cubanmiamiboy

Jeanette Delgado is MCB's newest pride and joy. I can’t really hide what I felt after seeing her recent Kitri in MCB's D.Q . She took me back to the glorious Havana days of those buoyant, non constrained bailarinas. Her dancing was sharp, her fouetees impeccable but more important than that, she very ALIVE. There was not overacting, just pure joy and abandonment to the role. Later one backstage I can account for her real personality, which is just as bubbly and happy as the character she played. I had the pleasure to speak to her there and then, and even with profuse sweating running down her whole body, and her pair of fully blister-covered hyper turned out feet, this girl was greeting and kissing one and every single person who approached her. It was emotional to see her tightly hugging her first ballet teacher, an older Cuban lady who was was brought to her. I hope to see much more of her dancing in the future. Bravo to la cubanita !

Don Quijote had only two castings. On Friday night and Sunday matinée Mary Carmen Catoya was given the Kitri and Renato Panteado Basilio. Jennifer Kronemberg and Carlos Guerra were Mercedes/Espada Friday and Sunday, Ernesto Quenedit and Amanda Weingarten-(please Liebling correct me if I’m wrong on this, cause I didn’t get Mercedes' substitution, but she looked to me like Weingarten )-the second night. On Saturday night my heart was stolen by Jeanette Delgado’s Quiteria, which was paired with Guerra’s Basilio . Amor had Tricia Albertson on Friday and Saturday night. Today Jeanette carried the platinum short wig-(hate that thing). Trouper Deanna Seay danced Queen of Dryads the three days. I need to start with the fact that I truly loved both Catoya and Delgado in the role. It’s been many years since I saw my last Quijote live-(Havana), and I should confess I avoided seeing the production here last time they did it, out of some XIX Century-grieving process I was going thru after my last unsuccessful Giselle experience with the Company. But hey, this was a very very different story. The whole thing was happy, energetic, vital. First things first. The winner of this season is without a doubt Jeanette Delgado. Oooh, what a beauty, what grace. I can’t really describe it. Right at the very second she stomped out to the stage, she BECAME Quiteria. I hadn’t seen such power and “salsa” in a long, long time-(sorry, I can’t come out with a proper translation). If this helps a little, just think of the similar approach of that of Viengsay Valdes-(Don Quijote DVD, CNB). It’s just that they really have that extra “something” that makes one really believe in this flirty, RADIANT, spicy hot blooded girl-(well, at the end, THEY REALLY ARE!) The other Quiteria, Mary Carmen Catoya, only proved one more time that it will be a tough game to try to get the “Top Company Star” title out of her petite hands. Catoya’s portray was different, but as magnetic as Delgado. Catoya is more shy, but this shyness gives her Kitri a little more edgy look. I had the sense as if she was a teen trying to sneak out of her sheltered life to be with her first love. Delgado tells the story of a more experienced young woman, one that goes right where she wants when she wants. Both were exquisite, and both received ovations. For some reason Catoya, unlike Delgado, decided to make a substitution in her Act III harp variation: instead of the diagonal of spring points-(or “la escalera” as it is known in Cuba)-she came out with a diagonal of pirouettes/chainees series, which was great, but didn’t do it to me as the folk/flavored “escalera”. Ok, So Renato Panteado did GREEEEEEEEEEAT too as Basilio. Beautiful jumps, exquisite tours en l’air, impressive one hand lifts. Guerra’s Espada was all virility, his cape handling beautifully done, his Mercedes-(Kronemberg)-looking adorable as ever. Newbie Carlos Quenedit showed knowledge in the role-(he had done it in the demanding Alonso’s production right before defecting from Cuba, and this really shows). His Mercedes-(Weingarten?)-was fresh, musical…very pretty. Tricia Albertson’s Amor could have been more vivacious, with more accents. That hideous platinum wig needs to go. Deanna Seay looked very elegant as the Queen of Dryads. Jeremy Cox’s unique personality did the best of his Gamache. If anything, I just have to say that Eddie’s Company could have handled a more complex/technically demanding choreography, both to the principals and the Corps-(The gypsy scene the best example). I was also a little confused with the dream scene, as in Cuba Amor’s variation is danced with what I saw here as Kitri’s Dulcinea. (I had never seen the one was done). As per Kitri’s role here, I missed the longer dancing sequence that Alonso gives her, along with the Adagio danced by her and the Don, with that great jetes-permeated coda. Also Alonso’s version goes more into the “ballet blanc” spirit…the Dryads tutus are long, white and the poses are more romantic-inspired. Another miss that I noticed is the way they showed the Dulcinea/Kitri ordeal in this scene. For someone who’s not that used to the ballet it would have been kind of hard to understand what was going on-(Alonso’s version has Dulcinea appears, just to suddenly disappear with Kitri standing in her place with the same dress in a shorter version). Then one realizes that this change has happened in the Don’s confused eyes-(or mind). Many details, and I could go on and on forever, as this is a ballet that I got to see a lot and love a great deal-(it is played every single year in Cuba, like Giselle and SL), but I really have to say that the whole Company danced with a lot of brio and passion. Orchestra is gone, and economical challenges are affecting its running, but the boys and girls really did a great job. Congratulations to all!!!

