cubanmiamiboy

Oh yes..that's right..! Even though Burlaka didn't seem to have used the Stepanov notations, just being faithful to the original in terms of costume design must had make for a replica of Belinskaya. I also wonder if he didn't dig even a bit on the collection for this production..hum...

I meant Britten's orchestration. I believe I had the feeling that all those wonderful mazurkas and preludes sounded sort of familiar...(silly sarcastic here..I know...) The Tempest...I still can't even remember very well what was all that about...

In the live context. My best...having seen again my beloved, all time favorite "Sylphides", and being danced to the vintage Britten score. Part in the Prelude as the ice of the cake. Second Best...Murphy as Sylvia. My worst..."The Tempest"..(or the bits I got of it in between dozing on and off).

But then there were the early pre Fedorova, pre Christensen, pre Balanchine western stagings of the ballet, like Sergueev for the Vic-Wells in the 30's, starring Markova. That production I believe was also an all adults one, and even on that one I would like to see how the role of Clara was portrayed, given the fact that it was probably the closest to the Imperial one. I don't mind real kids onstage, but my curiosity arises with the question on how to morph a real child onstage with one that is already capable of pointing dancing. Petipa seems to have done it with Belinskaya, but the extent of it is what is still obscure.

Well, Trieste...I haven't seen the RB production live, but I grew up with Alonso, who basically took the main survival dancing design of Fedorova-(Grand Pas in Act II and Snow Queen and King segment in Act I danced to the "Le Voyage"/transformation scene music)- plus additions made to make the whole thing more "balletic", like the mice danced by female on pointes and the soldiers by grown danseurs. This way the ballet ends up with three different adult dancing couples-(Clara/Nutcracker, Snow couple and Dragee/Coqueluche)-which sort of suppresses the usual boredom of having to way for Dragee and Coqueluche to see ballet. Wright's scheme feels satisfactory to me too and so Vainonen's-(dancing wise that is, for which I'm against changing the original libretto). I have read that Fedorova's method was to minimize the party scene to almost nothing in order just to jump to the snow section and right into Confituremburg. According to Alonso, she wanted to recreate this design by building everything up to climax on the Grand Pas de deux. She has also have said that even though the Snow couple wasn't in the original libretto, its inclusion had always been a success in Fedorova's production and so she would keep it intact too. My curiosity deals more with the way the Imperial production presented Clara. She seems quite young in the old photos, but old enough to do stuff on pointe.

The different incarnations of the Nutcracker ever since Vsevolozhsky't times and the way it should/would appear to balletic audiences seems to be very intertwined with the fact that the heroine of the ballet ,Clara, wasn't designed since the beginning to be a full grown ballerina. Stanislava Belinskaya seems to be wearing pointe shoes in the few pics that have surfaced online, but it still remains a mistery how much did she actually danced all along the ballet, either at the party scene, or if anything during the transformation scene and act II. (I hope Doug Fullington could be reading this so he could give us some hints as to what she really did dancing wise). Then, from Vainonen to Fedorova to Balanchine and Sir Peter Wright, everybody has had to deal with this problem and HOW to make sense of the fact that the main ballet couple, Fee Dragee and Prince Coqueluche, don't show up to dance until the very end of the production. Some, like Balanchine, Sir Peter Wright and Alicia Alonso, decided to keep the libretto intact, being Act II a fete offered to Clara, although neither in Balanchine's or Alonso's does Clara gets up her seat, whereas in Wright both she and the Nutcracker adult dancer keep joining the dances. Now, the Soviet era stagers-(notably Vainonen)- seem to have gone for a totally different approach, by using only one Principal dancer for both roles, and by basically morphing Clara into Fee Dragee in Act II, so she can be seen all along the production as THE ballerina. Now, this goes against the original libretto, for which in Vainonen's Act II, the whole thing is just a dancing divertissement offered to no one in particular. The whole concept of the offering fete gets lost. For what I can tell Russians still like this approach-(Misha used Kirkland to dance the whole thing in his staging, and I believe Ratmansky does it too). Vaiinonen, Wright and Alonso use adult Claras and so they dance quite a bit in Act I, although the Cuban Clara-(who is NOT a principal dancer, but usually an up and coming soloist)- keeps seated in Act II. I think the Royal also uses a soloist for Clara and the big shot gets reserved for Fee Dragee and Coqueluche. Balanchine goes for a completely non dancing/child Clara. Balanchine, on the other side, dramatically diminished the appearance of Prince Coqueluche by suppressing his variation. In my personal view, I like for a Nutcracker to follow Vsevolozhky's libretto. Usually Balanchine doesn't engage me that much up until the snow scene due to the overly infantilized environment of Act I, and in I believe the Russians are happy to receive their ballerina heroine onstage early in the night. How do you like this situation to be resolved...? And...how did Petipa work on this matter...? DID BELINSKAYA ACTUALLY DANCED...? Who should take the big bouquet..Clara or Fee Dragee...?

