cubanmiamiboy

yeah...that ABOMINATION...BAD, BAD,VULGAR,VUUUUUULGAR!!! (yes, I'm screaming...)

Oh, they ARE extreme, my friend...

I don't usually find myself calling a ballerina "vulgar" that often...(well, maybe in some mediocre modern choreographies that involve a fairly ammount of lifttings of skirtless dancers with open wide crotch exposure and no visible aesthetic value). Still, the vulgarity term here would be applied to the work, and not necessarily to the dancer being required to do the steps. Other than that I DO often find myself thinking that so and so are...well..boring. In my own scale, that's a major offense.

Beautiful lady.

Va-va voom!!! http://blogmarie.b.l.pic.centerblog.net/v4o58byh.jpg

That was good...

Some other clips of Miss V: In Cinderella-(Strauss) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrBJhS_WIvI&NR=1 In Diane & Acteon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5umIR9u7xE In The Magic Flute. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRLSy0jThPk&feature=related

I know, Helene... Spesivtseva's Solo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCxFjiwYGWc...feature=related

Thanks, Paul, for that beautiful clip. One can definitely see Patrick's classical training here...

yep...that's what stops me from going...(I wonder when AD's will realize of the fact that a lot of people would be willing to jump in a plane just to see their favorite dancers and hence would post castings in advance... )

MISS "V" ...YOOHOO!!! V and Carlos Acosta. "Le Corsaire" PDD V and Romel Frometa. Black Swan PDD (1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1K0HhdhCKQ Odette's transformation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaJckX13R2c&feature=related

Well, she's Cuban, we're Cubans, and we DO love extravagance and passion-(aside from great turns and balances)-perhaps more than a "perfect" style and pure line-(is there any "perfection", I wonder...BTW?). And thinking about it, we do carry our good dose of "vulgarity" with pride and humor. That, in the long run, turns to be kind of spicy and attractive for some others... If anything, let's agree to disagree.

Ah, the ever present "Powers that Be"...

OMG..!!! I can't believe you just said that, dear...!!! I ENVYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YOUUUU!!!! (Thinking about it, it's the mom, that would be a trip worth to make to Boston...to see my most beloved ballerina dancing my most beloved ballet! ...mmm, let's think about it... )

Interesting that Act III PDD didn't present Desire's variation-(at least it is not listed in the program...)

oh, that sounds better...thanks, itsthemom!

Yes, bart...that's true. And then, I would like to offer a little speech that I've been longing to make for a while-(it'll be short, I promise ) As a Cuban, it is my duty to publicly thank the Royal Ballet and its head, Miss Monica Mason for this magnificent gesture of love, artistry, but above all, of great humanity. I'm speaking in behalf of the thousands of Cubans that had the opportunity to see a first class Ballet company like the RB for the first time. Miss Mason has just made a historic step by going to my isolated island, making clear that her message was that of pure love. I specially want to tell the British members of this board-(Mashinka, Leonid, CharmingLise et all)- that I VERY MUCH admire what Miss Mason has done, and that the magnitude and the BRAVERY of her decision to present her dancers in Cuba can't be really appreciated or totally recognized with just a few words. Again, the was a GREAT gesture from a GREAT woman. Anyway, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU TO MISS MASON AND THE BRITS !!!

My ever-loved star of all times, Miss Feijoo, seems to be slowing down. What a pity. After all this years watching ballet, she still epitomizes to me the perfect ballerina.

...and this is a quote from a more extensive writing on the subject, from Havanajournal.com. "She[Mme. Alonso] is feisty, especially so when busting the myth that the success of Cuban ballet was the result of the Soviet Union’s influence. Thanks to Alonso, in fact, ballet may well have been the one aspect of Cuban life not influenced by the Soviets. ’‘The Cuban style comes from deep within the Cuban spirit, from our joys and from our sadness,’‘ Alonso says. “Some people are turned inward. The Cubans are always out, sensual. What looks natural on the Soviets would have looked mimetic, like a mannerism on us. We had a hard time explaining that to our Soviet friends.’' Alonso refused Russian ballet teachers ’‘except for character dances: They do czardas, mazurkas very well.’‘ She also discouraged her own dancers from taking advantage of Soviet scholarships. ’‘When Lazaro Carreno did go study in Moscow,’Simon recalls, “we had to spend months after he returned just getting him to dance like a Cuban again. It was a constant fight with Alicia."

This clip shows the curtain calls of the final performance, in which Miss Mason graciously brings a flowers bouquet to Mme. Alonso onstage-(escorted by Carlos Acosta and Yoel Carreno)-with a deep bow. It also shows the moments where the dancers came out of the theater in full costume to bow in front of the audience that had congregated to see the performance in the big screens that were installed in front of the Capitol building. Carlos Acosta briefly takes the mic to congratulate this "dancers that are here just for you, after exhausting hours of traveling", and an emotional Tamara Rojo also saying a few words.

...which is EXACTLY what Miss. Viengsay Valdes offers: lots of contradiction, but, as I also said earlier, not a bit of boredom.

We can do that!! and sorry too for contribuiting to the subject. Guilty as charged. So back to Marianela...

Thanks for that link, Ray. It was beautiful.

Oh, if anything, he is certainly very STRAIGHT. And you're right...it is definitely a particularity of the Cuban male dancers... That's SO comforting to know! Isn't it...?

re: Carlos Acosta. Oh, if anything, he is certainly very STRAIGHT. And you're right...it is definitely a particularity of the Cuban male dancers...