cubanmiamiboy

Likewise, Leigh! My very best wishes to all! Feliz 2009...con mucho mucho amor!!!

I voted for "other-classical", and the troupe is no other than my homeland company, CNB. This, of course, attached with another old dream... going back home, and see them there... If only.

Amen...and thank you. You have just voiced my main believe on the Clara/dancer issue.

The only references she took were those during her American career. She danced the ballet in both companies, BT and de Basil's-(even in her autobiography Suzzanne Farrell talks about the very first time she took part in a ballet performance when she was a kid, a BR's production of Nutcracker in which she played Clara, with Alonso and Youskevitch in the Act II PDD). Also she famously once declared that she had always refused to integrate to the soviet choreographic versions/style and even schooling, due to her well known devotion and reverence to her American standards. atm711 has mentioned that the BT version back then included a very short party scene and Snow Scene from Act I, but didn't mention about how the changing happened... atm...?

thanks, rg!-(will see if i'm luckier this time... )

Thank you. But even better than that...what about skilled teens playing teens...? (That's my favorite approach to the Nut. issue)

rg, and all this time I'd been hoping for you to come up with a lovely old pic on the issue, as is usually the case..!

And here's a pic of Jordan Elizabeth Long and Miguel Angel Blanco in the final pose of the SPF Grand Adagio. Beautiful! http://www.flickr.com/photos/26624336@N06/3145945309/

Thank you so much for the link! (It's funny, but searching Google had taken me to that same link just seconds before you posted it ) It is very interesting, indeed, to see that maybe, THERE WERE NO ANGELS WHATSOEVER!, and that those Alonso matryoshka dollls are pretty accurate... This is what your link says about the old notes on Act II...: "Act II - The Palace of Sweets in the Kingdom of Confiturembourg The beautiful and wondrous Kingdom of Confections is readied for the reception of the Prince and Clara, who arrive in a shell-boat, drawn by dolphins, down a river of attar of roses. They are greeted by the regent of the land, the Sugar Plum Fairy, who has been ruling in the name of the Prince, against the day of his return. The benevolent spirit asks of the exploits of the newly-arrived Prince who recounts the story of the Battle with the Mice to the kingdom, and hails Clara as the heroine who saved his life. He then introduces her to his little sisters, who are beautiful little dolls studded with gems. They greet her warmly when he tells them of her great bravery."

he,he...definitely this ballet doesn't stop amusing me. BEES!! Can i see them Mel?

Well, I thought for a minute about taking the pic down...until i decided not to... (c'mon, it is a PERFECT shot). Meanwhile, here's a more inocent one of him, and Surprise!, one of two of my three picks together... http://www.ballet.co.uk/images/bolle/bolle...ference_480.jpg http://www.exploredance.com/upload/gallery/3/324_2309.jpg

I haven't seen you,Gina Ness, lately on the board, but I hope that if you read this you could clarify my curiosity. I know that four of those six ballerinas were Josefina Mendez, Mirta Pla, Aurora Bosh and Loipa Araujo. Who were the other two...?

Zuasnabar was a promising Cuban dancer during the late 90's early 2000's. If I'm correct, she was one of the only two black female dancers to raise fast up to the top within the Cuban Company...until she disappeared-(Caridad Martinez was the other one). I remember her in Alonso's production of "Cinderella"-(music by Strauss) as the Godmother Fairy. I just found out she's still dancing in Bejart's troupe. http://www.bejart.ch/en/danseurs/zuasnabar.php

For reasons far from ballet issues, I came across this little thing online. It moved me , and I wanted to share it with you guys. http://www.daylife.com/photo/07Y83fqgBx8CX

This is probably something some of the most experienced BT's will know, but I don't. What's up with all those Nutcracker angels? Their parade is not my favorite thing, but I know is a big deal for the little components of many productions-(and their parents, of course). The real fact is that I didn't even know about this popular angelic incarnation of the corps until I saw my first Balanchine production. In Alonso's production she makes the adult Corps members do the same choreography/parade but the costume design does not indicates whatsoever that this are angels. They look more like Russian matryoshka dolls. So I have a couple of questions: 1-Are there any sketches/pics of these characters from Imperial Productions? 2-Where does the idea of portraying them as angels come from? Thank you all in advance!

Mel, that's how Alonso does it. If you notice on the clips that I linked above, there's a hidden entrance on the bottom of the tree. The whole thing is simple. Once they walk into it the whole set is mechanically lifted-(in the dark, while only a spotlight follows Clara and the Nutcracker)- and then the snow backdrops are already in place.