Sunday matinee: Catoya was exquisite, and Panteado a truly revelation. Will get back soon.

I haven't been lucky so far...

Just came back from tonight's performance-(Saturday night). People...Jeanette Delgado IS Kitri.

Just came back. Orchestra is gone.

Well, well...tomorrow is opening night of the Don. As per tonight-(if I finally catch up with my Hematology books )-I will be watching my Cuban version, to refresh my ideas... Can't wait!-(damn, and after all my private investigations, still not a clue on the casting... )

Ooooh, yes...YES...!

A little , but Mme. Alonso's lasted 60 years. Her first job as a professional ballerina at 15, her last performance, "Farfalla", in 1995. She was born in 1920. But back to Kistler...

So excuse my ignorance, but why the last muse if he didn't make roles for her,,,?

Oh, Sizova's faces...hands down everyone! They are something of their own. She knew how to offer the perfect-but-still-contained-princess-like-grin to her servants and family-(there's no live audience). They went from those of pure pleasure to herself-(her entrance and solo)-to admiration-(as watching the garland Waltz), to loving glimpses to her man-(the PDD Adagio)-to the courtesy looks to her suitors, but never gets into the "martyr/scaffold" edge, even in the dream sequence or the dizziness/unconsciousness one. If any, some sort of detachment from the human Desiree and his tangible reality, but nothing overly heavy or overwhelmingly transfixed. She probably has carried some Stanislavsky in her shopping cart at some point, i bet.

On the other side, I have a problem with the "martyir-going-to-the-scaffold" look...I've seen this many times as a performance ruining fact. Give me the grin anytime instead. (I wonder if I could give examples, cause I have the perfect two cases)

Some searching of the De Saa last name-(the two Cuban twins from Mirror Dance that Gina Ness still remembers)-came as very sad news. "Margarita Naranjo De Saa, aged 41, was found dead last August 26 in her apartment in the center of the city of Mazatlan, Sinaloa state, with signs of having been strangled. Miss Saa was the daughter of Ramona de Saa, a prominent personality of dance and director of the National Ballet School in Cuba." http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=e...lz%3D1I7GWYE_en This is, as I said, very shocking. Recently we had Vanya Mishvek introducing himself-(from the Michel Panaieff/Victor Moreno/Mishvek thread). He is the husband of Margarita de Saa, Ramona's twin. Margarita Naranjo was herself a ballet dancer and teacher. My sincere condolences to her mom Ramona and the rest of her family. May she rest in peace.

Yes, welcome, Vanya! I never got to see Mme. at her peak. I started watching her live performances when I moved to Havana in 1991, and she was in her ealy 70's, even thought she did perform in regular basis. I'm sure you remember all that period: "Casiopea", "Dido...", "La Diva"-(about Maria Callas), "Cleopatra eterna" and of course, the entrechat sequence from Giselle Act II that she got to perform until the end, just for the heck of it and that of our pleasure.

