cubanmiamiboy

SanderO, for what i know, at least in Ballet Nacional de Cuba, the dancers are expected to learn certain roles since they're dancing in Corps. As dancerboy stated, this knowledge also comes from the PDD classes, but i think that even those depend on how familiar certain PDD's are within a company. For instance, for what they do in classes, or even in international competitions, i can tell which PDD's are more familiar or well liked among them: DQ, Sugar Plum Fairy PDD, Diana& Acteon, Black Swan, Flames of Paris, Tchaikowsky PDD, PDD Clasique and in less scale Corsaire, Paquita, Balanchine's Sylvia PDD and Esmeralda. Rarely Raymonda, Bayadere or Sleeping Beauty. Other ones that are very popular in other places are kind of unknown, like Satanella PDD. About whole ballets, all the Balanchine repertoire is an unknown territory for the cubans, (maybe it has to do with the Trust), with the exception of TPDD and Theme and Variations PDD.

Mme Alonso always says that for a ballerina to get to the point of doing "Giselle", first she has to "earn it", to prove of being able to know by heart how to dance first Willis Corps, Giselle's friends, Peasant PDD, Zulma and Moyna, Myrtha and even Albretch and Hilarion...meaning that she will be spending some time learning ALL the roles-(even the male dancers ones)-and "getting" the spirit of the ballet while spending some years scaling the rankings up to where she will be given the title role. By the time that happens, usually the ballerina can dance the role while sleeping...

...and "getting old" is soooooo yesterday.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISHA!!!

Lovely. I've enjoyed tremendously all the Balanchine fest that MCB brings every season. They're all first timers to me, and it's such a thrill every time a "new one" comes out..."Serenade" is one of the pieces that i've always wanted to see, since it seems to fit in my so called "old fashioned" taste, because yes, i SO love the visual impact of a white romantic tutu in a ballerina's body .. What do you think? You know..?, yesterday i saw part of a rehearsal, (again, thru the MCB studio glass windows while biking around the beach), and there were Catoya and Panteado doing what i suppose is part of "Fox Trot". Let me tell you, all i wrote about their non-chemistry performance in "AW", i saw the total opposite there. They were having the time of their life while rehearsing, laughing all the way thru and having so much fun...! They looked a totally different couple from that one on the stage. Originally i even though that maybe there were not used to each other or...you know, not too much mutual empathy, but yesterday i could tell that they actually enjoy each other a lot!.....so why did they looked so awkward together in the infamous "AW" disaster...?...it's beyond my comprehension... Chasing away flies? That poor girl/Queen looked so awkward... Well, it was hard not to look at the royal father, since half of his mustache was unglued and hanging during the whole thing, bart!!!!

bart, it seems like we were at the same performance, only that you were in West Palm Beach and me in Miami. That's exactly what happened when i went. The Queen seemed to me more like the 16 y.o Queen's maid-in-training wearing the Queen's dress for the night, and Aurora looked more like her older sister...I also saw some strange mannerisms on the Queen's hands movements..(something defininterly borrowed from Swan Lake's territory, and not particulary from Siegfried's mom.) that's sooooooooo true, bart.

Well said, bart.

In Miami, 90 % of the public are socialites with little or none interest in ballet...lots of furs and diamonds and pictures taken during the intermezzos for the social section of local newspapers...

Yes, indeed...

Good point. From the flap jacket: "Sex, as much as dancing, was a driving force for Nureyev . . . we [] see Nureyev's notorious homosexual history unfold . . . " Good point. As K. assumes, we are certainly avid to know all about "Nureyev's notorious homosexual history". But what do i care about certain anonymous character from a leather club "whose favorite thing was..." completed with a full description of his sex practice of choice...?

"Sleeping Beauty" should stay in the MCB repertory, but it has to be studied in a more profound way. Mme Alonso always said that the "grandeur" of a ballet has little to do with the lavishness of sets and costumes -(just take a look at how old and faded the Cuban ones are...and still how proud and regal do their princes and princesses look)-...it's the manners, the way the choreographer project the characters on the set and how the dancers believe in the story and make their approach to the "royal" concept...Getting familiar with the plot and its historical surroundings, period costumes and the like are essentials for the dancer and the stager to come out with a quality and credible product.

Agree. And that also links this thread to that one of questioning the access of a ballerina to the Odette/Odile roles if not capable of performing 32 fouetees...

Of course that "descriptions of non-romantic sexual activity" can be presented as a viable and legitimate way to make a point in a giving lecture-(let's say if reading to Jenna Jameson's "How to make love like a porn star").I totally agree. But for the purpose of the reader's better comprehension of Nureyev's sexual practices, i think she was totally pernicious in some passages...Should i quote...? (Don't know if it would be appropiate... )

...like what's the purpose of the over detailed descriptions of the sex activities going on on sexpots, clubs or bath houses..even if that was part of Rudik's life...? It made me feel like she didn't know what else to add. Sometimes they would be just pernicious descriptions of situations and places in which Rudolf wasn't even being mentioned, so what's up with that...? I certainly don't find that all those details reveal anything of significance to the narrative, other than adding some cheap thrill . I found it vulgar, strange, driven by morbid curiosity and totally out of place. At the end, the places still exist, personalities still frequent them, and that doesn't really make any news...at least to me... (Edited to add: I just noticed that somebody mentioned all this already , but i didn't see the post 'till now, and still, i wanted to express my own feelings.)

