cubanmiamiboy

Now I know The End is coming...

I was in a celebration mood today, so I went to see the New World Symphony Season Finale at the Arsht Center, in their All-Tchaikovsky Program. Polonaise from Act III of Eugene Onegin. A favorite of mine, which I often play at home, this piece is usually used in Cuba for the Grand Desfile that opens the International Ballet Festival, so every time I listen to it I travel back in time. I also have the opera in DVD, and the effect of the striking contrast of extroverted charm and drive of the dance against Onegin's loneliness as an observer of the crowd when he sings an aria right immediately always hits me. Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor for Piano and Orchestra Op 23 What can I add to the title of this masterpiece...? The simple four-note motif in the horns that makes the opening is certainly one of the most famous and recognizable moments in the history of music, and even if the soloist's hammer chord gestures, which frame the tune, have been endlessly parodied by Liberace stylings, it remains a curtain raiser of a jaw dropping excitement and grandeur. I make sure to enjoy the tune while I can, for which it only returns once in this lengthy introduction and then is gone for good. Symphony No. 5 in E Minor Op 64 The slow introduction of the Fifth-(the "Fate" theme)-with its shy melancholy is so beautiful!!. Then we are lead to a world of total contrasts and shocking climaxes, as well as vivid orchestral coloring, and as the first movement continues to reach the great climax at the end of the exposition, it always reminds me of the similar driving rhythm from the first movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. Then we have the Andante's variation of the melancholic sounds of the opening movement, and its famous horn melody. The third movement and its dreamy sensibility goes then in the manner of one of Tchaikovsky's characteristic waltzes. Then, the finale provides a reverse mirror image of the first, again with the same overall structure of a slow introduction leading to the main movement, with the theme triumphing in the major key. What a beauty.

When I first started reading about the ballet, way before seeing it onstage, I would pronounce it as in "lemonade", but then one day a friend/balletomane pointed at it and corrected me, saying that it was the french pronunciation the right way. I still pronounce it as in english. Not with Agon, which I pronounce as Ah-Gohn-(don't know why, to be honest... )

just got it!!

Missed it...Didn't know about it until I saw this thread...

I just came back from "El Telon de Azucar"-(The Sugar Curtain)-a reflection of the Cuban revolution through the eyes of the generation-(my generation)- born and raised during those years. This was truly an intimate portrait of those early years when, as children, everything seemed right and possible to us, and then how those ideals were later completely shattered. "Cuba made headlines in Miami this week with President Barack Obama's announcement that exiles can now travel to the island with fewer restrictions. Just in time, the two-week long Cuban Cinema Series -- La Isla en Peso, or Island Burden -- kicks off Friday at Little Havana's historic Tower Theater, offering more than 30 films, many starkly depicting current life on the island". BY LUISA YANEZ MiamiHerald http://images.mdc.edu/publications/cuban_c...te/default.html

One time I read an obituary on Audrey Hepburn that said that "somewhere beyond the blue she's enchanting the angels". I'm sure that Miss Maximova is there too, in that "somewhere", enchanting her peers... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNr3ToCDxPM

Rest in peace Miss Maximova

Patrick...try this link http://cgi.ebay.com/Si-Versailles-M'et...404153007r17376 (wow...what a cast!! ) Cast: Michel Auclair (Jacques Damiens), Jean-Pierre Aumont (Cardinal), Jean-Louis Barrault (Fénelon), Jeanne Boitel (Mme de Sevigné), Gilbert Bokanowski (Louis XVI), Bourvil (Un guide), Gino Cervi (Cagliostro), Jean Chevrier (Turenne), Aimé Clariond (Rivarol), Claudette Colbert (Mme de Montespan), Danièle Delorme (Louison Chabray), Daniel Gélin (Jean Collinet), Fernand Gravey (Molière), Sacha Guitry (Louis XIV), Pierre Larquey (Un guide), Jean Marais (Louis XV), Lana Marconi (Marie-Antoinette), Gaby Morlay (Mme de la Motte), Gisèle Pascal (Louise de la Vallière), Jean-Claude Pascal (Axel de Fersen), Édith Piaf (Une fille du peuple), Gérard Philipe (D'Artagnan), Micheline Presle (Mme de Pompadour), Tino Rossi (Le gondolier), Jean Tissier (Un guide), Charles Vanel (M. de Vergennes), Orson Welles (Benjamin Franklin), Jean Desailly (Marivaux), Brigitte Bardot (Mlle de Rozille)

Hola, Natalia!! , and thanks for the info on the proper way to refer to this Pas. I have made the corrections on the topic title. Now, I was wondering WHERE do this clips come from. Thye are definitely not part of the commercially released DVD. Maybe a televised recording...?

Thanks rg for the clarifications. These clips came to a surprise to me too, and I don't really know the accuracy of the info attached. I do know that they're not part of the commercially released Maly production. The back cover of this production mentions the help of Vecheslova, who "danced Esmeralda to great acclaim in the early and mid-twentieth century-(and)-provided her own memories of nineteenth-century realizations of the ballet".. I will borrow your info, if I may, to dig a little more and clarify this with the Youtube poster, who seems very fond of the XIX Century ballet.

