cubanmiamiboy

Do they want to make us believe he's moved to tears by her story (...)? (...) if you have the right answer please give it to me.

I don't think i have a right answer , but yes, it makes perfect sense to me that one would be showing sadness as somebody tells me a dramatic tale about his/her family. The fact that i like that person very much doesn't seem to justify anything else, at least to me. We still do it. Somebody at work, even the new lovely secretary that just started yesterday and which you can't seem to get your mind away from, tells you that she's scheduled to do some jail time for a wrong drug-related charge, and what do you do...?, i guess show some sadness at least, right...?

And, Cristian, wouldn't Chopiniana and Giselle be too similar stylistically -- all those Romantic movements and long tutus?

Absolutely, bart!...Actually, i would pair "Chopiniana" with something else...(still have to think about the perfect match), but, as i stated in an earlier post, not "Giselle"..

" Now, i really don't want to see "Giselle" paired with anything else. About "Chopiniana",i do agree is too short to make it as a solo act ,and needs some extra support.."

I guess this is because the cuban version that i grew up with is lengthy enough, as in include all the "Peasant PDD" music, but rearranged as a "Pas de Dix". No complains of empty stomach here...

I've only heard of the second ballet being a curtain raiser. You don't put anything on after Giselle. What could go after?

an idea with two women's stories, Leigh!...

First part: "Giselle'

Intermission.

Second part: "Véronique Doisneau"

some background on this ballet...

It was created by Jérome Bel. The music was played during a very long time and Véronique Doisneau stayed motionless on stage.

How's that ...?

--------------------

I don't like "Forsythes Steptext" either...

Junior Awards were not given until the third Varna, in 1966. In that year Martine van Hamel received a Junior First Class Distinction, what would now be Junior Gold. Others were Baryshnikov, Vtorushina and Stefanescu.

thank you drb for your research! There seems to be lots of discrepancies around online on this type of information. I believed that Van Hamel's gold medal had been in 1965, as the "Ballerina Gallery" website states...

http://www.ballerinagallery.com/hamel.htm

glad to have that clear.

Cristian - I don't think she joined the company with him. About 10 years ago at some function I met Carreno and was introduced to his wife, but not by name - who knows if it was the same person though she did look like a dancer.

His wife no longer dances.

What a pity. She was the first "Giselle" i ever saw live onstage, shortly after she joined NBC. She seemed to have a promissing career, until suddenly she started fading away into obscurity and then stopped being seen altogether on the Havana stages...

But there are surely those patrons who might not feel they got their money's worth if the show ended before 10:00.

Exactly. To me, the thought of pairing something with Giselle seems like those restaurants that feel compelled to enlarge their servings so that customers feel they get their money's worth. Give me fresh ingredients, well conceived and prepared, presented attractively, in moderate amounts, and I will leave happy. This goes for ballet as well as food.

Well, let me tell you. In my case, they'll only make me happy if they serve me a generous plate...(what can i do, i have a big appetite!.. ), so i guess that one can also be voracious in terms of ballet consumption. Now, i really don't want to see "Giselle" paired with anything else. About "Chopiniana",i do agree is too short to make it as a solo act ,and needs some extra support...I also would like to add that the fact that there's not emotional attachment related with the Shylphides' abstract plot makes the transition to something else less shocking and easier to digest...

At the time Jose Manuel Carreno left the National Ballet of Cuba to join ABT, his wife, Lourdes Novoa, was also a principal dancer at the cuban company. Then, after they left, i never heard anything else from her. For those familiar with ABT, did she also joined the company..?, or if not, is she still dancing somewhere else...?

And in 1965, Varna was just out of the gestational stage. They were still finding their ways in the ways of ballet professional competitions.

Are they still giving multiple medals in Varna nowadays, or is just only one gold, silver and bronze for each category...? (BTW, thank you Delibes for opening a new thread for this topic...)

Can any competition veterans out there explain how Bessmertnova, Makarova & Araujo all won the women's gold at Varna in 1965?

You're totally right, Delibes. Mme. Araujo's gold medal was in 1965, and according to "The Ballerina Gallery" website, besides Bessmertnova, Makarova and Araujo, also Martine Van Hamel was a gold medalist too there !... go figure...

Loipa Araujo was gold medal at Varna in 65, I think, the year there was a Cuban women clean sweep. Also on Youtube you can see her mysterious Black Swan fragment in a compilation from Moscow IBC.

Mmm...now i'm really confused, because i was taking the 1969 information as accurate...

