cubanmiamiboy

Oh well, so let's keep this going: My all time favorite movie, (which i saw for the first time when i was a kid, and just couldn't get away from its magic ever since): the tasteful french 1964 Jacques Demy's "Les parapluies de Cherbourg". (Can we live without the young and beautiful Catherine Deneuve and her blonde 'do ? What about Michel Legrand's enchanting score...?

Maurice Bejart (RIP) on Mme. Alonso: "She is extraordinary.Alicia is passionate, ironic, willful and tireless, possessed entirely by dance and, somehow, simply enebriated by Cuba, by her homeland. She is romantic but lucid, instinctive and intelligent, almost blind but clairvoyant. One of these days, I must make a ballet about this extraordinary being.'' Maurice Bejart.

A controversial figure, with no doubt, and dearest friend of Mme. Alonso. This is what she had to say about him: Alicia Alonso, the prima ballerina assoluta of Cuba, on Thursday lamented the death of French choreographer Maurice Béjart, "a very dear friend and admirer." : "With the death of Maurice Béjart art loses an immense creator, one of the greatest choreographers of all time. He was an artist of inmense imagination , and also a philosopher of art," said Alonso in a note to the press e-mailed. "A significant detail is that despite his innovative aesthetics, he had the intelligence to understand the sensitivity and love of the classical tradition," said octogenaria director of the National Ballet of Cuba. In 1972, Alonso served as guest artist of "Ballet of the Twentieth Century", directed by Béjart, at the Teatro de la Moneda in Brussels, where she performed "The Swan Lake" exceptionally mounted for her. "In Béjart I had a very dear friend and admirer, and the National Ballet of Cuba an enthusiastic support," said Alonso, stressing that "it is remarkable that a vanguardist like him had this sensitivity, this culture." She recalled the visits by the choreographer to Cuba in the 70's and said that "our company danced some of his ballets and we never missed their messages, their breath." "The footprints of this creator remain forever in the art of dance," Mme. Alicia Alonso. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=e...en%26ie%3DUTF-8 RIP Maurice Bejart.

A little bit of all of the above, and yes, bart, i would even add the "self-satisfaction" issue on the list...why not. At the end, everybody seems to agree that in Nureyev's case, for instance, his art was a product of an inner urge, a vital need, something in which HE was involved with himself, (even during PDD's, and oftenly very obvious). Don't we breath to supply OUR OWN body's needs of O2...?, don't we eat to satisfy our PERSONAL hunger...?, hence, artistic creation goes on the same boat sometimes...

Marie is my favorite...You go ,girl!!!

I just love to read or hear of Balanchivadze being addressed by his real name...But back to the Imperial School topic...

Grrrr...i want to go to Europe!! (to visit, IMO)

Expanding Cristian's inquiry -- does this sort of Nutcracker exist anywhere anymore? I mean, a production close to the feel of the original version, intended for the original kind of of audience. I assume this is how The Nutcracker is done in Cuba -- but where else? I think that the 1978 Bolshoi/Maximova/Vasiliev production intended to be "adult-oriented". They didn't use children, but it seems like Grigorovitch,wanting to create a more "balletic" feeling, put a lot more of dance for Maximova and her multi-role performance, making it so only one ballerina would do the leading dance the whole night-(something that i particulary don't like, as i prefer to have a second ballerina, the actual "star of the night", doing the SPF, as it was originally intended ). This version also lacks the Snow Queen PDD, ( a later Fokine addition, i know, for Pavlova, but still beautiful). Overall, i would take this production right away if it was a matter of choosing...

Of course i do, but i'll better wait for another comment to be posted, so i don't sound too obviously partial-(which i am, i know, for the purpose of this subject ). Meanwhile, i'll quote Mme. Ulanova when, after watching this performance, said in tears... "Her Giselle is a miracle" ( I know, i wrote it already on the "Quotable quotes" Forum )

Thanks for the advice, printscess. I'll certainly check it out. Nothing wrong with Balanchine, if i may say, on the Nutcracker issue, but the thing is that that's the version MCB shows, and i know it by heart already. Also, i miss the ballet as an "adult" ballet itself separated from its american traditional Christmas feeling- (wonderful, i agree, but sometimes a little distracting from its inner complex quintessential choreographic/musical values). Thank you also for the advise on the NYCB production. I'll checl it out also and report back.

uuh, yes...?

