cubanmiamiboy

I would like to bump this thread, as I just scrutinized the place. The theater REALLY needs a renovation, particularly in the outside. The green painting is peeling all over, and the wood work in windows and doors needs replacements. Inside it doesn't really shows that much of wear and tear, but judging from the way renovations are being carried all over historical buildings around the city, it is obvious that the Mariinsky is due.

Hello everyone!

First of all allow me to apologize for delaying my updates on the Mariinsky White Nights Festival, but I will post my experiences gradually. My return to Miami has been full of life events-(all of them happy, BTW)-but time and energy consuming.

I had the most amazing but really exhausting trip to Russia, which I divided in between Moscow and SP. Both cities were AMAZING, but SP was really like a fairy tale. The opulence of the palaces and churches has no comparisson with anything I've seen before, and the architecture of the city is just magnificent. There was so much to see that I really couldn't cover all of it, although I was able to visit the most important landmarks-(churches, palaces, monasteries and cemeteries). One of my most cherished memories was a visit with a dear old friend to the Alexander Nevsky monastery and cemetery, which has the burial sites of Petipa and Tchaikovsky, along with many others-(Dostoyevsky, Borodin, Rimsky Korsakov from the top of my head). At the Novodevichy monastery/cemetery in Moscow I also visited many burial sites, among them Mme Ulanova and Mme. Bessmertnova. During a visit to the Danilovsky monastery in SP I saw no other than Patriarch Kirill coming out of his limousine.

Now, in Moscow I went to see Giselle, starring Anna Nikulina-(Principal)- and Andrei Merkuriev-(Leading Soloist). I will be talking about the theater in its appropriate thread, for which it deserves some analysis. About the ballet production, well...this is Grigorovich, which seems to be the Bible of Russian Ballet in the city. I'm not particularly fond of this productions-(I had seen his Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Bayadere before), and now Giselle, which seem to be better treated than the others. From the top of my head I remember not being very impressed at either Nikulina or Merkuriev. They executed the choreo without any major incident, although it really lacked luster or excitement. One thing I remember, and this is GENERALLY SPEAKING from all the orchestras and directors of every theater I went in Russia-(4 in total)-is the generalized tendency of their conductors to over slow the tempi to either accomodate dancers' abilities or to feed an over indulgence in the display their famous "lines" and poses. This results many times in a not too appealing breaking of the musical memento, which I firmly believe is an ESENTIAL part of the theater experience. For instance...during the peasant pdd, the female variation's music ough to be fast and crispy-(I always take the 60's film of Fracci/Bruhn as the perfect reference)-but not in Moscow. Something else I noticed is the way the conductors hold last accords at infinitum to wait for an overly prepared and delayed landing after a triple tour en l'air, for instance. It is visible that the dancer doesn't make too many efforts to go along the music. It happens the other way around. The conductor follows the dancers AT ALL TIMES, and in my book, I can tell the ability of a REAL MUSICAL DANCER by the way he or she interacts with the music.

What else...oh, there was an interesting touch during Act II. During the time when Albrecht is following Giselle in the forest and she showers him with lillies, the Bolshoi positioned her on top of a prop/tree that bent towards him, and from up there she dropped the flowers. Many years ago I saw an almost exact silent B/W clip during a visit to the Jerome Robbins dance collection, which showed Alonso, in the late 40's while at BT, on top of a similar prop being filmed from the opposite wing.

Another minus from the Russian productions-(not only Grigorovich, but also at the Mariinsky)-is the cutting of the music during Berthe's mime of the premonition of her daughter's death. ABT has it all, as well as MCB. This is a powerful mime segment that should ALWAYS be kept.

Something I also don't understand is why the Russians keep Albrecht out of sight during Giselle's Pas Seul. It is usually a very nice touching when the ballerinas look at him during the sautees on pointe, and some of them-(the most technically secure)- even blow him kisses with abandon.

On the brighter side, there is the magnificent Corps. They are THE REAL STARS of the Russian Ballet. They are absolutely fantastic...and they dance with an almost military uniformity.

