cubanmiamiboy

(With emphasized nasal, high pitched voice...particularly among some females...): "Oh my Gaaaaaaaawsh..."

Oh Merde!! "Ay, carajo! "

(Note: Post erased by me...by mistake.bart, I hope you got to see my response to your question . Will rewrite it later...Grrrr!!! )...

The exange was real...you guys got Toto and Xiomarita and we had some over there for a while-(Corella, Herrera and others...) This was Mme. doing Grand Bewitchery at her best-(Kevin asisting with the cooking, of course old pal Lucia Chase blinking her eye from up there giving her consent. ..he). The result was realy nice. Meanwhile NYCB were too busy making friends with the Trust.

It was the pointe shoes absence, bart...pointe shoes! (ditto with Fokine's Scheherezade)

According to the accounts, back in the 70s Cynthia Gregory was invited to one of the International Ballet Festivals in Havana. One of the full lengh ballet she danced was Coppelia. When she was asked if she wanted to dance Swanilda's Entree/Vals of Act I to Alonso's staging she said: No... it is to strong for an entree, it is abusive for the ballerina!. After coming back from her US years, Mme. Alonso instituted this version, which suited her virtuosa status, and then all the cuban ballerinas followed her rule. Rosario Suarez: Act I Entree. How can't one take Coppelia seriously after getting used to watch this...?

Before leaving Cuba, news and echoes from ABT and its dancers were usual in Havana. From NYCB...zero. An international phenomenon...?

MERCURIC TIDINGS Nice facts: This dance-(new to me)- featured beautiful red outfits that fade to white-(or more precisely, skin tone)-at the top. The dancers looked very energetic, smiling, and profusely sweaty by the end. The work didn't appear to have a theme. I perceived it as an exhibition of pure movement. Overall, the visual offering was very pretty, including the postures and the costumes design. The dancers were very pleasant to look at, both the men and the woman. The men danced shirtless, revealing a cut and well defined physique. The choreography offered an opening with dancers in two lines leaning to the sound of a flute. The score-(set to the beautiful Schubert's Symphonies # 1 and 2)- was bold and dramatic, and while I liked the energy the dancers put out in response to the energy of the music-(in the fast sections)-sometimes the music seemed a little too much against the dancing, at times much of the dance feeling like a grand finale. Facts...there were nice leaps, lifts and precise rapid turns across the stage, along with several passages where a dancer's movements were nicely offset within groupings, followed by in sync movements. In a slower passage in the middle of the work, the dancers leaned their legs, echoing the opening of the dance, and I specially liked a sequence where one group of dancers performed a series of rotating lifts going left while another group of dancers rolled on the floor going right. The dance returned to a fast passage with leaping legs that revealed a picture of exuberance...Lines forming and reforming leading to the grand finale-(quite effective, IMO)-with a pretty ending ensemble pose with one female dancer raised high. On Friday the leading couple was Patricia Delgado and Jeremy Cox. Delgado was-(as always)-sharp, sparkling and beautiful. Cox was-(as usual too)-THE savior soul of the night. Saturday night performance was lead by Delgado’s sister, the always impressive, strong Jeanette. She was wisely paired with the best ballerina-lifter of the Company, the Soloist category-deserving and physically impressive bailarin-(WHEN is he going to get promoted?!?!)-Daniel Baker. The two couples were excellent. On the other side... ...I wish my knowledge and taste of the dancing spectrum were wider. If I have to say that the whole work didn’t displease me , I must be totally honest and mention also that it neither did it completely for me. There was “something” missing…and I’m thinking, and thinking. Then, one of my two friends/companions-(a totally ballet “non connoisseur”)-made the following interesting comment: “It looked to me like a ballet rehearsal…” And then, I got it. I remembered somebody on this board mentioning Scheherezade and asking me what my position was towards it. Well, I actually went to review my Liepa DVD with his reconstruction...founding myself knowing what was that Fokine’s masterpiece had in common with Taylor’s work. Of course… it had to do with an absence… Done with this. Again, I liked it…overall speaking, but I wish it would had been a performance by the Miami Contemporary Dance Company, instead of MCB… Ballet Imperial-(oh yes…, THAT was beautiful… ) coming next…

Ok, so I saw both Friday night and last night performances, and by yesterday-(before the night started)- I found myself in the knowing that I was just going for charming Ballet Imperial. Will be back. One name thought...MARY CARMEN CATOYA.

I'm sorry for the confusion about the male dancer. I was actually watching the two performances of CCBM at the same time, the one with Gutierrez and Miguel Angel Blanco, and in another window the one from the day before with Adiarys Almeida-(currently a Principal with the Corella Ballet)- and Taras Domitro-(SFB)-which is the second clip I posted.

I was just watching this clip of Hayna during the Black Swan PDD. Oh, how did I love her here...That triumphant malignant laugh during her pose at the last sautee in arabesque at the Coda was worth the whole performance. AND the fouetees, AND the pirouettes...and yes, I DO TOO love her physique. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCX_2i0DG9c Domitro looks beautiful too here-(for those in San Francisco, watch him... Edited to add: Domitro's clip is from the previous day performance with Adiarys Almeida.

CCBM 09 Season @ The Fillmore Theatre Program I. Le Corsaire. 02/28/09- 8:00 P.M Lorena Feijoo/Taras Domitro 03/01/09- 5:00 P.M Hayna Gutierrez/Miguel Angel Blanco http://www.cubanclassicalballet.org/programI.html

According to the SAB website...: "In the second and third years, students begin developing musical sensitivity by listening, learning musical terminology and history; and they become familiar with composers, especially those associated with dance".