"Loipa Araujo mentioned she had been a competitor in the first Moscow competition in 1969 where she received a silver medal. At Varna in 1969 she was the first Cuban ballerina to win a gold medal. On the other side of competitions, however, her first was 1993 in Moscow, following the Mercosur Ballet Competition in Argentina."

which i took from here...:

http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/training/201.html

Mme. K. left Russia in 1920, and according to the literature, the last time she danced in her homeland was in 1917. What did she do during those 3 years...? Did she teach under the new soviet regimen...? Did Lenin allow her to keep her mansion ...?

Thank you for the translation.

BTW, there's a video on Youtube of Mr. Jhones dancing "Bayadere" with Mme. Loipa Araujo (one of the Cuban National Ballet "four jewels" and Varna Gold Medal 1969, beating a pre-deffection N. Makarova )

I had one boss (for 5 years), about 15 years ago, who would repeat the same stupid joke every season opening night at NYCB (which was always on a Tuesday): "so who is going to toss out the first tutu?"

It's mildly funny -- while being really stupid -- the first time you hear it. He had a repetition compulsion.

When the ballet/opera/Concert Association Season open up here in Miami, for the most of the performances on friday and saturday nights, i have to go straight from work, because i finish late, and have no time to go home to change, so i bring my cloth and change at the salon. Everytime my co workers see me in the process, and ask me where am i going , they always seem really amazed at my answers (ballet, opera, etc...) Sometimes I even get some weird looks from some of them, and one time i overheard one of them saying "he's crazy..."

i've scanned the cover of the winter '80-81 season showing the gold costume in question.

Is it me or she's actually not wearing any ribbons on her right shoe...?

I made sure I got a picture of myself outside her home in Petersburg.

You can pass the mansion on your way to the Peter and Paul Fortress from the Gastinitza Cankt Peterburg.

I read somewhere that the house is ongoing a slow transformation to its former glory, and some of the rooms are already showing Mme. K. personal items and ballet costumes...

oh, well...can't help to add two more variations, both male BTW. Albretch II Act, for its dramatic impact and flamboyancy when well performed, and "Satanella", because i think is just lovely... Also, i truly enjoy a good "L'espectre de la rose" entrance (a la Misha) and subsequent solo before incorporating the girl into the dancing...

Thanks, miliosr. Marie Osmond. Wow.

Never watched this show before, but i was curious. Did anybody watched the premiere tonight...?. I think Osmond's Fox-Trot was very cute...Certainly, the woman has charm. I also liked Seymour's elegant manners. and her use of the arms, (aha, pulling out some old ballet tricks, ah..? )..

Another quote I adored was Martha Graham talking about 'the body as garment' or perhaps 'ultimate garment', but I can't remember the exact quote, and I may have read it in an early 80s NYT article. If somebody remembers it, please fill in! I feel quite the same way about this matter, tending to agree with Ms. Graham on many things.

I have that quote among my favorite ones, papeetepatrick!. It is "The body is a sacred garment".Martha Graham. Beautiful words...

A topic from a newcomer in Everything Else Ballet, asked what is the first variation taught, which led me to think, what are your favorite variations, male or female and why? Can be classical or contemporary. (has this topic been on the board before?)

Yummy thread!...

Male Variation: "Diane& Acteon". When properly danced, Acteon's variations gets a unique level of artistry. It's also very stamina-driven, and it brings back some of my best memories of the Bolshoi-influenced men of National Ballet of Cuba.

Female Variation: "Don. Quijote". As a latin, I get specially attracted by the spanish flavor of Kitri's dance with her cute fan.

it's also novel and an important matter too, so that people don't get too stiff and reverential: Like, say, it was good for some people on the thread to say they find 'Diamonds' boring, so they are not forced to be in an artificial state of awe even about one of Balanchine's most quintessential and ultimate works

This is so true, papeetepatrick...actually i must confess that it was after reading some of the posts that i was encouraged to take my pick on the boredom-in-ballet subject and accept that my all time most boring work was one of the trademarks of my all time beloved and favorite ballerina...

...Preo's students, I am under the impression, did better than MK's. (Fonteyn went to Preo.)

...mmm, questionable. Among some of Mme. Khchessinska' students, Mme. Riabouchinska

I would question that statement strongly

MK had a career that lasted 45 years. Of that about 33 was arguably the greatest balletina in the west

True. Also, i wanted to note that Fonteyn was Khchessinska's student too. BTW, she died in 1971, at the age of 99 , but i've tried unsuccessfully to find pics of her mature/elderly years...Is there any out there..?, Mr. R.G...?

I've always found her a banal and uninteresting actress.

Totally agree with you. Can't even remember a movie of her without Googling...(which i won't, BTW)

...Preo's students, I am under the impression, did better than MK's. (Fonteyn went to Preo.)

...mmm, questionable. Among some of Mme. Khchessinska' students, Mme. Riabouchinska

I'd love to have a Russian impression of Kschessinska.

I know...BTW, i miss Leonid's posts...