One of the segments I always enjoy from the Russian productions of Giselle is Hilarion's death. In many companies this sequence has musical cuts, but the Russians keep it intact, with all the repetitions, and as I said...watching their phenomenal diagnonal of Rockettes-like willis in that huge stage was really a feast for the eyes.

Ok...so in general, the DANCING is not what has stayed in my mind from being at the Bolshoi's Giselle. It is rather the opulent surroundings...the production, the orchestra sounds, but more than all that... the amazing feeling of sharing such magical moment in such unique place with a very dear friend.

More to come in other threads... ;-)

Thank you all for your wonderful and detailed comments about this ballet and the casts. Maybe your praise has changed my mind about what I thought was a silly ballet. I saw it only once, at the Paris Opera Ballet in the company's grand opera house in Paris. My husband and I were so turned off by Act 1, especially the dancing chickens, that we did not stay for the rest of the ballet. Neither did some other tourists we spoke to as we all left. Maybe we should have stayed?

I too was shocked the first time I saw Ashton's version and all the chicken stuff, which coincidentally was also at the Garnier. I was used to Alonso's edition of Nijinska's version which she imported from BT in the 50's to Havana, to the music of Hertel. This version is more "balletic", and doesn't has all the amount of character dancing Ashton's has. I thought about going to the city to watch this run, but decided against it since it really leaves me wanting for more ballet every time I see it.

Lorena hasn't danced much the past few seasons, has she? I feel like she's another one, like Jaime, that we rarely see anymore.

I'm 43, and Lorena is older than me. She must be on the verge of retirement.

Sarabita was always a magnificent Albrecht.

Cross posting link to thread on Amaya Rodriguez:

http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/36760-amaya-rodriguez-promoted-to-primera-bailarina-principal-dancer/

She appears to have defected to Mexico/USA in 2015. So Puerto Rico will not be seeing her Giselle next month.

Amaya will dance Giselle with the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami on June 17. I will be in Russia then.. ;-(

http://www.cubanclassicalballetofmiami.org/

I always had the impression that even though the XIX century photos we see of Russian productions seem to portray bell shaped longer numbers, they always seem to have a wired inner piece, vs. the wireless numbers we see a la Ratmansky's ABT SB. Other recons seem to use bell shaped but wireless skirts, like the Bolshoi's Coppelia or La Scala's Raymonda. I believe the detail goes in the fact of the skirt being wired or not. I still much prefer the mid century shorter than usual high waist wired style.

I hate to see both Zien and Esty's departures. Zien had a "vintage" plasticity onstage that I found myself following...a certain delicacy and fragility. The Esty twins were such to watch together!... They always looked buoyant and happy as a pair, particularly in certain "mirror" roles, like Zulma/Moyna and the hat girls in Les Patineurs. I will truly miss them.

Ok...so I'm all set up. I have Swan Lake, Jewels, La Sylphide, LHBH and Anna Karenina. I also bought Nozze de Figaro and Macbeth. In Moscow I tried to get Giselle but it was sold out. Instead I got Iolanta, which I would love to see in its historic original conception-(didn't care too much for the MET's production...). Yaaay!!!!

At the Alonso birthday celebration in June 2010 at the Met, they had three pairs of principals for Don Q, one for each act, and it was great fun to see. I don't remember all the casts, but Gomes did Act I and Osipova Act III.

Osipova danced act III with Carreno then. I also remember a performance in Havana ca. 1993(?) in a celebration of the 150 anniversary of Giselle. The ballet was danced by 7 different couples alternating at all times, and Alonso doing (at 71) three sequences: her signature super fast entrechats in Act II..the Mad Scene and the ballet Finale. The theater was a mad house...people suddenly recognizing their favorite dancers. It was SUCH fun...

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Oh my....I bought both AK and LHBH. Never seen either one.

Oh my....

That all sounds wonderful. I wish I could be at ALL of those performances, especially the Lopatkina Diamonds. I think you will have a great time.

As you probably know, the Mikhailovsky Swan Lake is the Asaf Messerer version. I saw it in London some years ago--it is Soviet-quirky in ways I enjoyed, but I can't help but remember your horror some years back at a Russian touring company that had a production in which Rothbart entered with the Spanish dancers in Act III. Well...steel yourself. Even the white acts have some unusual modifications in the corps de ballet groupings. I found it a production well worth seeing and, as best I remember, preferred it to the current Grigorovich version the Bolshoi dances. (Likewise, if you haven't seen the Ratmansky Anna Karenina before or heard the score then you might want to prepare yourself.)

