cubanmiamiboy

Laura Linney on her Hollywood status... "I don't consider myself a celebrity and I don't consider myself a star." - Laura Linney

I'm sorry for my delayed contribution to this thread, dirac, but i haven't been able to touch my laptop in a few days. About The Savages ...wow, what a great family drama, insightful and truthful with the fine works from Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney as the unhappy Savage siblings . In this beautifully executed, irreverent work , Tamara Jenkins achieves a hard task: to make us simultaneously laugh and cry. In this film, in what may evolve into a new genre, the coming-of-middle-age story, i think she really captured all the pain and frustrations of this pair of brother-sister, suddenly plucked from their very absorbed lives and forced to care for a parent who never much bothered to care for them, transforming what could make us feel uncomfortable into a brilliant examination of family dynamics. The film is an very credible examination of family bonds which talks about how dealing with the past can help you move forward into the future. Here, Jenkins (who i found out hasn’t made a film since 1998’s “Slums of Beverly Hills”) delivers a subtle comedic drama that never feels false or forced. I think her success can be explained on her ability to unite Hoffman and Linney, two of the finest actors working today. They really made an outstanding creative team that allows for the excellence of this production. Both Philip Bosco (Lenny Savage) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Jon Savage) do a terrific work, but this is really Laura Linney’s (Wendy Savage) movie , who gives us one of her best performances to date. Here, once again, Linney proves to be one of the best actresses in the film industry of today. While her performance in the British romantic comedy Love Actually has been underscored, i think she has proved her caliber as a mature actrees as the headstrong wife to Liam Neeson's 2004 "Kinsey". Another subtle but penetrating role i loved from Linney was the selfish mother and divorcee opposing Jeff Daniels in the 2005 "The Squid and the Whale", a film that i think hasn't been appreciated at its best. But back to "The Savages" , if still undecided, don't be and run to see it today...I see Oscar...

Please, open one...i saw it and loved its dinamic and language...Linney was excelent on it too... About "Juno", i found it easy to digest. Page was a total natural, fluent, clever with great control...(I really hope to see her in future films...)

Because the 80's are vintage now!! (and hence chic, isn't...?)

What a beautiful pic, RG.!!!. I have it in the back cover of an old Ballet Nacional de Cuba "Tribute to Balanchine" program...

Anthony, the orchestra is sublime. Yes, we're lucky to have a symphonic ensemble considered to be among today's most revered in the world. I really hope that, with their first class allure, they continue to set standards of performing excellence and imaginative programming that serve as model for the audience and other orchestras alike. Now Michael Tylson's "New World Symphony",Eduardo Marturet's "Miami Symphony Orchestra" and Elaine Rinaldi's "Orchestra Miami" will have a strong competitor...It's also worthy to note that under the clever conduction of Mr. Franz Welser-Most, the orchestra has launched, besides Miami, other successful residencies in the United States and Europe, including Vienna and Lucerne. In reference to "Pulcinella", they did the Suite (1922), which is , as you know, majorly reduced from the ballet score (about 20 minutes being left). Also, what i find amazing about this beautiful composition is Stravinsky's choice to return 200 something years back in time to rewrite the works of a late Baroque composer, which to me is something of a shock from a composer who, with his "Rite of Spring" had earned a reputation as the most radical of all musical revolutionaries only a few years earlier. Oh, i would love to see the Balanchine/Robbins revival. Maybe Villella one day...

Definitely Jerome Bel's "Véronique Doisneau" sould be left into oblivion...(saw some of ir recently...Oh, God.. )

Mine is supposed to arrive next week...

So far i've seen: "Elizabeth..." "The Savages" "Eastern Promises" "The diving bell and the butterfly"/"Juno" "Atonement"

I totally agree with you on that, bart. That's exactly the way i felt when i first saw the stuffy MCB's "Nutcracker" or the glitzy ABT's "Swan Lake" as opposite with their cuban ultra-sober counterparts , closer to your description,(which is literally Mme. Alonso's mantra, BTW)

