Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

Alicia Alonso


silvy

Recommended Posts

Very interesting when she speaks-(briefly)-about Graham's greatness in her beginnings compared to her ending...she clearly says "Martha Graham se acabo..."-("Martha Graham is finished")...don't know if she was referring to the artist herself or her legacy-(Graham's reticence to walked out the stage resembles very much that of Alonso). Also at the end when she becomes sort of emotional when talking about her upcoming Bolshoi tribute and her past MET gala and her remembering of her first time she danced in the Moscow theater-(1958). She looked very proud when talking about the spreading out of the Cuban Ballet via teachers and dancers around the world and specifically in Latin America. :)

Link to comment

RT website says:

"RT Spanish official site is a multimedia service, providing 24/7 news coverage for the spanish speaking population of Europe, North and South America". The programme host, Elena Rostova, conducts interviews in Russia as well as in South America.

If you flick through the "a solas" interview list:

http://actualidad.rt.com/programas/a_solas/919

there are a few interviews with russian ballet figures, e.g. Nikolai Tsiskaridze, Marina Leonova, Anastasia Volochkova and Andris Liepa

Link to comment

RT Website lists the following countries for coverage in Latin America

Panama

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Ecuador

Falkland Islands

French Guiana

Guyana

Paraguay

Peru

Suriname

Uruguay

Venezuela

Link to comment

scans of newsphotos of Alonso from the 1950s.

the FALL RIVER LEGEND still is duly captioned, the other, informal, dressing room? shot, perhaps shows her costumed for BLACK SWAN PAS DE DEUX.

post-848-062421500 1309553199_thumb.jpg

post-848-046706000 1309553212_thumb.jpg

post-848-024124800 1309553228_thumb.jpg

Link to comment

:clapping: Loved her Lizzie Borden shot..! (quite a soft, unusual faced one...not very common on her...on the other side, the other ultra-expressionist, heavily made up face on the black swan shot is definitely 150 % Alonso).

Thanks rg..! (and wondering how much more you have in store for me... :thumbsup: )

Link to comment

I had two tabs open - one with the video and one with google translate so I could type in the wording at the bottom of the screen and get it translated. With enough practice, maybe iI might be able to understand a synopsis of a ballet in spanish

Link to comment

RTVE Spain has some video available including a one hour documentary:

http://www.rtve.es/television/imprescindibles/alicia-alonso/

According to El Nuevo Herald

http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2011/07/15/983697/estudio-13.html

CNN Espanol will be transmitting a two hour interview over two days with Alicia Alonso next week. It sounds as if it will be quite a revealing interview:

Google translation

"ALICIA ALONSO EN 'CALA'. Alicia Alonso, prima ballerina assoluta of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, is the guest of Ismael Cala in a special edition of its program, which airs in two parts, on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 at 9 pm on CNN in Spanish.

During the two-hour special, Alonso, founder and director of the Cuban ballet body, will discuss personal issues that has rarely spoken as her love life, marriage and subsequent divorce from the maestro Fernando Alonso and his political position. We also talk about his health and a long history of vision problems that have left blind. Legendary Cuban ballerina will also speak on how he lived and reacted to the persecution of Fidel Castro against homosexuals in the 1960's, and the fact that they qualify for deserters (something to do with defectors?) to the dancers who decide to leave the company and settle in other countries. Cala airs Monday through Friday at 9 pm on CNN in Spanish."

Link to comment

I wonder if Mme. will ever talk about either her sister's Cuca or her first son in law stories-(both persecuted for being radically against the Castro regime, the first one having to hide and run away from the island and the second one shot during the first firing squads waves). I would also like to see if she will be asked about her former partenaire Jorge Esquivel, which I think has been her most painful defection ever in the history of the Cuban company...

Link to comment

CNN Espanol will be transmitting a two hour interview over two days with Alicia Alonso next week. It sounds as if it will be quite a revealing interview:

Google translation

"ALICIA ALONSO EN 'CALA'. Alicia Alonso, prima ballerina assoluta of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, is the guest of Ismael Cala in a special edition of its program, which airs in two parts, on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 at 9 pm on CNN in Spanish.

During the two-hour special, Alonso, founder and director of the Cuban ballet body, will discuss personal issues that has rarely spoken as her love life, marriage and subsequent divorce from the maestro Fernando Alonso and his political position. We also talk about his health and a long history of vision problems that have left blind. Legendary Cuban ballerina will also speak on how he lived and reacted to the persecution of Fidel Castro against homosexuals in the 1960's, and the fact that they qualify for deserters (something to do with defectors?) to the dancers who decide to leave the company and settle in other countries. Cala airs Monday through Friday at 9 pm on CNN in Spanish."