Looking forward to reading your reports on what you see.

Thanks Drew! I always like the surprise effect in my Opera Houses touring sessions. A few years ago I saw Stravinsky's "The Rake's Process" at La Fenice in Venice, in a very modern setting and even though I don't have too many recollections of it musically speaking, I enjoyed the moment tremendously. Just being there and watching a nouvelle thing was great.

Yes...Rothbart surrounded by the Spaniards was weird. I will also probably get the Soviet finale of Odette and company turned into human form. Oh well...

Now. I know many of you some The little humpbacked horse. It is in the program. Would that be a good choice for me, knowing my absolute distaste for bare modern settings and contemporary choreo...?

Edited: Oops...I was re ordering the clips to include Bolero just at the same time you were posting it, Natasha. My bad. BTW...the "FIlle" clip shows a VERY young Sarabita as Colin. I believe he was around 18 at the time.

Update: I have bought tickets for three performances already for the Festival. I have been careful about the dates for which I also want to go to the Mikhailovsky and the Alexandrinsky-(I love touring beautiful opera houses worldwide). So far I have a "Jewels", starring Lopatkina in Diamonds, Anna Karenina, also with Lopatkina, and Swan Lake. At the Mikhailovsky I bought another Swan Lake, and it looks like that will be also the programming for the Alexandrinsky. I plan to buy more tickets, but oh my...my bank keeps blocking the transactions! It's been quite a painful process.

Wishing the best of the days to all the women of this forum. I had a friend who used to say that all women should be congratulated on this day for which they all have a mom within themselves. So HAPPY MOM'S DAY FOR ALL OF YOU!!!

From this post on his Instagram, it looks like Joan is moving to Florida....

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCqSkYQQtJJ/?taken-by=joanboada75

I remember Boada back in the 90's in Havana. I'm glad he had a prosperous career in America. Now...MCB teaching position maybe..?

Odile's fouettés have sadly become particularly exciting

Sadly for some..thrillingly for some others-(me included...)

Am I correct about this being Messmer's debut as Giselle ?(counting the very high probability of her being cast in the role...)

I had the pleasure yo meet the man. Lovely guy. Felicidades Volodya!!!

Sigh. It's a birthday party, not a final exam. I know I'm on the radical fringe here, but every time I watch that video (or any video of the Rose Adagio, frankly), I can't help but think how much nicer and more musical the choreography would be if each suitor just took Aurora's hand in turn and presented her in a lovely promenade with out the requirement that she get both hands up over her head and back down again first. Heck, I'd be just fine with a nice musical descent off pointe and a pretty relevé in between, too. I simply cannot stand to watch all the "Can I let go now? No? OK, I won't let go yet ... Now? ... Now? YES! NOW! WHEW!" fiddling around between Aurora and her suitors while they try to pull it off. The final effect is never worth it, IMO, and stre-e-e-e-e-tching the music out until everyone is secure makes my heart hurt.

OK. Rant over.

But, like it or not, there's always the element of excitement on technical tricks at the ballet. Yes, some struggle, but how beautiful to suddenly be faced with a ballerina who DOES NOT struggle. And THEN is when the step in question gets spoiled. Every time you see a butchered rendition, you will think.."Ahhh, I remember so and so doing this...and it was SO great...".

It is great. I just watched the interviews with Alicia Alonso, Melissa Hayden and Conrad Ludlow.

The most exciting and technically fierce bailarin I've ever seen...but that was back when he was 17. After leaving Cuba his star seemed to progressively fade, which is such a shame. His tenure down here was very grey, to say the least. Good luck to Sarabita!!

I went to today's performance as well Vicky, and sat upstairs for a change, where I could better enjoy the groupins and formations. The screen didn't bother me as much this time. Maybe because I was farther apart...? Nice seeing you there, Leight Witchel! I wish we would had had time to exchange some words. ;-) Oh...and the house was completely SOLD OUT.