Yes, welcome!! I'm so happy to hear that Margarita's husband is here. About Magarita and Ramona I couldn't find that much info for my little threads on the Cuban ballerinas of the 60's. Maybe now i will have some light shred on the subject. I saw Mirror Dancing, and it really touched me deeply, as to the uncertainaty to when this trip to the homeland can become a reality for all of us. I'm sure that Margarita knows many things from the first years of the Cuban ballet that i always wonder and have no many people to ask about. Beautiful.

YOUR MEMORY IS A PRODIGY GINA!!!...and thanks a lot for the info, which is completely accurate. There were-(are)-a pair of twins, of course, Margarita and Ramona de Saa. Their fate is a painful and common one among Cuban exiles; once inseparable, their relationship disintegrated as one sister left for the United States while the other embraced the Cuban Revolution. There is the 2004 documentary "Mirror Dance" by Frances McElroy and Maria Teresa Rodriguez which was aired by PBS. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/mirrordance/film.html "Margarita flourished in the system, rising through the ranks from corps de ballet to prima ballerina. Later on she married John White, an American who was recruited by Alicia Alonso to dance with the newly formed National Ballet of Cuba. Ramona married Santiago, one of Fidel Castro's close associates. Using old family photographs and archival footage of their days as young dancers in Havana, including rare footage of Margarita de Saa performing in the National Ballet of Cuba's "Giselle," "Mirror Dance" introduces viewers to the twin sisters and their worlds. Archival and super 8 footage further suggest Havana in the turbulent '50s and early '60s when the twins were growing up, during their respective courtships and marriages, and through the political events leading up to their dramatic separation. Following the marriages, the twins began to grow apart. In 1964, concerned about the changing political environment, Margarita, her infant son and husband--now a ballet master--made the painful decision to leave their life, careers and family in Cuba. Ramona remained in Havana. A self-described "revolutionary woman," she was dismayed by her twin's lack of commitment to the Revolution. Believing Margarita was a traitor, Ramona refused to have contact with her. In the forty years since the sisters' separation, Margarita and John opened a small dance academy in Narberth, near Philadelphia, where they remain committed to helping young dancers pursue their dream. Ramona has become Director of the Cuban National Schools of Ballet. It was not until 2000, after being approached by the filmmakers, that Margarita began to think seriously about returning to Cuba. During the course of the film, Margarita reflects: "When I left Cuba I didn't just lose my biological family, I lost something very special to me--the National Ballet of Cuba. I lost two families." Despite pouring her heart into her work, and trying to create a new ballet family in the United States, memory and loss still persist. In Cuba, the film follows Ramona in her routine as the sole woman who determines the fate of every aspiring dancer in Cuba, and viewer experience the all-encompassing, government endowed National School of Ballet. Finally, on February 28th, 2004, Margarita, her husband John and daughter Melinda departed for Havana. In a touching scene at Jose Marti Airport, Margarita, Ramona and their brother Jovita are finally reunited". http://danceruniverse.com/stories/issues/2...nt-mirrordance/

Reflections from Symphony in C Wow…all those who predicted that I would love Symphony in C were absolutely on the right track. I think, in my humble opinion, that this “tutu ballet”, with its luxurious beauty, is definitely the grandest throwback I've seen of Balanchine as his days at the Marinsky Theater in St. Petersburg where he grew up and rebelled, but obviously never forgot. Yes, it is plotless, but…isn’t always kind of a love story feeling in this kind of beautiful PDD, like the Second Movement Adagio…? Maybe it is just me, but I did feel a charming, mysterious and fascinating love language going on among the main couple. The other three movements were also beautiful. Mary Carmen Catoya was as precise as ever in the first one-(although for some reason she decided to permeate her performance with her “sad-looking”, using those big expressive eyes. This choice of hers has never been my favorite. Aside from that, she sparkled, never off balance). Second Movement-(my favorite, as I said)-featured Hayan Wu and Carlos Miguel Guerra. I loved Wu this time around, all delicacy and lightness. Her penchee was perfect. I had never seen such an extravagant penchee on pointe. . Third Movement was danced by my new favorite ballerina of the Company…powerful dynamo, radiant, smiley Jeanette Delgado, partnered by Alex Wong, who seems to be getting sharper on his partnering skills. Delgado was something like a ray of light. I can’t really describe the feeling that I had at watching her dancing WITH HER WHOLE BODY: her eyes, her mouth, arms, neck…all of it. For the first time I see a ballerina on this company that reminds me all this Cuban ballerinas that I write about from the past. OK: reality was, she reminded me of a CUBAN TRAINED BALLERINA. Fourth movement was her sister Patricia partnered by Jeremy Cox. Patricia’s dancing follows the same pattern of her sister’s, but a little more subtle, nevertheless wonderful as well. Cox was, as usual, his particular self…a dancer with his own “stuff” going on, a personality of his own…which I love. The Finale was, as someone said, exhilarating. The ovation was rotund in the packed full house. People…I DEFINITELY need to see this again.