On saturday 2 i went to see the Cleveland Philarmonic Orchestra at the Arsht Center. In january this wonderful ensemble , under the direction of Franz Welser-Most, started a 10 years residency in Miami, and i just hope they keep their beautiful job and wish them the best. The program presented included 2 Stravinski's works: The Suite from "Pulcinella" and the Suite from "The Firebird". "Pulcinella": The music of this ballet can be tricky for those without prior knowledge of this Stravinski's work. I myself never had the chance to listen to the whole Suite live, and i must say sometimes it was hard for me to even identify the century in which this score was written. The melody sounds so "classical' , yet one can tell something is clearly "not right"-(there are what seems to be "wrong notes" here and there, and the orchestration sounds definitely nothing like that of works from the "classical" period of the XIX Century). He made some openly creative appropiations from the history of music, which are central to his so called "neo-classical" period. I did some researching and found some answers on this particular Suite, which seemed to have borrowed its tunes from a much more older work by the italian composer Giovanni Pattista Pergolesi (1710-1736). Overall, i certainly enjoyed enormously the "old fashiohned" feeling of this ballet music, taken from XVIII Century material. "The firebird": The musical vocabulary of "The Firebird" oscilates between heavy chromatism to depict the supernatural creatures and folkson simplicity for the human characters. Low strings introduce us to the magic realm of Kashchei, where Prince Ivan encounters the Firebird. The thrilling outburst of musical radiance that goes with the Firebird appearences shows Stravinsky's most lavish and opulent orchestration. Then follows a lenghty passage of pastoral calm with expecially gorgeous wind scoring. The next two sections involve violent chords that set off a sequence of frenzied rythms as they are compelled to an infernal dance to the point of exhaustation, which goes down to a dreamy soft tune first heard in the basson. At the end, we can hear a signal from the horn, marking the rising of the sun over the kingdom while mentally visuallizing Prince Ivan's celebration over the infernal beings. What a beautiful music. It seems to me that Stravinsky's own imagination caught fire from the bird and produced a music of incredible brilliance that draws not only on the orchestral wizardy he had learned first-hand from Rimsky-Korwakov, but obviously from a great knowledge of traditional Russian folk tunes. Also i want to mention that the version presented by Welser-Most is Stravinsky's 1919 arrangment-(He rearranged the score three times after its 1910 premiere, in 1911, 1919 and 1945). I only wish i could see the whole ballet live, being Liepa's 1992 reconstruction "The return of the Firebird" with Ananiashvili my only clue to this lovely creation.

Almost everyone knows how the Marinsky or the Bolshoi or the Covent Garden or the Lincoln Center looks like. Well, i want to add my two cents to the list. Above there's a picture of the Gran Teatro de la Habana, our-(yes, still mine even being in Miami)-own nest for ballet and opera in Havana, and house of Mme. Alonso's National Ballet of Cuba. There's where i saw her dancing for first and last time. It brings back my best memories, and i wanted to share it with my fellow BT'rs. Isn't it beautiful...? http://questier.com/Photos/200602_Cuba/tn/..._Habana.med.jpg

I expect he will be. He gave every indication of having the potential for a wide range of parts. So sad. Thanks for the link. Another young great actor gone,...like James Dean, like River Phoenix...(Damm, it's so not fair.....I just can't stop hating it...)

Not only two companies Andrew...!! According to memory, (and i'm sure some names slipped my mind), the following cubans are all currently principal dancers, and all coming from Ballet Nacional de Cuba. The Girls Lorna Feijoo-Boston Ballet Principal Lorena Feijoo-San Francisco Ballet Principal Xiomara Reyes-American Ballet Theater Principal Hayna Gutierrez-Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami Principal Adyaris Almeida-Cincinnatti Ballet Principal Dalirys Valladares-Monterrey Ballet (Mexico) Principal Alyhaydee Carreno-National Classical Ballet of Dominican Republic Principal Lisbell Piedra-National Classical Ballet of Dominican Republic Principal Viengsay Valdes-National Ballet of Cuba Principal Annette Delgado-National Ballet of Cuba Principal Barbara Garcia-National Ballet of Cuba Principal The boys Carlos Acosta-Royal Ballet Principal Jose Manuel Carreno-American Ballet Theatre Principal Rolando Sarabia-Miami City Ballet Principal Carlos Guerra-Miami City Ballet Principal Joan Boada-San Franciso Ballet Principal Nelson Madrigal-Boston Ballet Principal Reyneris Reyes-Boston Ballet Principal Cervilio Amador-Cincinnatti Ballet Principal Lienz Chang-Roland Petit Ballet Principal Osmay Molina-Puerto Rico Ballet Principal Angel Laza-Monterrey(Mexico) Ballet Principal Daymel Sanchez-Monterrey (Mexico) Ballet Principal Taras Domitro-Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami Principal Miguel Angel Blanco-Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami Principal Joel Carreno-National Ballet of Cuba Principal Victor Gili-National Ballet of Cuba Principal Romel Frometa-National Ballet of Cuba Principal My boys and girls...