"We won't go to waste time in Miami..."

Mme. Alonso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKh8lWiZrOE&feature=feedlik

Link to comment

as a companion to the scan of AA as Lizzie Borden, a similar era (tho' probably earlier, year-wise) photo, undated and unidentified from Ballet Theatre of Nora Kaye, for whom de Mille created the role of L.B. in her FALL RIVER LEGEND.

post-848-081494700 1311182068_thumb.jpg

Link to comment

Thanks for loading the extract and the photo from Fall River Legend.

I found two excerpts from this week's Alicia Alonso interview on the CNN Espanol website - both around 9 minutes long. They look quite similar to the screen format used by RT, interview showing in small box during dance extracts etc.

The first extract includes some footage of the ABT tribute and some discussion of style. The second extract focuses on Giselle and a discussion about Fernando Alonso. There are a couple of dance extracts labelled as Giselle 1963 - the second one is the Vasiliev/Alonso performance in the 1980s, I'm not sure who is the male dancer in the first extract and when this performance would have taken place.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/spanish/2011/07/18/cala.alicia.alonso.cnn

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/spanish/2011/07/19/cala.alonso.giselle.cnn

Hopefully a spanish speaker would be able to highlight interesting points. I'm curious about the discussion about Fernando Alonso.

Link to comment

Thanks for loading the extract and the photo from Fall River Legend.

I found two excerpts from this week's Alicia Alonso interview on the CNN Espanol website - both around 9 minutes long. They look quite similar to the screen format used by RT, interview showing in small box during dance extracts etc.

The first extract includes some footage of the ABT tribute and some discussion of style. The second extract focuses on Giselle and a discussion about Fernando Alonso. There are a couple of dance extracts labelled as Giselle 1963 - the second one is the Vasiliev/Alonso performance in the 1980s, I'm not sure who is the male dancer in the first extract and when this performance would have taken place.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/spanish/2011/07/18/cala.alicia.alonso.cnn

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/spanish/2011/07/19/cala.alonso.giselle.cnn

Hopefully a spanish speaker would be able to highlight interesting points. I'm curious about the discussion about Fernando Alonso.

The first clip shows Alonso dancing with Jorge Esquivel-(currently a character dancer at SFB).

Interviewer: "You became immortalized in the dance world as the best Giselle of all times"

AA-(Pausing)..."There have been very good Giselles...after, maybe now, later on...but I had my seat...I've had my seat" :)

Interviewer- "I see you still bear Fernando Alonso's last name...that you kept it after the divorce"

AA-"I'm fine with that...I'm delighted with it...see..? It is AA, so they always have to place me in the first place, and I like that..." :D

Link to comment

Many thanks for your explanation and translation. It gives me a flavour of the conversation. It's very helpful.

Going slightly off topic, I searched for ballet-related programs on Spanish RT. In addition to the A solar series, I found two further short programs - (1) on the Vaganova School and (2) on the Bolshoi.

http://actualidad.rt.com/search.html?buscar_por=videos&q=ballet&start_date=&end_date=&sort=date

Spanish TV has several programs available - some one hour and some 1/2 hour dance related documentaries. The longer programs aren't always too accessible for non spanish speakers (but that's to be expected as they weren't intended for them)

The imprescindibles series on RTVE also includes a documentary on Antonio Gades

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/imprescindibles/imprescindibles-antonio-gades-etica-danza/1000827/

The paso a paso series on RTVE has 13 half hour programs on different types of dance

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/paso-a-paso-con-nacho-duato/paso-paso-nacho-duato-american-ballet-theatre/896636/

Link to comment

Many thanks for your explanation and translation. It gives me a flavour of the conversation. It's very helpful.

My pleasure, CM. And about the Giselle clips, none of them are from 1963, as the caption reads. The first one, with Esquivel, must be-(I think)-from the returning of Alonso to the MET stage in 1979, and the second one is with Vasiliev in 1980 in Havana. At first the interviewer asked her what was like to be there at the MET during the gala for her 90 th birthday, and she answered that she felt as if her whole life was just passing by in front of her eyes...that she didn't have words, that-(in her own words)- "I couldn't say, or describe, or even dance what I felt up there...not even dance, which is what I like the most in my life..!" When talking about Fernando Alonso, she made clear that it was her influence in his life as a dancer/teacher/choreographer-(and not the only way around)-what weighted the most.

