cubanmiamiboy

I though Grigolo's gesture of reaching for his heart under his shirt to throw it at us very charming...

I think Miss Opolais did a very decent job, considering that she had only two hours of sleep before getting the request to substitute Harting, all on top of having done Butterfly that very previous night. Still, I found her a bit opaque, tired...something wasn't right in the voice department. Phillips' Musetta was a charm. Loved her. I really hope they don't mess up with this beautiful production. My mom was weeping by the end of the "snow scene".. ;-)

That's why I like the "staging by..after Petipa's choreography" formula used by some companies.

Thank you for the report, B. I saw Catoya's debut in the role, and really enjoyed it. She and Panteado have had a steady partnership that has lasted quite a few years. I will try to catch different performances, although I'm disappointed not to have THE Quiteria of MCB: Jeanette Delgado. She would had been wonderful if paired with Reyes' Basilio. Rebello sounds exciting. I wish they would had paired him with Arja instead of Cerdeiro.

Is there a way to share the fundraising on FB...?

Thanks for the tips, Helene..! I will certainly check the nightlife scene out while in there... ;-)

I'm in. Never been anywhere in US but NYC, SF and Hawaii, so this is a perfect excuse for the trip..! ;-)

I think you're right..!!

Ubiquitous Adrian!

re: Novak's tepid audience reaction... She was just a presenter at Cannes, where she was indeed received in a much warmer, deserved manner. A lesson to learn from the New World...

I would like the ceremony to become shorter and classier. It looked like a talk show.

I did not see most of this year's films-(with the exception of "Blue jasmine")-,although I plan to at a later time-(with the exception of Bullock's). Making a little note on how disrespectful I think the audience was with 81 Y.O Kim Novak, not even bothering to stand up for an ovation to the elderly star. Shameful.

Thanks for the report.! . You might be right. Lourdes is giving people what people want. Can't wait to see "Spring Awakening" being considered for the company. It is such a crowd pleaser..!

One of my very, very early memories of theater attendance was a concert of him. I was probably 7 or 8 years old and my mother took me to see him back in my hometown. I don't remember a lot...only that I got very bored and started pacing the theater halls while she stayed in the box. I have never been too fond of flamenco-(for some reason find it too foreign..difficult to identify myself with, even having my roots in Spain on my grandmother's side). Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos were also in that tour. Still, I can tell the Spanish culture has lost a grand pillar. RIP Sr. de Lucia.

Watch the whole thing here.

The music for the jester solo in the opening scene of the ballroom act is the "Dance of the Corps de Ballet and the dwarves. Moderato assai. Allegro vivo", deleted for the '95 Petipa/Drigo revival. I like the jester. It certainly gives an extra opportunity for a soloist.

Sometimes some productions of SL have their share of additional solos, as in Grigorovich staging for the Bolshoi, which has a solo ballerina on pointe for each of the national dances plus the Russian one-(music usually omitted, although ABT uses it as a solo for Von Rothbart). And as I said earlier, the Russians are very fond of the court jester, which usually dances a solo with some original music not used by Petipa. Perhaps you had some of this...?

She was the first face I knew from this forum, when I had the pleasure to met her at the MET years ago. May she rest in peace.

The Precious Stones Pas ought to be back and he fairy tales characters need some reworking also.

And I do. Let's agree to disagree...? (Oh, how many times have I seen ballerinas just pacing aimlessly around after failing to complete the sequence...inventing things onstage and probably thinking angrily..."Will that damned music ever gonna stop, for Christ sake..??!?!"...Siegfried can't help that much here, IMO...). And remember, sasark...many dancers can strike beautiful poses and look glamorous, but not all of them will master the fouettes. So look for that clue.

The Pas de Trois from Act I. The Love Duet from Act II. The Black Swan PDD from Act III. The cygnets Pas de Quatre. In terms of specific "moments", all individual variations are highly technical-(Benno's, Siegfried's, Odette's, Odile's and in some productions, the court jester's). The 32 fouettes are a measure of the ballerina's power-(and Odile's)-so make sure you count them!-(if she does double or triple pirouettes in between fouettes, then it can get confusing...).

Glenn Close was supposed to play Mme. Raquin, but she dropped and instead Lange was called-(she is magnificent here). Funny...there's a sequence with Lange which looks carbon copy from one of Close's best remembered ones. Of course we all know the story, but I think given that I never went back to the book again, and never saw any other film adaptations, made it for a very pleasant night at the cinema.

Yes. Every cosmopolitan ballet company deserves a top quality Sleeping Beauty production. Good for ABT.

Who has seen this..? I went tonight, and LOVED IT. The film truly captures the dark, gloomy atmosphere I remembered very well from the book-(I read it when I was an adolescent, and never saw any film adaptation...). Elizabeth Olsen is just on the spot for the role-(thank God no Keira Knightley here!), and loved seeing Jessica Lange again. She was fantastic. Go see it.