Thank you all for your responses! I will have to seat with al the options in order to prepare a schedule. Oh, I can't wait!

Having to hear on the radio-(as I don't have cable)-Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker's score in tragic renditions as a form of advertisement from car dealers to spaghetti brands is just almost unbearable. How sad this is the way America is getting exposed to such wonderful score...

All these "advisors" positions are usually very greyish...I suspect more changes are probably on the move. She seems to be getting some place to stand meanwhile...

I'm in for the NYC performances...

Jayne...I skated at the Rockefeller plaza only one time-(the only time I've done it..). I thought I wasn't going to be able to stand on those things, but I guess my roller blading training was good enough...I skated for two hours and didn't fall once..! Sandik..I certainly will tell once I'm back. I can't wait to get out of the end of the year hospital madness!

The MET is always in my schedule...check..!

Oh, that sounds interesting...

Yes...Magritte! check...

Oh, bummer...

Oh, I LOVE the Frick! (check)

I plan to go see both Nutcrackers-(City Ballet and Ratmansky's), Falstaff, Die Fledermaus and Tosca and, as I said, the Rockettes. Ailey sounds like a good option too. I want to pack my days!

Sooo...I managed to squeeeeze my end of the year schedule in the hospital so I was able to get me those days off, and I just bought me and my mom plane tickets to spend New Year's Eve in the city! Yaay! New Yorkers...I will accept ANY suggestions for entertainment purposes...meaning...places to go on that very night-(I tried one year to get to Times Square and I won't even try to repeat it...it was a nightmare)...restaurants, theater shows around those days...ANYTHING that could make my days over there ever better! (I would like to see the Rockettes...) Thanks in advance!

I just popped in my Balanchine's Nutcracker DVD. Tonight or tomorrow night, along the glorious music, I will set up my Christmas tree and Nativity set. The Royal DVD does it too. By the time Snow or Flowers is playing, I'm all in! ;-) How about you...?

Wow...he is even older than the late great Franklin and Mrs. Alonso-(93).Happy Birthday Mr.Platoff! (Is he the oldest surviving member of the troupe?

And then could she come and do it in London too, please? And a few other roles, while she's here... From our mouths to the Gods of Ballet ears!Oh..I really hope I could see her before she retires...(she should be around 42 or maybe older I think). I was able to see her very beginnings-(just as with Toto Carreno)-and just as with him I would love to see its end.

Dear Santa...now that you and me know that MCB CAN dance the classics-(Coppelia, Nutcracker, Giselle, Don Quijote)...could you bring me a full Swan Lake...? I REALLY want to see Jeanette Delgado in the little black dress turning like a maniac...

I notice that Dmitrichenko's photo is still up in the company's website. How weird to see him there and behind a cage at the same time...

A freak show for the modern audience..? Hum...

Cristian's choices: Winner: Light short design with cape at 05:09. 2-Short black cocktail number at 05:46 3-Light short number at 00:57