Hi everyone !: As i'm going to be in NYC during the holidays on vacation, i thought about where am i going to see the Nutcracker. Now, this is the thing. I would love to see a production with, at least, one this two requirements: 1- One in which kids, as cute as they are, are not involved. or 2- One that is not Balanchine or Mc Kenzie based. My ideal thing would be to see the Fokine choreography, which i know is danced by the Irine Fokine Ballet Company in NJ and i adore, but i was wondering if a could have some more options in Manhattan. Newyorkers out there...advices, please..!

Those are always very interesting views, like in the "Ballet Russes" film, when Mme. Baronova's friend -(Tamara Tchinara?)-talks about the use of the batteries back then, and how neglected these steps are being treated nowadays.

...just from the XX Century...?

While sunbathing at the beach today i heard Carl Maria von Weber's "Invitation to the Dance" on the radio and it made me think of your performance. Congratulations, dancerboy, and don't get discouraged at all for the "little applause" thing...everybody has had their "little applause" nights, even our sacred balled idols...Here, this is the BT audience applauding you for your "Spectre"...

Do you have anhy other story to share...?...I must confess i LOVE to hear and read stories from those who, like you, were right there during all those wonderful years. I actually have some bibliographic material in where Mme. Alonso recollects many interesting stories from the ABT on the 40's.

Ms. Leigh...that was a moving and beautiful recollection. While reading it i kept thinking how great would it be to have a movie like the "Ballet Russes" one made on the ABT history, with so many dancers from its very begginings still alive and eager to share their wonderful memories, just as you did with us...THANK YOU!...BTW, may i add that you look very beautiful on that pic...?

From Kavanagh's "Nureyev", on Nureyev's words to friend Patrick Thevenon: "I will never return to my country, but i truly believe that i will never be happy in yours". Rudolf Nureyev

I know...I always get so frustrated when watching the truncated Black Swan Coda sequence with Toumanova , just after her fouetees and her partner's pirouettes a la second, when she kinds of gets into a position to do a backwards step,(and that's when the clip abruptally gets cut off) and it always leaves me wondering if she was going to do the controversial sequence of sautees sul le pointe en arabesque penchee that Mme. Alonso incorporated for NBC (giving the fact that her Ballet Russes experience is a major influence on her teaching and choreographic style).

From the past George Zuritch and Vladimir Vasiliev From the present Jose Manuel Carreno and Carlos Acosta.

Great job. Thank you, Alexandra.

really...? so i guess i'll stick with Sizova/Soloviev

I raised this similar question when trying to get the best offer on DVD for " La Bayadere", and the BT's advises were very valuable. Now that the ABT is bringing their own version to Miami, i would like to establish some comparisson. My only expossure to the whole "Beauty" is the lovely 1964 Kirov production with Alla Sizova, Yuri Soloviev and the great Mme. Dudinskaya as Carabosse, which i totally adore. I'm a self confessed traditionalist on ballet matters, but as nowadays we have a lot-(well, some more than before)-new releases of ballets on DVD maybe i should update myself a little bit on this work...? So, my question is: Which other DVD of "Beauty" should i own, besides de Sizova/Soloviev production ?

Oops!...Vladimir...sorry, i edited my post already...I was just watching a clip of Ivan while writing the Giselle post, and their first names got mixed up in my mind.... BTW...About this version I also wanted to note two things: the emphasis made of Giselle's mother mime scene on predicting Giselle's fate, a beautiful sequence mostly omited in the most of the productions, and the inclusion of the "Peasant Pas de deux" converted into a "Pas de dix" with a full display of bravura.

"Her Giselle is a miracle'' ...said Mme Galina Ulanova in tears after watching the 1980 Alicia Alonso/ Vladimir Vasiliev performance of the ballet in Havana.