cubanmiamiboy

What an emotional farewell. Paloma looked as if she couldn't think no more. She had a very intense, intimate moment with Mme. Kolpakova onstage. Her Giselle was earthier...or let's say..."less Russian", which is fine on my book. I saw her technically stronger than many half her age.Brava, Paloma! Bolle, oh..."Roberto el hermoso"...so passionate and beautiful. Damn, is he good looking! I didn't count his entrechats, but he certainly over passed Marcelo. He, just like Gomes, was all about taking good care of his Giselle.I am very glad I saw this performance.

What a pleasure to see two dancers that take so much care of these iconic roles. I noticed Vishneva cut out some steps here and there (as with the sissonnes ouvertes during the initiation scene), or sought out some extra help as when, subtlety, she carefully grabbed the cross to get into arabesque penchee as she was bidding farewell to Albrecht at the graveyard, but other than that she was great to watch. Her sautees on pointe in the Pas Seul were right on the spot, as well as her developpes and promenades in her Act II solo. And Marcelo..oh, I always say that he embodies an almost defunct animal in current ballet male standards. ABT is so lucky to have someone who is a truly "danseur noble"..soft with his ballerinas, yet masculine and so beautiful to watch. He is from that same wonderful breed as Carlos Acosta and Toto Carreno...one that we are getting less and less to see onstage nowadays, with so many either male prima donnas or clueless, non capable partenaires. In a personal level, both Vishneva and him are in the very point of their careers where I have the most joy watching a dancer take on such iconic roles. That girl who danced Myrtha didn t do anything special for me, I have to say.. Loved to see some of you guys last night! The blond in black will be there today once again! :-) :-)

Oh..I must confess I felt very proud and a bit emotional a while ago when I saw the picture on the left reflecting ABT`s beginnings. A much deserved pick. I wonder if she will make it to the alumni reunion. Brava!!

Great all!! :-) :-) I am already at the LC roaming around before tonight's performance. I worked my 12 hours shift last night...went straight to the airport in my scrubs to catch an early morning fly that got delayed..checked in my hotel at 4, a couple of hours nap and HERE I AM TO SEE THE GIRL DYING OF LOVE..A HEART ATTACK...A SUICIDE WITH A SWORD...OR WHATEVER. Just to see her!! :-) :-)

Oh, wonderful!! I will probably be around the bar next to the Chagall painting-(facing the plaza, on the right hand side)-having a cocktail during the intermezzo. You can't miss me. Skinny blond guy with glasses wearing all black. Looking forward to meet!

Oh, how nice to see this two characters being named...

Hello everyone! I will be again jumping on a plane to capture a ballet moment, in this case compatriot Reyes' retirement in Giselle. I will be there every night from 05/26-(Vishneva/Gomez) until 05/31. Let's meet! (And...how about a post performance drink somewhere nearby? ) Hugs: Cristian

I missed this very last program, which would had been my very first time watching "RV". Sadly, the program that preceeded it had a sad looking rendition of "Carmen" , which made me cringe, so I gave up MCB for the rest of the season. I will try to re charge myself for next season.

The abscence of Catoya was of the main reasons I sort of stopped chasing MCB performances. I think it was unwise of MCB to get rid of one of their most-(if not THE most)- powerful ballerina. Also shameful that she didn't have a proper farewell gala. Oh weell, "Bienvenidos a Miami"....

In its religious form or not, I wish everyone a wonderful Easter Sunday. It is beautiful, hot and sunny in Miami. Love: Cristian

Just curious.... and then.. When was the last time ABT presented it...?

Thanks for the link, Artem!

The role should be already a challenge for her due to her age...but she has SO MUCH experience on it...

Please, please...somebody to report on Feijoo's Giselle...

Great news..congrats, Artem!!

Too bad for Jen, cubanmiamiboy. She was campaigning hard. Yeah...and the thing is that she really carries on the 90 % of the film-(unlike, let's say, Kidman in "The Hours"...undeserved OScar as it was...). The subject of the film is also tricky. Chronic pain and everything that it generates, including pain killers addiction, is still sort of tabu in society. Even in the medical field, talking from my own experience as a nurse, dealing with this type of patients can be confusing, frustrating and there's always the risk of a pre conceived notion of seeing them as addicts. Many of them come back to the hospital over and over after their doctors refuse to increase their dosages, to which they just start getting creative with their diagnosis and start doing the hospital circuit. They are called "frequent flyers", and usually stay for three or four days loading themselves in IV pain killers until they are discharged. The film could had benefited from a darker tone. The very clip is sort of misleading in this aspect.

I feel Jennifer Aniston was stripped out of a deserved nomination for "Cake"-(saw it last night and she was great on it). Rosamund Pike's role, on the other hand, wasn't that much of a meaty one, Oscar-wise.

Yes...it is true that Miss Ukraine wasn't really answering the question. I felt she just wanted to spit out her patriotic position. I found it valid though...the very questions are very silly to start with... I also noticed the puzzled expressions of the women at not understanding the questions. Interesting to note that the question Miss Ukraine got was if she would choose or not to eliminate the bathing suit segment from the competition, to which she only said..."I feel comfortable in anything...' Something like..."screw the feminists and look at our wonderful bodies..!" ;-)

...of course...

My pleasure, Natalia. It would be interesting to see if the reconstruction has any points in common with the very few current stagings derived from Nikinska's for BT . Alonso still has it in active repertoire in Havana.

The Q&A section was an absolute DISASTER!! I was aiming for Miss Ukraine-(such a stunning woman)...I found hers to be the most coherent answer-(she spoke about giving support to the Ukranian army). Her dress was a glorious vision in red...

Pavlova/Legat. 1910 Virgina Zucchi, 1885. Sofia Fedorova, 1915 Ofga Preobrajenska, 1890.

Yes indeed. A sign of the times....