I hope it rains... Note: Edited to avoid misogyny. Sorry Leigh...

Thank you Mel, as usual, for your valuable information. I found some considerations by Mme. Alonso on the subject in an old program of the Cuban "Nutcracker" back from my days in Havana. I tried to do my best doing the translation, thinking that it would be interesting to share it. I know, I'm a hardcore fan of her, but still, it's worth to read it...Please, forget my grammar mistakes. I'm still working on my english... CONSIDERATIONS ON THE "NUTCRACKER" BY PRIMA BALLERINA ASSOLUTA MME. ALICIA ALONSO "Although during some years the National Ballet of Cuba did not maintain in its repertoire the complete version of the Nutcracker, there have been interpreted frequently, in assemblies made by me, important fragments of the work, like the Grand pas of deux of the Sugar Plum Fairy of the second act, as well as the Snow Scene of the first act, the Trepak/Russian Dance (inserted in our extract of the Sleeping Beauty as Aurora's Wedding) and the Waltz of the Flowers. .The complete version that I presented, with the happy coincidence of the fiftieth anniversary of the National Ballet of Cuba, I conceived it in the first place with the greater possible fidelity to the original style of the work established by Ivánov , who contributed with his own ideas within the inheritance of Petipa's style, which I also respected and followed as the choreographic original pattern. As far as the dramatic art, without harming the conventions of the style and the theater practices of the time, it happens like with other works of XIX century ; I had to rework it obtaining the synthesis and the logic that the today public demands, but in the most authentic representation of the classic inheritance. Essentially I confer a great importance to the Grand Pas de Deux of the second act, and to a certain extent I have taken it as a stylistic base or starting point for the assembly of all the whole work. For that, it seemed to me useful to emphasize and to establish some important precisions on this PDD, given its model character inside the classical tradition and because besides, happily, the version that we present with the National Ballet of Cuba corresponds faithfully to the original one created by Ivánov, from both choreographically and stylistic point of view. The PDD of the second act of Nutcracker was, during decades, an important number in my repertoire. I included it frequently in concerts and even almost until my retirement I continued dancing its beautiful Grand Adagio. To give the well deserved historic importance of this PDD within the ballet, I have placed special care in the purity of the style and the strict respect to what is conserved of the choreography thought by Ivánov. In this days, different versions can be seen around the world, not always fortunate in their choreographic conception and style. When in the middle of the 40's i was getting prepared to dance for the first time this famous classical duet, I basically followed the choreography that Alicia Márkova and Anton Dolin taught me. The version of Márkova was very loyal to the Imperial one , since she had been fallowing the first one that was being done out of the Russian environment, carried out in England by Nikolai Serguéiev in the beginning of the 30's. This was very important, for which the choreography of Ivánov had started being forgotten. During the 20's, Fiodor Lopukov had done an entirely new version of Nutcracker for the Kirov , and at the same time that Serguéiev staged the Nutcracker of Ivánov in London, Vasili Vainonen premiered his new version at the Kirov. As for the Bolshoi , since many years before, Alexander Gorski had carried out his own version, which was substituted later on by that of Vainonen. Although I only knew the PDD just as had been carried to London by Serguéiev, i investigated and analyzed everything that was possible, trying to achieve, choreographically ,the greatest accuracy and stylistic purity according to the original one of Ivánov, and for that I had the invaluable aid of Alexandra Fedórova, who had been one of the most influential teachers in my formation. Fedórova, sister-in-law of Mikhail Fokine, had graduated at the beginning of the century in the Imperial School of San Petersburg, and then became a noticeable soloist at the Marinsky, where she belonged for many years. She was also a person of great balletic culture, and possessed an extraordinary choreographic memory, which permitted her to mount with success in 1928 the original complete version of Ivánov for the Ballet of the Opera of Riga, where she worked for a long time; and in 1940, to carry that version to the Russian Ballet of Montecarlo, where i learned and