cubanmiamiboy

Recently I've been watching as many clips as there are online of this beautiful ballet. I think it is a shame that the work is getting into oblivion, being as it is a wonderful vehicle to show the best of foot work in its ballerinas. I is also a shame that the current core of young female dancers is not having enough exposure to the singularities of the romantic era projection. I haven't seen this ballet live after I left Cuba, and I have the sad feeling that I won't be be seeing it for a long time. So... When was the last time you saw GPDQ live...?

"When I feel extra expressionist I want the world to feel all the expressions I'm expressing.."

I often read so much animosity on ABT's production of the classics, but to be honest, I don't have any problem with them. When I went to London and saw the Bolshoi's versions, I disliked them way more than those of ABT. Actually, ABT is probably one of the very few companies that retains the original SL's double suicide original ending, and Makarova's Bayadere successfully goes back to the complete resolution of the ballet, as it was originally intended, unlike the Russian one. The Bolshoi has truncated,weird stagings,, and Grigorovitch's SB is no exception. That floor pattern is a complete disaster when looked from afar. I actually think the Disney aura of ABT's SB is not a bad thing. The cartoonish looking of the sets gives it a vintage feeling, very much like the American companies of the past. The one thing that could be reworked with success would be the re incorporation of certain missing sections as per the current staging, like the Precious Stones Pas de Trois.

From Maurice Leonard's "Markova The Legend" "All these solos should contain these steps. They are like the arias in opera. They are tests, and if you can't do them you shouldn't be in that ballet" Alicia Markova.

I had a wonderful time at the encore, and so my mom and my friend. The thing about this performance is that everyone onstage seemed to be having such a great time! Didonato's embellishments in certain passages are not my cup of tea-(she slows certain sections to be able to embellish more, and in this aspect I have very much the fouette rule...make'em simple and they'll be more perfect). She does seems to have, on the other side, a very stable control on her respirations during the fast passages. I really loved her performance. The rest of the cast was also wonderful, particularly Rachelle Durkin as Clorinda and Patricia Risley as Tisbe. They got me laughing the whole time. Kuddos also to Florez, who has a wonderful rapport with Didonato-(and it shows) and Corbelli's Don Magnifico. And of course...congrats to Luisi for another wonderful orchestra rendition.

Thanks for the telling, Helene! ;-)

Tired of "week-long" warhorses...? Come over to Miami, and you will be VERY satisfied...! ;-) Edited to add: Just voted for Kirkland. Don't know too much about ABT, so I voted out of a mysterious sympathy. (I'm voter # 2 on her, BTW...)

I was planning to go see this today at the cinema, but my mother had plans, so we will go to the encore on Wednesday. (She loves this opera, and as a Bartoli's rabid fan she wants very much to see this, to see if her standards are still accurate ;-) ). I don't care too much for Florez at this point, so I'd like to know about it first account. Who saw this?

Some ballet friends and myself sometimes now refer to the company as "Morphoses"...

I have never seen "Raymonda Variations". It will be interesting to see this distilled homage to the grand ballet. I wonder what would it be to present the three of them-(RV, Pas de Dix and Cortege Hongrois)-in a single program...that should be fun!

I find passages of the two scores very similar. There's even a fanfarre segment very much like the court arrival one from Giselle.

Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnZGwRveFn4

I suppose, given the very baroque terminology sometimes employed by him. A similar thing happens to the books of Isabel Allende.

Yes, since my hi school days. I read "Cronica de una muerte anunciada", "Cien anos de soledad" y "El amor en los tiempos del colera". In the University we used to say "Macondo" when referring to the country instead of Cuba due to the surreal environment. I started disliking him and stopped reading his stuff once I started seeing him on TV with Castro.

And may you all celebrate it in good health along with your loved ones....!

I am sure the views on how big or not Garcia Marquez was can be diferent. That said, I doubt that for some millions of Cubans who didn't care too much for the writer persona and just had the reference of him as the big fan, friend and supporter of their country's dictator, he won't be in the same values spot as some others.

I just read an article called "Big writer, little man" by Alejandro Armengol,. Very revealing on the Marquez/Castro subject..

I remember very well Garcia Marquez' regular visits to Cuba and close ties with Castro and the government. May he RIP...

I've sent flowers backstage to favorites of mine, usually via a fellow dancer or whoever I see passing by on the way. I have also witnessed bouquets being distributed among friends from a particular source close to a leading lady to be then tossed onstage-(not at MCB though). I would had understood the lack of flowers in a mix rep. night, but in a war horse ballet, on a Saturday night, and on someone who nicely replaced a fellow dancer...? No excuses.

I was about to go on Sunday-(it was probably Jeanette Delgado's performance)-but I decided instead for Seraphic Fire and Haydn' Seven Words. I keep praying for a moment in history where someone in this company will look at the classics with keener eyes, hire better coaches for them and give some of this dancers the oportunity to carry on the grand roles. I just have the feeling this is not Lourdes "Morphoses" Lopez. Just sayin'...

Oh..so she danced two nights in a row...

And BTW...shame on, Miami.... No bouquet for Catoya...? (expected though, given the geographical circumstances...)

I went to tonight's performance. I think MCB does a decent job with this war horse, considering the very little, almost non existent exposure the company has to Petipa. The ballet went thru with no major mishaps, but in general I perceived a generalized lethargy onstage, particularly among the framing members during the crowd scenes. We all know this is a small company, and so we won't see the stage filled out to full capacity the way we see the Russian companies, or even ABT. Still, the interaction among the onstage spectators was sort of mechanical...not very alive. And then there's the technical aspect. Just as every other Petipa-(and unlike contemporary "floor rolling" choreo)-, here there's not too much hiding or inventing to rely to if a dancer is not up to the technical demands of the choreography. If the Queen of Dryads can't finish her 15 Italian fouettes, or Kitri her entire fouettes sequence, it will show. This is what happened tonight with Emily Bromberg-(Queen of Dryads). Mary Carmen Catoya and Renato Panteado were the substitutions of Nathalia Arja and Renan Cerdeiro in the lead roles. Catoya looked a bit tired throughout the ballet, unlike Panteado, who was up to his game. Still, she very much came alive in the grand PDD. Her fouettes were ambitious-(plenty of triple pirouettes in between singles)-but they became a little unstable and off center toward the end. MCB keeps renting ABT's sets and costumes. We still don't have our own. The orchestra and director helped tremendously with their "following the dancers" tempi...

Thanks for the report, Natasha! I will try to make arrangements at work to go too. (No wonder Alonso was good as the "arrogant Italian" ballerina.. ;-)