Miami City Ballet videos online

[Figurante]

There are two video excerpts of Miami City Ballet in performances of Balanchine's Tarentella and Raymonda Variations

Tarentella: Tricia Albertson and Renato Penteado

Raymonda Variations: Alex Wong and Mary Carmen Catoya as the principals, Ashley Knox (1st Variation) and the corps.

Tarentella

http://www.mccarter.org/Trailers/viewtrail...spx?page_id=126

Raymonda Variations

http://search.live.com/video/results.aspx?...d=1462700212527

Now... I know everyone may freak out about the copyrights for this post... but Miami City Ballet is touring to the McCarter Theater on April 27th, 2008. I am hoping that because it is on the official theater site, you guys will allow me to post this. Anyways.. if there aren't any problems... ENJOY!

[carbro]

I enjoyed these thoroughly, even if the editing looked a little, uh, whimsical in places.

I also enjoyed one you didn't link -- the interview with Ileana Lopez and Franklin Gomez. They do come across as very special artists.

Thanks so much, Figurante.

[Jack Reed]

The Web changeth -- by the time I got to the second link just now, a half-minute clip from their Aurora's Wedding was available instead.

[Figurante]

I wonder if that is any reflection on any kind of supposed programming change? hmm..

[emilienne]

Try this link .

Video 1 is Raymonda Variations, video 2 is Agon, video 3 is Tarantella.

[bart]

Thanks, figurante and emilienne for the links and the assistance in identifying them.

It took a while to download these to another player, and I never did get the sound to work, but all three are great records of how the company's dancers look. I assume these were shot in the MCB studio?

I hope this is just a beginning for MCB -- and other companies -- making more of an effort to bring their work to the internet, and not just as a promotional event for a single theater.

When I think of the generations of New York City Ballet and other dancers whose work has disappeared as movement (not just still photography and reviews), it makes me want to weep. (I realize that much can be found at specialist institutions like the NYPL Dance Collection, but it's not the same as videos like these.)

[Jack Reed]

bart's remark touches a nerve -- many times a year I manage to see performances which cry out to be more widely shared than merely with those in the theatre at the moment. Most are recorded by the company, but how far do they go then? About as far as a library, which is better than nothing. *sigh*

Anyway, I tried taking a straightforward approach with YouTube -- I just searched on Miami City Ballet, and I was rewarded -- Dare I say it? Will some evil force strike it down if I do? But it's been up for three months! -- nearly ten minutes of beautiful dancing by Mary Carmen Catoya and Joseph Philips in Spartanburg Ballet's Nutcracker: The Sugar Plum pas de deux. (Scroll down the list of search results on the left.) And decently shown, too, one camera, nothing too fancy, as Mr. B might say! Enjoy!

As for the McCarter link, I'm not getting that to work, but I'm sharing computers these days, rather than having my own to tweak.

Still, that surprise "find" compenates me a little for not getting to Program IV this seson...

[Jack Reed]

Here's a link to that Sugar Plum pas de deux video:

Anyway, I wonder to what extent these posts are -- or were -- official efforts of MCB, especially since they seem to be gone pretty fast.

[bart]

[ ... ] I wonder to what extent these posts are -- or were -- official efforts of MCB, especially since they seem to be gone pretty fast.

Good question. I guess we'll have to wait and see whether a new willingness to use video for promotion develops.

And thanks, Jack, for the link to the Sugarplum pdd. It was interesting to see Catoya dancing with Phillips (Rolando Sarabia was her partner with the MCB). Philllips came to Miami as a soloist and departed very quickly. HI hope that his decision to join ABT staring in the corps gives him the opportunities he wants.