"Brokeback Mountain" was certainly a brave challenging film that touched many people's hearts and put some others to re evaluate certain life standards and ways of thinking and acting ...Thanks, Heath for being part of that... RIP Heathcliff Ledger.

...which I've seen in some versions of the Nutcracker's "Russian Dance" when danced by a couple of female dancers and a male. One could also argue that this is what the lead ballerina in Diamonds alludes to when she makes a similar gesture in the pdd. Perhaps Balanchine's subtle homage to his homeland...?

From Kavanagh's "Nureyev": Rudolf to Margot Fonteyn: "You were The Dance"... "No, said Margot reaching for Rudolf's hand..."We were The Dance...!"

...which i've seen in some versions of the Nutcracker's "Russian Dance" when danced by a couple of female dancers and a male.

I'm happy to hear that glebb!. I also believe that the raw style of storytelling that she used on "Dancing..." has created an impact within the ballet community. Some people just like to close their eyes in total denial and lie to themselves about things that are factual and real regarding substance abuse and ballet. In my opinion, she was very brave to expose , without masking them, all the facts that sooner or later had to be uncovered and addressed by somebody like herself. She is, for sure, an inspiration for young dancers and i admire her for being sincere and outspoken about her own demons.

Or nothing discreete, as in a XXI Century TV show-( Carrie spotting Mr. Big at the Met in "Sex and the City" )

I know!...i can't wait to see her Carabosse . For some reason, it seems to me that after "Dancing on my grave" came out, people mention her name-(if they do it at all) -with some sort of reserve, and sometimes even with some dislike...or is just my imagination...?

Thanks Chrisk217 for your helpful information!. I copied the schedule which goes as follow: 2008 /2009 NBC schedule JANUARY: 01/01/08 thru 01/05/08 . Havana: "Shakespeare and his masks" (Chor. Alicia Alonso. Music: Charles Gounod. Libretto: Jose Ramon Neyra based on Romeo&Juliet,by William Shakespeare. 01/24, 01/25, 01/26 (8:30 pm.) and 01/ 27 (5:00 pm.) Havana Nutcracker (Chor: Alicia Alonso after Lev Ivánov. Music: Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky. FEBRUARY 01/30- THRU 02. COSTA RICA TOUR. Chopiniana (Stage: Alicia Alonso after Fokine. Music: Frederik Chopin. La fille Mal gardée (Chor: Alicia Alonso after Jean Dauberval. Music: Peter Ludwig Hertel. 02/14, 02/ 15 , 02/ 16 (8:30 pm.) and 02/17 (5:00 pm.) Havana. Swan Lake .Chor: Alicia Alonso after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivánov. Music: Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky. 02/ 20 thru 03/ 15 . MEXICO TOUR "Shakespeare and his masks" APRIL-MAY SPAIN TOUR : Giselle (Chor. Alicia Alonso after Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. Libretto: Théophile Gautier, Vernoy De Saint-Georges and Jean Coralli) The magic of Dance (Classical Ballet Anthology) Swan Lake EGYPT TOUR Don Quixote (Chor: Alicia Alonso / Marta Garcia / Maria Elena Llorente after Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorski. Music: Ludwig Minkus. JUNE 06/22 THRU 06/30. CANADA TOUR Giselle OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 10/28 THRU 11/06 XXI International Ballet Festival of Havana, celebrating the 60 th Anniversary of National Ballet Of Cuba :blush: 11/20 thru 12/13 FRANCE TOUR Don Quixote Giselle DECEMBER 12-13 thru 12/31 GREECE TOUR Don Quixote Giselle 2009 JANUARY Havana. 01/01 New Year's Gala 01/01-01/30 GERMANY/ITALY TOUR Don Quixote Giselle --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEBMASTER

bart, while watching Aurora's Wedding, i was actually remembering an interview with Alicia Alonso in which Madame, when asked about her view on Sleeping Beauty and the Aurora/Desire roles, said something like how careful the choreographer and dancers have to be when staging this ballet , due to the "very difficult interpretation of the characters, which because of being part of the surreal world of a fairy tale, don't posses the same human essence of those from Giselle or even Swan Lake and hence harder to identify with ". Makes sense, right...?

One hand lifts ( ) usually impress me...

Oh, BTW bart , the Center was recently renamed as Arsht Center, right after one Adrienne Arsht dropped a nice $30 million to relieve its imminent bankruptcy. Carnival Cruise Line, with its former $10 million donation (which they took back immediately after they knew of the new deal) is out. Ms. Arsht, with her fresh bigger/yummier contribution, is in. Bienvenido a Miami! but back to the MCB Program II...

...which includes West Palm Beach, Sarasota and Naples and not-(of course as expected)- our "lost city" -(aka Miami)