interpreted in 1957. I had then the opportunity to compare the Serguéiev version with the version recalled by Fedórova, and I found that, in reference to the second act PDD,the choreographies were essentially identical. Still, one should understand that interpreting a classical work with stylistic and choreographic fidelity does not mean to dance it exactly the same as in its premiere. The technique and the scenic behavior are not maintained frozen in time, but they evolve. The technique is done more refined and the expressive point of view goes to a greater simplicity, to a synthesis. The talent of the artist will be shown if he or she is capable of getting to the spectator of today and corresponding to this days psychology and culture, without betraying the choreography neither the style. In the interpretation of the SPF PDD of Nutcracker it should not be forgotten that, although is a purely academic PDD, its spirit and profusion of details make it ,within the classical style, a work totally different from other PDD's-( like that of the third act of The Sleeping Beauty for example)-. The characters of the Nutcracker PDD -(in the English speaking countries the female role is known as The Sugar-Plum Fairy, and in France as The Fee Dragée)- belong to a world of fantasy. In this they coincide with Princess Aurora and Prince Desire of Sleeping Beauty . But Aurora and Desire are, within the story,within the fantasy, "real" characters. And as such, their elegance is more "courteous" and the dynamics of their movements more "human"; the mechanics of the academicism is shown a little more conscious or accentuated. Aurora and Desire seek in a more evident way the line and the elegance, the noble or aristocratic gestures. While, in Nutcracker, the characters of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier are the quintessence of the fantasy: they belong to an impossible country of candies and dazzling fantasies, conceived in the dream of a girl. This dream world is declared in a fabulously exquisite way, so much like the illusions of the infancy are capable of creating. Therefore, even being a classical duet, in every moment the dance express certain dazzling romanticism . It's like a sweetness with sparkles, inside the classical sobriety. On the other hand the Cavalier is a gentleman , a fantasy soldier that, without stop being classic, has certain demicaractère tone. That is expressed in a certain mood, certain martial mannerisms in his positions, and in the musical accents of his dance, a little more marked or "cutting". The female dancer, that in this case is a fairy shows, within the romantic majesty, a lot of femininity and modesty. Her dance should be light, airy, of great delicacy, with the accent very markedly up. It is a sensation that recalls a romantic ballet, (like the second act of Giselle, for example), but this is an effect that,achieved within the specific form in which the technique in the classical way is used within this "Pseudo-romantic" style, makes it different from Giselle. It is not easy, of course, to meet this so extensive range of elements in a PDD that imposes large technical demands. These differences that i have indicated, illustrated with the comparison of this two different PDD's-(Sleeping Beauty vs. Nutcracker)- are very importance. It is a matter of "accents", of different views within the surreal world, that allows to differentiate the essence of these two works at first sight very clearly. In general, if we fail to qualify our dance and our interpretation, to give different tones and colors to a technique whose base is the same one, all we dance can look the same , because a deficient interpretation can dangerously impoverish the art of the ballet in a very dramatic way. Another very characteristic moment of the Nutcracker corresponds to the Snow Scene. Here the central focus is another important PDD, danced by the Snow Queen and her King. This is a duet that requires an extreme classicism, but with a completely unreal projection, that transmit the spectator the sense of the ephemeral thing, the dance of two ethereal beings made of snow, that can dissolve in any moment. Therefore they should be totally impersonal, cold and very airy, which makes them of very difficult interpretation, reason that explains why this PDD is eliminated of many versions. In this scene, the snowflakes Corps should have, similarly, the same con-substantial, ephemeral character as the royal snow couple. All this differentiates the Snow Scene —as for style and expressive form— of the so characteristic scenes of "ballet blancs" in other works of the great classical repertoire. " Mme. Alicia Alonso Now you can tell why do i take so seriously the "Nutcracker"...