I found this two interesting clips of the Maly’s production of La Esmeralda. The details are taken from the Youtube poster notes. ( ) Enjoy!! "Grand pas des fleurs taken from the Mikhailovsky Ballet's (formerly known as the Maly/Mussorgsky) production of the full-length "La Esmeralda". This production was staged by Nicolai Boyarchikov & the great ballerina Tatiana Vecheslova, who was the last ballerina to perform in Petipa's final revival before the ballet's choregraphy & mise-en-scène became heavily revised by Soviet-era ballet masters". Grand Pas des fleurs 1 - --1. Grande valse (Drigo) --2. Adage (Drigo) --3. Variation I (Pugni) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSzquURShrM...feature=related Grand Pas des fleurs 2 - 1. Variation II (Drigo) 2. Variation de Phœbus de Châteaupers (Drigo) 3. Variation de Fleur-de-lys—Pizzicatto (Drigo) 4. Grand coda (Pugni) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA6NF-hIzTE...feature=related

Maybe...even if each one of them were charming in their own way, and I couldn't think of the show without the whole ensemble, it was Dorothy who made me laugh the most...her dark humor, her lack of patience at some of Rose's long stories...oh, her faces were hilarious... bart...I suppose that at some point Miami Beach was sort of a place with plenty of these characters...which are almost extinguished by now. The old ladies no longer can afford the 2009 prices, and now where the old Art Deco little hotels/retirement places were, hip outrageously expensive "boutique/lounge-hotels" stand.

When I first came to the States I discovered the late nights re-runs of "The Golden Girls", and became addicted to the show. She was great as Dorothy...the soul of the series. RIP, Miss Arthur.

Last night's show was one of the worst in a long time. You're right, cubanmiamiboy, the Rumba was missing, so was the Jive. Judge Len commented on that several times.... What we got instead was some sort of let's just be amusing choreography. sz, my curiosity being on how did that got ever to be named Rumba, not having that much resemblance with the real thing... If anything, this would be a more refined/stylized choreographed version of it...(right after reggaeton and before the salsa)

In Cuba I saw this a lot. Being the performances so easy to afford many times I did attend just to focus on a favored bailarina, and would just go and enjoy HER...(somehow separating the dancer from the work). Those nights were good to concentrate on her feet and turnout, her port de bras, etc. It was nice to have the time to detail the body, if I didn't have to be paying that much of attention to the choreography. At least this worked for me...(althought I haven't done it in a lot of time...For once I have lately chosen to left the theater before something I don't like starts...and the same if the not so good work is the first one...I would arrive AFTER the Intermezzo.

An interesting film of Anette's debut as Giselle, filmed from the wings... and at courtain calls and post performance...

Here there is the performance final curtain calls that took place in Havana, November 2, 1978 to pay tyribute to the 35 th anniversary of Mme in the role of Giselle. Paying respects onstage were her beloved partenaire Igor Youskevitch and her very first Albretch, Anton Dolin, who crowned her and knelt before her, after which she did the same to him. After that we're presented with the famous series of entrechats/batteries that she was still able to perform well until the end of her active career and became her most loved moment of the ballet. The clips range from the 60's, 70's, 80's and even 90's-(there is one not included, which we can see in the movie of the Ballet Russes, from 1958 of that same sequence with Youskevitch) Enjoy it!!

This is an amateur film of a CNB's barre, done by a friend. Many of the dancers shown have defected ever since-(Gutierrez, Domitro, Quenedit), and then there is even one-(Javier Sanchez), who's not among us anymore-(RIP, our unforgettable SL's jester). Some others have become Principals...(Valdes, Delgado). I hope you'll enjoy it.

bart, I couldn't make it for any of the performances . I didn't double checked the showtimes, and I got confused thinking they would start at 8. Yesterday I went after work and got there almost flying on Palmetto by 7:50, just to realize they had started at 7. Today I got out of work at 7...so no luck either.... I'm glad you enjoy the performance... Oh, well, another time...

I actually thought that I remembered Cojocaru-(a very young one, BTW, dancing to a piano-reduction of the score)-but when I saw your list, and failed to see her, I thought that Alzheimer was progressing and it was all part of my imagination. So now maybe I was right at first, and she was indeed part of the clip... Thanks!!

...AND Feijoo... (and I did made a mistake mentioning Cojocaru, who wasn't part of the thing...)

What a great idea going to see AA!!! I just came back, and I still feel the power and energy of the performance. The house was sold out, and the audience was very different from that I'm used to see at the Arsht Center. Lots of young people, cheering, whistling, clapping and even dancing along the performance. The program was preceeded by a documentary on the story and developement of the troupe, narrated by Miss Judith Jamison, which I enjoyed tremendously. They showed many vintage excerpts from some of the choreographies presented tonight. I'm not quite familiar with the Company nor their works, but I DID notice a subtle classical language laying in some of them. At one point there was even a petite allegro showcase. I'm trying to find the program to see what was the work... And then there was REVELATIONS. Beautiful, simply beautiful and powerful. The dancers were so into it, giving such joy and soul that by the end of it they had drowned the audience into the whole thing, and the entire house was a big feast. bart, you were right. The works and projection of the Alvin Aley remainded me a lot of that of Conjunto Folklorico Nacional, the Afro-Cuban based dance company. Five stars!!

Browsing on something to do to celebrate tonight, I found this. I have no tickets, and I'm not quite the biggest fan of non-pointe shoes dancing, but I think it will be interesting to try out...I made up my mind and decided to give it a try after digging a bit in the Forums. http://www.arshtcenter.org/tickets/calenda...ew.aspx?id=4873

sorry for being a little off topic, but... I passed, people, I passed....yoohoooo!!! thanks Helene!!! and back to topic now...