everyone else. Her curly bob was PERFECT. She really looked like a prohibition era girl. She IS the character. Period . Rolando Sarabia gets funnier each time as Morrosine.

Jack, you know that S.on 10th...was a REVELATION for me last night. As I told you, I felt that I had watched it then FOR THE FIRST TIME! . Only now not only do I "get" the framework of the work-(rivalries between classical ballet and tap dancing)-but it also made totally sense to me while watching Baker's REAL tap dancing. It didn't occurred to me then, but now I think... than perhaps Guerra doesn't know how to do it...or at least to the level of Baker...?-(I don't know if tap dancing is in the current Cuban ballet training curriculum, but up to my knowledge it is not...or at least I haven't heard of such thing. On the contrary, they do get their high dose of Cuban national/folk dance training) Yes, one could really see Baker's shiny metal devices on his shoes...(what are those called...?), and HEAR them well . I think Guerra didn't wear them. Amanda was great as the Strip Tease girl. I think both her and Baker upstaged the previous performers. As per the rest of the performance, ditto with everything Jack said. I suspect That we will get the weak casting in today's matinee of The Golden Section".

bart...re: Baker. Something I always find thinking when watching his performances is that he is the MCB dancer that MOST reminds me the Cuban dancers I grew up watching. See...when I first started the series of dancers from the 60's, 70's and 80's, my original intention was to do it on both bailerinas AND bailarines. After a careful look of footage, I discovered that the quality that most of the male dancers shared back then was that of being EXCELENT partners. While looking at the male parts, now I can tell that they were not as flamboyant as their female counterparts, and even than when dancing their solos sometimes they could be plainly weak. What I realize now is that they were essentially trained to virtually "disappear" behind their ballerinas, some of whose brightness and security while dancing was 98% thanks to their extremely attentive guys. It wasn't really until Sarabita came along-(or maybe even Toto-(JM)-Carreno, and some bits of Acosta...but BASICALLY Sarabita)-that the Havana balletomanes started to whistle and adore a male dancer the same way they had done it with their beloved ballerinas, and when a bailarin was given green light to steal a show. Baker is one of the two BEST partners I've seen in Villella's troupe...sharing the trophy with Sarabita. That, and the fact that he possess one of the most handsome, masculine appearance-(a VERY important element that has been, too, a presentation card of Alonso's troupe)- makes him unique within the Miamian group.

bart, re: Callie Manning's haircut... It is called "short square bob". ...and about Panteado's wig issue...I don't know...I think I like him more with the wig for everything that is not contemporary...(mostly all Petipa AND Balanchine). The thing is, I'm one of those who enjoys the non-human/surreal experience at the ballet...one true believer of the "everything is-(or at least should TRY to look)-pretty at the ballet" mantra. Panteado's shaved head makes him look more as...Renato, less as the "performer". And for some reason, his wig tells me about not someone trying to hide a hair loss-(for which he didn't care about showing his shaved head on the "Golden Section")-but more about a performer who feels and wants to transmit his respect for the magic that some works require. I hear all the theories about works that would be equally appreciated on some people's eyes if performed in leotards. Well...I guess I'm not that advanced yet. That's why I have historically avoided the backstage action. When makeup is removed, blisters and bunions exposed and some not very elegant language used...well, then I wish that I would had not occurred to me to be there in the first place. But back to last night performance in Broward. The cast was the same as that one in Miami. Jeanette Delgado keeps being substituted-( )-but aside from that everything went nice and smooth. Standouts of the night: the WHOLE Company...seriously . Catoya's perfect Petite Allegro in D#15, Sarabita's pirouettes and ronde de jambes in The Golden Section...Baker's athletic displays of strength in TGS too, the beautiful flowing of the whole VF-(the four dancers in superb form), Sarabita's comic ability as the Dancer and Villella's greatness as the Gangster in S.in10th, along with dreamier than ever Seay in Diamonds. Seems like the "weaker" casting for The Golden Section will happen on Sunday, as it was the case in Miami. Yes..I did notice about it too.

So am I. I do miss the birth scene in the truncated version, but that stately ascent of Mount Olympus and walk towards it just beforehand . . . that's my favorite part of the ballet. And a little , with a famous words-(in a letter form)-exchange regarding the uncut Cuban version: The Powers That Be to Mme. Alonso: "...and hence, according with the mentioned statement, this is a formal pledge for this unauthorized staging of Apollo to be permanently removed from the active repertoire of the CNB..." Mme. Alonso to the Powers that Be: "No such removing will ever take place. If the audience wants to see Apollo's final version, they can go to New York. If they want to see how it was danced, myself included, when it was first created by the Master...then they are more than welcome to come and see it in Havana."

Jack...I find very interesting that for some people-(me included)-the choreographic notion of VF is totally different than that of others-(me having never seen the 1967 version). I've had this happened before, curiosly with another Balanchine...Apollo, which I only know in its former incarnation-(birth and Olympus' ascension, as it is still danced in Cuba). I wonder how many more B' ballets are danced out there in different "versions"-(or variations?...or takes...?)- done by the choreographer himself. re: "The Golden Section", and on the lighter side, I want to add an interesting detail. The dancers show their heads free of all hair constrictions-(headpieces, buns, wigs and anything else in between). So then, I could see Callie Manning's VERY short, VERY curly bob, Patricia Delgado's lioness-like, gorgeous long curly dark locks and Renato Panteado's shaved head. Just a little observation from the ex-hairdresser perspective.

I treasure my ever growing collection of VHS', among them all those "Stars of the Russian Ballet" ones, which haven't been released on DVD. My three last adquisitions were the Natasha/Misha's "Giselle", Natasha/Nagy's "Swan Lake" and Dolin's "A Portrait of Giselle", all of them via E-Bay, always thanks to Mr. rg's heads up.