Link to comment

Many thanks for your explanation and translation. It gives me a flavour of the conversation. It's very helpful.

Going slightly off topic, I searched for ballet-related programs on Spanish RT. In addition to the A solar series, I found two further short programs - (1) on the Vaganova School and (2) on the Bolshoi.

http://actualidad.rt.com/search.html?buscar_por=videos&q=ballet&start_date=&end_date=&sort=date

Spanish TV has several programs available - some one hour and some 1/2 hour dance related documentaries. The longer programs aren't always too accessible for non spanish speakers (but that's to be expected as they weren't intended for them)

The imprescindibles series on RTVE also includes a documentary on Antonio Gades

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/imprescindibles/imprescindibles-antonio-gades-etica-danza/1000827/

The paso a paso series on RTVE has 13 half hour programs on different types of dance

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/paso-a-paso-con-nacho-duato/paso-paso-nacho-duato-american-ballet-theatre/896636/

Do any of you--CM, cubanmiamiboy, bart etc.(?)--know how/who I could contact at the above spanish-language media companies about my documentary film? I think they might be interested in showing it, if I can ever finish it. (Funding still a major issue.) BTW: Please remember, I may have learned (fast) to understand spoken/written Spanish at a very fundamental level, but am hardly fluent enough to do a major distribution negotiation. Is there anyone there who would understand English? Or does anyone know anyone who could translate effectively?

Link to comment

I'm afraid I can't help - It's not a subject that I'm familiar with and I struggle with spanish.

Slightly off topic again, the RT Bolshoi feature includes two or three minutes of Vasiliev and Zakharova in "le jeune homme et la mort" - off-stage and also shot from the wings. The presenter seems to trying to persuade Zakharova to give him a ballet lesson. Semenyaka also features. I think Zakharova is due to appear in the Bolshoi's tribute to Alicia Alonso at the beginning of August:

http://actualidad.rt.com/programas/la_lista_de_erick/803

Link to comment
I think Zakharova is due to appear in the Bolshoi's tribute to Alicia Alonso at the beginning of August:

I wonder if she will dance Carmen. Zakharova was one of the very few ballerinas whom Alberto Alonso coached personally in the role-(Plisetskaya and Alonso the other two)

Alonso

Plisetskaya

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQB1dz2IJeA

Zakharova

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vw6bbqXm2A

Link to comment

Alicia Alonso interviewed by Michael Voss/CCTV

http://english.cntv....07/106428.shtml

Short feature on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban ballet school

http://www.bbc.co.uk...merica-17793474

Thanks, CM for the clips. It was nice to see the short snippets of the company dacing "Theme and Variations". I wish a complete video could be available to now compare the way the Cubans dance the late 40's/unlicensed Alonso's version with what I saw here,which I asume has to have certain little differences-(stilistically speaking, and maybe even choreographically)- probably made by Balanchine himself in the course of the years. It was also interesting to hear calling Anette Delgado the best bearer of Alonso's style and technique instead of Valdes. Sad though how when talking about Cubans dancing abroad only Acosta and Toto are mentioned, as if others like the Feijoo sisters or Sarabita are non existent. Then, of course, Alonso, always praising her most beloved partner and friend, "one of the best dancers in the world, Igor Youskevitch". flowers.gif

Link to comment

Alicia Alonso interviewed by Michael Voss/CCTV

http://english.cntv....07/106428.shtml

Short feature on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban ballet school

http://www.bbc.co.uk...merica-17793474

Thanks, CM for the clips. It was nice to see the short snippets of the company dacing "Theme and Variations". I wish a complete video could be available to now compare the way the Cubans dance the late 40's/unlicensed Alonso's version with what I saw here,which I asume has to have certain little differences-(stilistically speaking, and maybe even choreographically)- probably made by Balanchine himself in the course of the years. It was also interesting to hear calling Anette Delgado the best bearer of Alonso's style and technique instead of Valdes. Sad though how when talking about Cubans dancing abroad only Acosta and Toto are mentioned, as if others like the Feijoo sisters or Sarabita are non existent. Then, of course, Alonso, always praising her most beloved partner and friend, "one of the best dancers in the world, Igor Youskevitch". flowers.gif

Balanchine revised the ballerina role somewhat for Gelsey Kirland (eg added gargouillades)...

Link to comment
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...