cubanmiamiboy

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.

Finally, the Alonso/Vasiliev "Giselle" DVD is out in Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/105-5...e+alicia+alonso BTW, i forgot to mention that for this one time only partnership, Mme. Alonso was personally coached by Anton Dolin , and Vladimir Vasiliev by Mme. Galina Ulanova

OMG, Leigh, you just read my mind. That's why we lost so many Petipa's works...non transcendental music. That's why the Tchaikowsky trilogy doesn't has to show its dancing side to be enjoyable 150 %. (Actually, in the ballet programs in Havana the work get's catalogued under the composer's name instead of the choreographer, as in western tradition ) So, if we want a trascendental new ballet, first we need a brilliant new score...

Quite a controversial personality. RIP Norman Mailer.

Try salsa...

Sometimes i just can't believe they call this a rumba, or that a cha-cha-cha, or a samba... Their vision of latin rythms is...funny..

yummy!!...I'm working on Kavanagh's "Nureyev" at a very, veeeeeeeery slow rate, whenever the "Diabetic..." gives me a break...

For some reason, i don't see any shadow of "over-masculinity" in Misha's performance. On the contrary, the first time i saw his "Spectre", it made me smile to see his softness and sensuality...And then, considering that his portray is not as androginous as some like the dancers to be on this role, what's wrong with it...?, I mean, the girl is dreaming of a rose who has taken the human form of a boy, not of that of another girl, and boys can be masculine, right?...If Fokine's idea would had been that of "confusing" a little bit the audiences, he could had created the role for another ballerina, given the simplicity of the steps...I simply see this lovely duet as a little love story between, perhaps, two adolescents, perfectly defined in gender: the male one soft, yes, ethereal, yes, delicate, yes, but not androginous at all...

I've read this article several times, and the more i read it, the more outreagously mad do i get. Giselle is one of the few nice things that this world still has to offer to its habitants. It is a gift to the soul, a homage to beauty and a tribute to humanity. This topic touches me in a very personal level because this "worthless" work, as the insensitive, ignorant and probably frustrated dancer/reviewer calls it was, in times of desperation and struggling back in my homeland, a strong spiritual support, and i know that i'm also talking in behalf of thousands of cubans. This story of unconditional love has managed to survive and even thrive through the darkest decades in Cuban history within the NBC, and i know it will likely go on dancing gloriously until our country is finally free. That's the beauty and the glory of the meaningful themes of "Giselle": dancing through the darkness making every gesture matter and keeping hope alive through the cruelest of ordeals . That's why for me Giselle is a sacred thing and also it is for me easy to understand the reasons behind this masterpiece ballet being so beloved and venerated by the Havana audience, and why Alonso's Cuban dancers mean every step they take. Some talentless people are likely to be dead, sunken into oblivion and totally forgotten into obscurity while Giselle will still be giving its trascendental message of love and hope for those capable to appreciate it... .

OMG, back off, Satan! if my beloved Mme. Alonso read this, then i bet it would be fallowed by the most dramatic maddness/death scene ever experienced, but a real one, via Myocardial Infarction!

Oooooooh, yes... , and then wait 'till you are actually IN ...you'll look back wishing to have that extra time to read that you had pre-med school...Good luck!! I'm trying so hard to discipline myself, but when Nijinsky's face is just beckoning me to buy the book...well, discipline is impossible. And take my advise. Don't try to get through a Pharmacology chapter while Ballettalk is on right next to you on your laptop..it'll take you 3 hours to complete it while you constantly click in the "View New Posts" buttom...(from my own experience... :blush: )

I was revisiting my "Spectre..."clips on my Youtube account, admiring once more time my favorite Misha's performance Baryshnikov here seems to be seducing and inviting the girl, rather than protecting and guiding her. He is 100% boy, even in this piece and his style may not be adequate for this particular role, but God bless him for not being the second ballerina on stage!. :blush:

Reading Ruth Sunderland's article about Carlos Acosta, i recalled this old thread, and i thought it would be interesting to post this anecdote... "In his memoir, No Way Home, he -(Acosta)-recalls an instance, after he had just joined the Royal Ballet, when he got talking to an elegant black man in a bar, who told him that because of his colour, the company had probably brought him over to play the jester. Acosta flew into a rage and replied: 'I only dance principal roles. I am Romeo, I am Siegfried... if there aren't any black Romeos, I'll be the first." :blush:

And this is what Mme. Alonso :blush: has to say about working her dramatic skills in "Fall River Legend" with Tudor: "I was lucky to work with him. He had a marvelous sense of theater; Agnes deMille was a strong influence on me, but I think my work with Tudor was more important. I was impressed with the way he approached a ballet, how he studied every detail. He taught me--- and Agnes did, too, later, to use my whole body to express emotion, mood, the drama of the moment. My Latin emotions had been centered on my face..." Mme. Alicia Alonso

31 October, 2007 Cuban National Ballet Celebrating 60th Anniversary A special celebration was held on Sunday presided by Cuban Minister of Culture Abel Prieto to mark the anniversary of one of the world’s leading ballet companies. During the ceremony, prima ballerina Barbara Garcia and lead dancer Victor Gili were presented with the Alejo Carpentier Awardl, granted by the Cuban Council of State, and a group of 13 artists and specialists from the BNC received the National Culture Award, conferred by the ministry of Culture. In just over 20 years of her artistic career, Garcia has successfully interpreted most of the leading roles in the repertoire of classic and romantic ballet, leaving an imprint of the Cuban School of Ballet in the Monterrey Company and that directed by the Spanish master Victor Ullate. Gili has developed a brilliant professional career since his incorporation in the BNC in 1991, inspired in the example of his mother, the unforgettable prima ballerina Josefina Mendez, one of the "four jewels" of Cuban Ballet. Among the activities planned to mark the founding of this beloved Cuban institution is a display at the National Library of a collection of books including a bibliographic compendium on Alicia Alonso and the BNC, and an exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts of artworks related to Alicia Alonso and dance. The BNC was founded in Havana on October 28, 1948 under the name of Ballet de Alicia Alonso, and quickly became a center of creativity and innovation, laying the foundations to what would become known as the Cuban School of Ballet. (RC) http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/english/news/art63.html

Reading Ruth Sunderland's article on Carlos Acosta posted by Dirac in "Links", i came across the following phrase towards the end: "Cuba's loss is our gain: we are lucky to have him living and working here" Cuba didn't loose Carlos Acosta. He is and always been very proud to belong 100 % to that island and he always make sure that that is recognized everywhere. He's just, as many of us, another cuban who had to leave our homeland to try to have a decent life, and i find very disrespectful to describe a "gaining" situation out of these sad circumstances.

Then i wouldn't think they would be honoring the "everything is pretty in ballet" old wise saying...Pierced nostrils..in ballet...? NO,NO! Shaved Siegfrieds...? Give me a powerful reason, (medical, i would say), in a powerful dancer, and i'll agree. Otherwise, NO,NO! Tatoos?, we have a thread on those, and the poll speaks by itself... Don't we do it all the time...?,I mean, Isn't almost everything on ballet about external messages to the visual sense...?

I've looked at this website for a while now, and it has indeed beautiful pictures. Warning: It contains some mistakes in some of the ballerina's biographies. For instance, i don't know if it was corrected already, but Martine Van Hammel's Varna's Junior Gold Medal was dated 1965, when in fact she won it in 1966...

Amen. Mel, i admire your straight to the point posts , so please, keep them coming! I'm with you 100 % on this one.