cubanmiamiboy

The Boy in Blue looks like the most important character of Les Patineurs. He keeps reapearing all along the story, and whereas everybody else is engaged in grouping dancing, he's mostly interested in showing his skills without any competition at his side. The stage is always all for himself when he's there, and as per the way he's presented during the ballet finale, well...it is obvious that he's the star of the night. Reyes would have been a wonderful Apollo I believe, bart. He must be pushing 40 by now I would say-(probably just as Panteado...?), but one definitely feels a sense of maturity in their dancing among the rest of mostly youngsters. And I agree about his proportions. He's got the look for the part. The prosecution rests the case.

I recluded myself for 5 days in Dominican Republic with no cell phone or computer and took "The Inextinguishable Symphony" by Martin Goldsmith, a somehow different take on the Jewish experience prior to WWII from a man whose parents belonged to the Kulturbund, a cultural refuge of sorts. Goldsmith mixes up the history of his family (and what he can piece together of the missing parts) with the history of the Kulturbund, and the Goldsmith couple's involvement in the Nazi approved Jewish Orchestra which kept them alive, all resulting in a slower-paced, but still fascinating look at an aspect of Nazi Germany that I hadn't encountered before. The book gives an inttimate view into the machinations and propaganda that actually supported the artists (including musicians, dancers, actors, and singers). A very interesting point on the story goes as a description of what happened with the St. Louis-(the ship of Jewish refugees that was refused landing by both Cuba and the U.S.).

Thanks for the update!

I agree, Tiara! I am wondering if this topic was created as a joke just to see how shocked we can all get! Not at all I would say. Actually, a this point I seriously believe-(and I'm NOT joking AT ALL)-that Miamian audiences, for instance, not only wouldn't mind or care if little by little the company starts making seasons out of 100% of works by the likes of Morris, Taylor or Cunningham, or to be more direct, sans pointe. Maybe the Arsht Center would probably be even fuller sans pointes...

Fonteyn Kolpakova

"Madonna Concert Hall". That sounds terrific, Helene! don't you think..?

I miss Patrick...

The whole thing is a big mess...the distorted ribcage, the dropped knee and the out of line/too high pointe of the rised leg, etc. It is interesting...I showed yesterday the two pictures to a waitress in a place I usually go for breakfast. She used to be a dancer, and she pointed rather at Valdes pic and told me that her line and leg/pointe shape and attitude pose looked old fashioned.

BB...FOCUS, FOCUS on tonight's performance! You and bart will be seeing and reviewing the Caldera number, which I skipped. Good luck tonight at the ballet! ;-)

Ha,ha...what a silly thing. Stay where you are, hon, and keep the miserables within their misery. Love and peace!

Thanks for posting this photo, cubanmiamiboy. This says it all, doesn't it? It does indeed,sadly...

I understand what you mean, Bart, having hyper-extended knees myself. You've been right with everything you've said about them so far and the challenges they pose to dancers. Many dancers are hyper extended, giving them a curvier standing line in arabesque. It's in "fashion" now but definitely was not in the past.

I was there on 29th Nov 2012. Yes, Kondaurova was absolutely spot on beatiful and displayed solid dance. However, Kolb was awful. His choreography was simplified, yet, he made so many step and posing mistakes. Disaster, it was. Their height balance was not good either - as you all know, Katya is really tall where as Kolb is not tall enough for her. I therefore, am afraid, cannot help casting doubt about your comment on Skorik's Swan Lake. During the unfortunate performance of Skoryk I witnessed, right early in her career, Kolb was her partner, and he didn't make things beter at all, even in a personal level. It was a sad display for both indeed...

Oh...there is SO MUCH ahead for you to enjoy. Watching ballet has been, at different stages of my life, probably one of the very few things I hold on to keep my emotional stability on, and I've been watching it during the hardest moments during my lifespam. I always make sure to remind dancers, whenever I have the opportunity, that there are always those type of individuals in the audience whenever they are onstage; people with all kinds of troubles wanting to have a moment of beauty and spiritual confort. Watch...watch as much as you can, my friend. And, as a personal advise, watch Giselle.

Which is actually the best way! Welcome, Apollo...

I've seen a video of the '67 version of Valse Fantaisie, and I definitely prefer the earlier 53 one. As per Apollo, it looked to me as if I had gotten late to a dress rehearsal.

Catoya's fouettes are IMPOSSIBLE to miss. Yes, that little devilish dancer is indeed Miss Mary Carmen, Jack.

I must say I got emotional watching the Parisian reaction to the curtain calls in the MCB video...THAT was an extravaganza... High point when Villella took his bows.

"PNB’s production is based on the 1964 version of New York City Ballet, which Francia Russell notated as Ballet Mistress and staged for the PNB premiere in 1997. All the imperial splendor of the original is now present, including elegant costumes, designed by Martin Pakledinaz, and a new backdrop depicting a room of the Winter Palace with windows looking out upon the River Neva, by PNB scenic artist Edith Whitsett." Oh, how beautiful that must be....

Where is Natalia...? I need her here STAT.

Oh, how I wish I could ever see this in full tutu/backdrop regalia...

In that case, I might also do the complete Giselle Pas Seul...which I know like the palm of my hand. Problem being...I'm not a female, I'm not a ballet dancer and more important...I don't know how to stand on my toes. I will butcher it, definitely. Does that make me qualified to as a Pas Seul performer..? Definitely not. It is not that I don't like the way Somova or Skorik perform. It is that their performances are just a travesty of the pieces in question. You have seen Skorik in this pas. Go back in time, on Youtube, and watch a way older rendition, back when technique was, as many declare, not as developed as it is now, with the likes of Markova or Alonso. When they were performing it, they were ready...or they were good, period. Somova and Skorik are neither one.

No, BB...she does not. Her grand jetes are never "grand"...her fouettes are butchered and out of center...her balances are a joke. There's nothing on her technique that makes her different from every other "non ballerina" ballet dancer.

Worst thing being that they are already labeled, something that I find extremely hard to reverse. They will get down in history as the non capable, less than ready dancers who "might get better" while in an undeserved position. Sad.

And then Part III from my previous two posts-(which should have been Part II actually. Les Divertissements) Spanish Dance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR7UXj0Ac5M Dance of the Marzipan Mirlitons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oabb5Wvg7ws Chinese Dance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR0b5RpQQ8c Arabian Dance Russian Dance, Balanchine's also-(didn't find a clip of its own...) (Note that everybody is on pointe here...from Clara to the mice to the Spanish females to the odalisques...)