Elite: That would be the starting point. Race: something else. As a kid I was taught that the "old elite" was promoting "racial discrimination". The result: Only those with money-(whites)-would be having access to the private ballet academies. When everything turn all the way around, the majority of the white "elite" disappeared-(strangely, not from the ballet circles)-but the black population started to have total access to the ballet academies. Money wasn't an issue anymore...it was/is free. Endurance and skills were to be the signs of the new elite. Hip Hop elite is very well known, and is not dominated by whites. I don't think a class which ceased to be legally separated, and reduced to the same economical status of their former servants would be still considered as an "elite", even the lighter color of their skin. If something, being part of an Elite now in the Cuban Ballet Circle would be to kill yourself and offer your soul to Mme. Then she will let you in some more intimate circle...(Please note that I'm talking about a very geographically specific aspect of this broader discussion)

I went backstage after the performance just in time to catch Delgado-( )- still wearing her tutu from Symphony in C. Here she is with Katia Carranza. (Will be back...I just have to look for my playbill...which I misplaced, as usual... :blush: ) http://www.flickr.com/photos/26624336@N06/3240384488/

Miss Amparo Brito was one of the “Three Graces” of the Cuban National Ballet along with Ofelia Gonzalez and Rosario Suarez-Charin. She was also considered by the specialized critics as one of the greatest ballerinas of the twentieth Century. The Art of Amparito has been characterized by its exquisite and femininity fundamental elements. Perfect line, physique naturally gifted for the classical ballet, her performances during the International Competitions has been one of the most brilliant in the history of the Cuban Ballet, which proved the genuine technical quality of the School. Miss Brito initiated her ballet studies in 1962, graduating in 1968 from the recently formed School of National Arts in Havana. In 1968 she is selected to be part of Mme. Alonso’s Company , and here it comes the sad part of the story. After innumerable winnings in National and International Competitions, and being already a favorite within the Cuban audience, she was denied the title of Primera Bailarina until 1986, as it happened with the other Graces. By the time she was promoted, Brito was almost ready to retire. She is married with the most infamous Cuban dancer defector of all times, Mme.’s most important partner Jorge Esquivel, who still dances character dances in SFB, as per its current roster. Brito is another name that has been unfairly erased from the list of the history of the CNB. Miss Brito became the Artistic Director of the Pro Danza Company, where General Director is Laura Alonso, Mme.'s daughter. Since 2005 she works with her daughter Yoira Esquivel in a special summer program for american students in Panama So as I said earlier with Charin and Ofe…Amparito, wherever you are, please know that we still daydream with those golden days of ballet and with you guys…our own stars. Ladies and Gentleman: Miss Amparo Brito As Giselle-(the second one, right after Josefina Mendez runs away) As a sublime Zulma with a perfect renverse-penchee. In Majisimo with Marta Garcia, Ofelia Gonzalez and Gloria Hernandez

It was INDEED a great program. Beauty at its best... I'm highly pleased...(which is not that easy sometimes)... Will be back...

...and here is another soviet cartoon with a lovely ballerina on it... http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...mp;#entry238139

Good for those seeing ABT's upcoming Giselle in Otawa, Washington, etc... As per down here...Life imitating art...the willis ran away from the sun...one more time (Yes, I AM ANGRY)

Just came back. What a beauty... Will report tomorrow...

The day after tomorrow I will be watching my first ever Symphony in C. I will watch clips of whatever is available online in advance, but I still would like to get some info and insights from you guys....WHATEVER you can add will be very helpful.-(as it has been in the past with other B. newbies for me) Thanks!