cubanmiamiboy

Why not Giselle, if it comes around...? It seems de rigueur to do Giselle as a female farewell...

She was born in July 1969, so she turns 44 this year. Some great dancers stayed around much longer, but it can (sometimes) be painful to watch...she does seem to be dialing back on her rep -- no Sleeping Beauty's or Sylvia's next spring, e.g. But that's ok! Dancers that age can still please many fans...many will be go see them as old followers, while new generations can take a glimpse at older schooling. Then, they can also be lovely in more lyrical-less technical ballets. They are also usually more into developing a refined interpretation that can supply for the lack of technique. I applaud the 40 plus ballerinas onstage. True, but it's the fact that Osipova and Vailiev seem to work so great together...challenging one another to great levels of pyrotechnics that their performance is sooo exciting...

Oh well...whatever. I take Sylvia any time over the Scarlets, Wheeldoms and Ratmanskys Miamian experimentations, so I will go no matter who dances it, even if Somova substitutes Osipova at the last minute.

D#15 is very cute, but its getting too much repetitions. I dislike DC, and the Scarlett thing,well...good for those into this modern stuff. No surprises on the DQPDD. Both Catoya and Delgado were the Quiterias in the full lenght production, and they both can fouetee properly. A nice accent could had been, for instance, to give Arja and Rebello one DQ...(or even Patricia and Reyes, for a change...)

Wasn't supposed to be Vasiliev...? Agghh..!! I hope at least she stays. That's another planned trip I decided to do, and I don't want it to be another Vishneva/Nikiya-no-show-frustrating-experience...

My thought too, cubanmiamiboy. Still, some good USA-based dancers appeared at the gala. I'm sure that Bouder was superb in Flames of Paris. Boylston, Gomes...not bad at all but the 'cache' of having a top ballerina fly-in from Russia (or France, or Denmark, or....) is gone, leaving a feeling of 'meh.' And remember, Natasha...I want it so bad as my last taste of the Imperial stage was Skorik...

Renata, please tell me that this clip is just a joke and comes from the old TV show Amateur Hour!

My bad...I edited the double question already, Natasha. I was curious about Kirkland because for some she is the greatest American born ballerina.

Edited: Answer given earlier already by Natasha...

The list is sort of short...why is Kirkland skipped...?

Oh Natasha...Alonso has had her own award in people's minds for her 20 years career in NYC. Then, I would be curious about the citizenship. Her only daughter Laura was born in US, and besides the fact that the citizenship can be passed automatically from children to parents, I would be doubtful that Alicia didn't take her own having thought of living permanently in US-(which she did, as I said, for 20 years)-, only going back to Cuba to perform at occasions. The fact that she went back was very circumstantial, due to the revolution and the invitation done by Castro to give her green light for ballet development and her own theater. I will never forget that American aging lady seating next to me at the MET with tears in her eyes during her 90th birthday gala who told me "Last time I saw her dancing it was here in NYC in 1959", which to I said, "And last time i did was in Havana in 1991". The gap of generations in between the two of us, and the fact that we were still able to share a common ground was weird, but beautiful.

Not in Havana! I'm glad this ballets are still being performed, and I wonder what will happen either to Lifar's Aubade, or Dollar's Le Combat, Nijinska's Fille, de Mille's Three Virgins, Tudor's Lilac Garden, Lichine's Graduation Ball, Balanchine's Waltz Academy, Dolin's Pas de Quatre and many others still doing their run after all this years. I would like to be wrong, but I have the feeling they won't stay alive after Alonso is gone.

Why?

Wonderful video. Mme Danilova looks so regal. Ah, the great 80's with its shameless excesses of shoulder pads, sequined dresses and big hair! How nice when people were not afraid of the "more, please, more!" motto... Now, is that SL choreo the one used by B. in his one act staging...? I notice slightly changes in some steps here and there. And who's that pretty boy partnering Kirstler...?

Is this ballet part of any current company, aside from Alonso's...? http://skouratoff.com/tyc_ing_07.htm

With all respect to those who like Miss K, but I don't get too moved by her performance. Then, I notice this has not to do with the performer per se, but rather with the whole stylistic issues that Giselle has nowadays. Thing is, Giselle used to be a role that had two different ways. When you see the videos of Ulanova, and then compare it to those of Markova or Alonso, it is like night and day, each one carrying their own distinctive traditions. I suppose the West had the likes of N. Sergueev, Sppesivtzeva, Egorova, Karsavina and eventually Dolin, Markova and Alonso to build its Giselle, and then Russia was left with Vaganova and some others, from which Ulanova was probably the model role ever since. In my own opinion, the West had the richest input in the role, and that's why I value as a treasure the carbon copy characterization that Alonso has preserved, along with precious bits of choreography otherwise gone for good from the ballet. Now, it seems to me that every other ballerina I see in the role, name it from Miami, NYC or now SF, seems to be doing exactly the same thing...there's no differentiation between Russia and the West anymore-(at least US). I always think of this as the Nureyev, Misha and Makarova influence, eventually spreading out all over America and Paris too. London could be an interesting place to investigate, but I haven't seen a complete performance of any of the current RB ballerinas.

I've always felt a bit of a sense of fetishism on this....

Well...bummer, as they dropped tonight's performance, and will only do tomorrow night, which is working night for me.

Will be going tonight to see this, so let's see. Will report back. The State Ballet Theatre of Russia presents Romeo and Juliet - Ballet in Two Acts Date:January 4 and 5, 2013 Time: 7:30 PM Tickets: $31.50 - $61.50 Venue: Parker Playhouse "Romeo and Juliet," choreographed and produced by Michael Lavrovsky; principal dancer and choreographer of 25 years for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. "Romeo and Juliet" is the ultimate Shakespearen tragic love story of the young lovers and the conflict between the Montague and Capulet families in the City of Verona. For more information, visit www.hegmusic.com.

I'm glad you guys liked it, diane and BB. I can only imagine if Valdes could have had a guesting career with ABT like Osipova. Having those two ladies in a same company could had been a lot of fun. Competition would had been tough, man! Here's a different side of Valdes, as Taglioni in GPDQ, a revered ballet in Havana. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV7hCERM7Aw

Done with the trip. No Koundarova, no trip.

I almost bought once a pair of Gomes signed slippers...but thought it twice.

Encouraging BT'rs to read this review. You convinced me, Mr. Stevens! (And this is from whom Zakharov/Struchkova's version is the ultimate)

Alleged pieces of the Wall still pop on Ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-GENUINE-Authentic-Piece-Of-The-Berlin-Wall-with-C-O-A-/110933010543?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d41f686f