...and even out ot the Nut "season" i just discovered that the version of the Royal Ballet with Anthony Dowel and Leslie Collier is almost identical from the Ballet Nacional de Cuba one...

While in New York last December, i had planned to go see him in "Beckett Shorts" but couldn't make it... I wonder about his upcoming retake of Alexander Petrowsky's role in the "Sex and the City" movie...i loved him in the series... (oops !, did i revealed a "guilty pleasure"...? )

Hey bart, I'm also a proud member of the Medical School of Miami Dade College, so BRAVO FOR THEM!!! This is another fragment of their statement: "The company school will also provide a training environment for young dancers of promise outside of Cuba where they can share in the traditions of the Cuban Classical School and apprentice with principal dancers from the original company. This endeavor will preserve the style and legacy of the Cuban Classical School..." I certainly will report bac bart!. (I really hope if they'll use the cuban choreography with the sautees sur le pointe en arabesque penchee of the Black Swan coda... )

Oh well...i would love to say a couple of things about those creeps...but manners and the forum proper-oriented vocabulary wouldn't allow me, right...?, so i better and and also on the Westwhaterever Church subject...

That was probably a rehearsal of a jazz performance -- Lounge 2200, using jazz of the 1950s-60s -- scheduled for MCB's Open Barre series at the studio, 3 performances, Fri., Feb. 8, 7pm; Sat. Feb. 9, 5pm and 8pm. The promotional material has a very sultry photo of both of them (head and shoulder shot). The choreography is by Rafi Maldonado, head of the MCB School jazz department, and I'm told it is very "hot." Well, yes...there was a lot of pelvic movements...very hot indeed..(being Catoya and Panteado colombian and brazilian indistinctly, you can imagine... ) I missed it last time for lack of information. (I was also attending the Roland Petit Gala at the Carnival that same night), but i'll go this time for sure. Let me tell you..i must confess i miss the cuban "star system". I would only pray that they realize the bennefits of getting a little bit of it at MCB and start selling some names (even knowing that Villela comes from the total opposite Balanchine-oriented vision. Do you think it was intentional...? Well, now i'm even more confused with the mix of some dancers "guillotin faces" vs. the "comic-silly" feeling.

This is an update on the Company's newly launched web site and their upcoming performances. I wish them all my best and i'm proud of their inmense efforts to continue the cuban-style tradition in America. BRAVO!! Program I: 2008 Season Opening Premiere of SWAN LAKE Starring Prima Ballerina Lorena Feijoo and Guest Principal Dancers Hayna Gutierrez, Taras Domitro and Miguel Angel Blanco With 56 Piece Orchestra conducted by Maestro Jose R Urbay Costumes and Scenery from the Ballet Santiago Chile Saturday, February 23 at 8 PM & Sunday, February 24 at 3 PM The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater 1700 Washington Avenue Miami Beach, FL Program II: Best of the Classical Repertoire Saturday, April 5 at 8PM & Sunday, April 6 at 3PM Manuel Artime Theater 900 SW Ist Street Miami, FL Program III: Best of the Classical Repertoire Sunday, April 20 at 5 PM Coral Springs Center for the Arts 2855 Coral Springs Drive Coral Springs, Broward County FL Program IV: Best of the Classical Repertoire Saturday, May 10 at 8 PM & Sunday, May 11 at 3 PM Manuel Artime Theater 900 SW 1st Street Miami, FL European Tour June 15th through July 31st Shows, dates, and locations to be announced August & September The XII International Ballet Festival of Miami The Fillmore Jackie Gleason Theater, Miami Beach Carnival Center, Miami Kravis Center, West Palm Beach Manuel Artime in Little Havana, Miami October Various Programs CCBM Tour of the Dominican Republic December The Nutcracker The CCBM Company and School will present the 'Nutcracker" with Hispanic versions of the characters AND HERE'S THEIR BRAND NEW WEB SITE. http://www.cubancbmiami.com/ Good luck!!

And this is what the company's Director has to say: ''Of course it affects us,'' says Alonso, founder and head of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. "Not only as a company, because we have 110 beautiful dancers, and we have more coming up each year through our school. But as human beings. I wish they had waited to develop a little more, to be better formed. Those young people who left may not believe this, but I always worry about them. But then this is what we always have wanted to do: To share our art, to share our Cuban ballet." Mme. Alicia Alonso. And then Alonso's husband, Pedro Simon recalls...: ''When a dancer leaves our company, the artistic effect is probably the same as when a dancer leaves any company,'' says Simón, who reveals that the New York City Ballet is making overtures to the Ballet Nacional de Cuba's young Joel Carreño. "Those are artistic realities. But we have special political and social realities here, and that means that there are social and political repercussions when dancers leave.'' Don Pedro Simon. (p.s...can't wait for their upcoming "Swan Lake" )

''Art has no homeland, but I do. I am Cuban. And I am a dancer. For a Cuban, dancing is the most natural thing in the world." Mme. Alicia Alonso

It's time to add my two cents. I want to address something it seems to have "slipped" () Ms. Kavanagh's mind when writing the book: Rudolf Nureyev collaboration with Mme. Alonso and the great spanish soprano Victoria de los Angeles in the ballet "Poem of Love and the Sea", a beautiful work created by cuban choreographer Alberto Mendez specially designed to gather the three legends onstage in the First Festival of Music and Dance in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1990. Above is a link that shows chronological pics of Mme's artistic trayectory.; Scrolling down to 1990 there's a pic of both artists taking bows during a courtain call at the event. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=e...l%3Den%26sa%3DG