Act II . The Kingdom of Sweets. The II Act started with the usual parade of angels/infants-(can live without it)-and its usual response of Aaaww!’s, and Ooww!’s and sets of cell/camcorders rolling. Anyway, the setting was a little distracting, given the fact that it showed an austere palace interior backdrop -(probably more appropriate for Paquita, but let's not forget that this sets were given as a generosity of the Ballet of Dominican Republic). After the Nutcracker’s mime scene-(just like Balanchine's)- he and Clara sat on each side of the stage, away from each other-(a miss…let’s work on that) and then the divertissements started. The Spanish Dance was danced by a couple. It was vivacious and had a nice national flair. The girl had point shoes, and the boy-(a good looking Ignacio Rivera, also the Snow King and the Mouse King)-did all the right partnering. Arabian Dance-Four Odalisques and one leading couple, the girl dressed as a snake. I’m not very fond of this dance in any production that I’ve seen. It’s very slow and it’s usually all about showing extensions and gymnastic-like contortions. This wasn’t the exception. Chinese Dance-Four girls in black pancake tutus and black point shoes with Chinese-inspired shirts and hats. At one point they had the four of them jumping at unison on point with both feet-(kind of noisy…didn’t like the effect). Dance of the Merlitons- Three girls. A difficult choreography. Elegant Grace Ann Powers leading the group during the second run performing a very nice series of 16 Italian fouettes. Mother Commedia- The usual stuff. Too many kids... Russian Dance-Ah, a nice Trepak danced by Jesus Farias, Carlos Manuel Mijares with Gleidon Vasconcelos in the leading. Very energetic Grand Ecartes. Very well done. With a little bit of more rehearsal time would have been perfect. Waltz of the Flowers/Dew Drop Fairy PDD- Mamicha added the Dew Drop Fairy and her Cavalier characters to her production to dance along the flowers routine. I don’t think this inclusion really worked for me, although it was another fair chance to show more classical dancing. Jordan Elizabeth Long danced it on the first performance, looking very pretty on the role making this PDD, otherwise unjustifyable, well worth to watch SPF PDD- This was definitely the highlight of the performance. On the first run it was danced by Kate Kadow, a dancer that still needs to polish her technique in order to equal her more experienced peers Long and Powers. The Cavalier was handsome Miguel Angel Blanco for both performances, “THE” partner “per se”. I was so happy to see this PDD performed again after many years. It brought back the nicest memories, and it was performed just as I remembered. Only one detail. During the Adagio one of the most beautiful moments is when almost at the end of it, the Cavalier grabs the ballerina on her back and bounces her with pendulum-like movements almost touching the floor. This was beautifully done by Long, but omitted by Kadow. Long’s variation was as airy and refined as it could be, and her pique-turns during the coda were fast and strong. Tall Miguel Angel Blanco was, as usual, a stage presence, a truly prince, eating the stage with his ample jete menages. And that’s it. The end of the whole thing was very fast. Clara didn’t wake up in her room…no setting changes. Mamicha decided to end the ballet a la Balanchine, having Clara and the Nutcracker flying Thur the stage in a globe. Mamicha's production was very ambitious. It required 4 leading couples:(Clara/Nutcracker, Snow Queen/King, Dew Drop Fairy/Cavalier and SPF/Cavalier) and a lot of dancing. Long,Powers, and Blanco, as usual, stole the show. I still have to watch Kadow more carefully in the future. For the rest, the audience was very happy, so was I. Thank you Mamicha!!

Many times I’ve been backstage post performance and I've been amazed at how young and petite many- (MANY)-dancers look, both females and males. It is not hard to find dancers who look way younger than their real age- (e.g.- Kirkland, Daniil Simkin). The thing with Clara and the ballet is that in order for the character not to look weird there should be a formula to be followed in where: 1-She is always chosen to be portrayed by a close to the character's age ballerina- (I would say no more than 17/18 y.o), and 2-Because of number 1 reason, this character won't be a Principal dancer and will be away from the difficulty of the Act II PDD but at the same time she will have enough technique to go on pointe on Act I and make the whole thing more dancing oriented. None of the this was applicable to Kirkland). I totally agree that having a 40 y.o ballerina in a little girl nightgown doesn’t look right- (and ditto with the party kids, who also should be real dancers, but in their teen years). The main problem is that with all the pastiches that this ballet has been subjected to, many stagers want to have Clara/Marie/Masha do the Act II PDD, which only can happen with a grown up ballerina. Infantilizing adults is a variable concept. As I said earlier, a girl can be physically able to marry and procreate as early as 12 y.o. Ditto with boys, whereas at the same time some women of 15,16 are still playing with Barbie dolls. A curious thing is that the opposite idea, the pageant competitions, where REAL girls- (7,8,9 y.o)-are told to show of their bodies in full makeup like a Vegas showgirl- (yes…JonBenet Ramsey, RIP)-doesn’t seem to be that shocking to many standards.

I definitely agree about not having adults play children... but isn't infantilizing adults something we do in ballet literally all the time. Aren't some of the great parts in ballet infantilized adults? Swanhilda...? Lise...? Aurora...? Giselle...? Yes, we do...to the extent that we don't care anymore how "young" is, in the libretto the "young" Giselle, for example. I bet that she's no more than 14 or 15...hence...a kid, and then I don't think non 14 y.o would be allowed to interpret Giselle in a respectable Company

Carbro, his wife is Principal Jennifer Kronenberg, the most beautiful Odette of the season according to Jack Reed. http://www.socialmiami.com/img2007/Gala-Gu...erg-180x270.jpg And BTW, re thinking and re voting, here's my top three picks: Bolle: http://operachic.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451...251c88834-popup (On Gomez and Carreño place the mouse on the pic to maximize them) Gomez: http://www.hrphoto.us/marcelo_gomes_files/0801.jpg Carreño: http://www.yagp.org/gala/images/photos/Jos...uel_Carreno.jpg

Here are a couple of clips from Act I of the Cuban version that I often refer to, which "does it" for me. The first clips shows Clara and the Nutcracker dancing just before the Snow Scene. The second one is the beginning of Act II, including the Nutcracker's "mime". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKvVpKHfvtM

Setting of Nutcracker.The internet is full of sites for geneaology. Let's try to stay close to the topic. Thanks. Oh, sorry for the inconvenience. My point being the fact that a ballet dancer who's in his/her teens has a wide range of possibilities to be convincing just by "acting" the part, given the fact that he or she can be viewed either as an adult or a kid depending on his/her physique and the viewer's own perception of adulthood.

No, I'm currently engaged in another Nutcracker's issue. Will do the second part shortly, I promise. Jordan Long's SPF was all worth it.

In Cuba, 1909. My grandmother was born three years later, in 1912, her mother being 15. They were 11 brothers and sisters. At one point mother and daughter were pregnant at the same time, the mother giving birth even before the daughter. BTW...why Nuremberg...?