Oh, yes...and yes. I have been pretty amazed at how unfamiliar with ballet history many young dancers seem to be when engaged in a conversation on the subject.

As per "aura", I can only think of Part.

Thank you all for the references! (specially to rg for the always great photographic help... )

I'm very happy to hear about Kent's maternity, but I certainly regret not getting to see her Giselle in ABT's upcoming Miami run...

This is another pic of Mme. that i would like to identify Any help will be appreciated-(choreography, music, costume design, etc...) thanks! http://home.comcast.net/~thomas.o.lee/Alicia.jpg

This is a bad staging job, I agree... Yes, they do. I'll try to get a clip of the moment. This is it. It's ALL about this... On the other side, I think one of the main reasons Alonso's Nutcracker works for me and the dancers is the conflict of the Primera Bailarina/Primer Bailarin cease to be. Since Act I we see Clara and the Nutcracker dancing as much enjoyable classical dance, so there's not anxious waiting for THE PDD. By the time the Sugar Plum shows up, there's a general feeling created in the audience in which one wonders if the other bailarina/bailarin will surpass the main couple's dancing. (This besides the third couple, the Snow Queen/King)

CCBM had Clara pretending to take off her shoe, but didn't do it for real. During the confusion during the battle she subtly retrieved to the left wing and bent over simulating the act, when in reality she took a third shoe that had been placed on the floor for her-(hidden to the audience). She threw in to the mouse and then kept on dancing...

No doubt about it my friend...! (But ditto with the non-convincing feeling relating the rotating bed and the flying thing at the end. Never been a fan of those devices)

Miss Ana Lobe. A native of Havana, Miss Lobe studied ballet at the National School of Ballet, where she graduated in 1982 as Ballerina-Professor. Immediately she joined the National Ballet of Cuba, under the direction of Alicia Alonso, where she danced classical and contemporary repertoire. Consequently, she toured internationally with the company and participated in all International Ballet Festivals in Havana from 1982 to 1990. Ms. Lobe was promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer in 1988. In the same year, she won Certificate as finalist in the International Ballet Competition of Varna, Bulgaria and in the 1990 International Ballet Competition of Jackson, Mississippi. As a result, she was invited to dance with the English National Ballet in London by director Ivan Nagy. Ms. Lobe danced with the company during the 1990-1991 season and participated in galas for Alicia Markova and the late Princess Diana. During her career, Ms. Lobe has been partnered among others by Jose Manuel Carreno, Olivier Munoz, Ramon Thielen and Fernando Bujones, director of Ballet Mississippi during the season 1993-1994, while she was a member of the company. Since 1994 she has been Principal Dancer with Cleveland San Jose Ballet, under the direction of Dennis Nahat, dancing all the lead roles in the company's classical and diverse repertoire. In addition, Ms. Lobe has participated in the PBS videotapes of the International Ballet Competition in 1990 and Blue Suede Shoes in 1996. During the 1999-2000 season she performed the title role in Roland Petit's masterpiece, Carmen. The critics have acclaimed Ms. Lobe for her technique, musicality, presence and acting abilities — in Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Carmen, Coppelia, and Romeo and Juliet, to mention just a few of her roles. She continues performing as a guest artist nationally and internationally. Ms. Lobe teaches master classes and workshops throughout the country, where she exposes the diversity of schools and knowledge that have been fundamental in her career. Her training in Cuba with Laura and Alicia Alonso, Loipa Araujo, and Karemia Moreno among others, Ivan Nagy in England, plus Luk de Lairres, Bujones and Dennis Nahat — all have helped to build and enrich her dancing career. Ana Lobe is currently on staff at Sharron School of Dance, Royal School of Ballet and Dance Institute of the University of Akron, where she teaches ballet, stages classical repertoire, and provides new choreography for her students. In addition, Dance Institute presented the 2003 Outstanding Teacher Award in recognition of her excellence in dance education. She lives in Ohio, and has been out of the official CNB roster since the early 90's. http://sharronsschoolofdance.com/analobe%20copy.jpg http://www.current.org/prog/prog714p.jpg http://www.current.org/prog/prog714q.jpg I hope this was helpful.

Hey, thanks for posting these here. Interesting stuff. So much dancing! I'm used to seeing mostly mime during these parts — and the Christmas tree growing in the first clip, of course. If this is your standard, I bet most other productions bore you quite a bit. ...well, yeah..certainly. Oh, and i forgot to mention the mice too, which are also danced on pointe by adults...A plus-(on my standards) Here...a glimpse. Hmmmmm......I think I'll pass. Not sure why that one clip is called a "mime" scene. A lot of sword swishing, not much else. True. That's why I used the quotation marks-("mime")-...I guess there's the intention to "tell" something, but giving the most weight to the dancing...Yes, it is not the Nut's extended mime used by Balanchine which is so familiar by American audiences.

Hey, thanks for posting these here. Interesting stuff. So much dancing! I'm used to seeing mostly mime during these parts — and the Christmas tree growing in the first clip, of course. If this is your standard, I bet most other productions bore you quite a bit. ...well, yeah..certainly. Oh, and i forgot to mention the mice too, which are also danced on pointe by adults...A plus-(on my standards) Here...a glimpse.

Ok...I finally found a clip of Alonso's rendition of the party scene. Be the judge of the "infantilizing" issue here. Clara is Primera Bailarina Annette Delgado.