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ABT to appear in Havana Cuba

leonid17

By leonid17
in American Ballet Theatre

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cubanmiamiboy

cubanmiamiboy

Posted
Posted

I'm so happy for my balletomane friends in La Habana...Thanks Leonid for the heads up!!

"The opportunity to return 50 years later almost fell apart after the Obama White House balked at allowing outside American sponsorship to help pay for it."

:(

"When it seemed that the New York-based company would have to decline the historic invitation, the Cuban government stepped forward and pledged to accommodate the company's members while in Havana at no charge."

:)

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Bonnette

Bonnette

Posted
Posted

Indeed, this is wonderful news. I'm hoping that the powers-that-be in Washington will loosen up in their approach to cultural exchanges with Cuba, and in the meantime it's marvelous that the Cuban government has made the ABT's appearance possible. Octavio Roca's new book, Cuban Ballet has been published at a very fortuitous moment.

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bingham

bingham

Posted
Posted

Wow...Theme and Variations...now, THAT'S going to be interesting to find the outcome...considering the knowledge of this ballet by Cuban balletomanes...in its Alonso's version, IMO... :wink:

Casting of the triple-bill is in the ABT website.I Boylston is debuting in T and V. w/ D Hallberg :clapping: :clapping:

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richard53dog

richard53dog

Posted
Posted

Casting of the triple-bill is in the ABT website.I Boylston is debuting in T and V. w/ D Hallberg :clapping: :clapping:

That's the casting for T&V on the second evening. The opening night has Wiles and Stearns in T&V. It looks like some sloppy editing on the ABT site. Both mixed bill Havana programs have Seven Sonatas being performed twice. Or is that really how the program is laid out?

T&V,

Seven Sonatas

virtuoso PDD/PDT

Seven Sonatas

Fancy Free

Unusual program, no?

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richard53dog

richard53dog

Posted
Posted

I can almost see my friends the sharks X-raying Wiles during the famous first super fast variation in T&V... :FIREdevil: She better delivers her 150 %...!!

Well, perhaps they should get their files ready. Wiles is very well schooled but I find her a very dull, leaden dancer.

To me she has a good technique for this type of rep but it doesn't add up to much. I've seen her several times in T&V partnered by Hallberg and I just don't have particularly good memories of this. (ducking)

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cubanmiamiboy

cubanmiamiboy

Posted
Posted

I can almost see my friends the sharks X-raying Wiles during the famous first super fast variation in T&V... :FIREdevil: She better delivers her 150 %...!!

Well, perhaps they should get their files ready. Wiles is very well schooled but I find her a very dull, leaden dancer.

To me she has a good technique for this type of rep but it doesn't add up to much. I've seen her several times in T&V partnered by Hallberg and I just don't have particularly good memories of this. (ducking)

I really wish Murphy would have done the honors here...

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vipa

vipa

Posted
Posted

I really wish Murphy would have done the honors here...

Agreed. I saw both Wiles and Murphy in T&V around the same time and there was NO QUESTION in my mind which dancer I preferred.

I guess Murphy isn't going. Looks like a small group. Are they really taking Riccetto to do Fancy Free only?

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cubanmiamiboy

cubanmiamiboy

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Aaahh...Now I can see something. Both days the leads of T&V have been given to four American-born dancers. I don't think this is coincidence, and I think this is a great idea. I mean...the Cuban audience will be seeing an American company, and then it's fair that they're presented with genuine products of American ballet schools by American born dancers. Considering that they're a minority in ABT-(only Kent, Wiles, Hallberg and Stiefel are American-born among the Principals, and Kent and Stiefel probably somehow out of the picture for bravura variations), then the list is even shorter, so that's why soloist Stearns and Corps Boylston came into the picture.

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nysusan

nysusan

Posted
Posted

Aaahh...Now I can see something. Both days the leads of T&V have been given to four American-born dancers. I don't think this is coincidence, and I think this is a great idea. I mean...the Cuban audience will be seeing an American company, and then it's fair that they're presented with genuine products of American ballet schools by American born dancers. Considering that they're a minority in ABT-(only Kent, Wiles, Hallberg and Stiefel are American-born among the Principals, and Kent and Stiefel probably somehow out of the picture for bravura variations), then the list is even shorter, so that's why soloist Stearns and Corps Boylston came into the picture.

But Gillian Murphy is also American and she is - FAR AND AWAY their best T&V ballerina. I would go so far as to say that she is one of the best I've ever seen in this role. I know, technically she was born in England but that is a mere technicality, she's as American as apple pie. I don't know what's keeping her from the Havana performances, but it's a pity.

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cubanmiamiboy

cubanmiamiboy

Posted
Posted

Aaahh...Now I can see something. Both days the leads of T&V have been given to four American-born dancers. I don't think this is coincidence, and I think this is a great idea. I mean...the Cuban audience will be seeing an American company, and then it's fair that they're presented with genuine products of American ballet schools by American born dancers. Considering that they're a minority in ABT-(only Kent, Wiles, Hallberg and Stiefel are American-born among the Principals, and Kent and Stiefel probably somehow out of the picture for bravura variations), then the list is even shorter, so that's why soloist Stearns and Corps Boylston came into the picture.

But Gillian Murphy is also American and she is - FAR AND AWAY their best T&V ballerina. I would go so far as to say that she is one of the best I've ever seen in this role. I know, technically she was born in England but that is a mere technicality, she's as American as apple pie. I don't know what's keeping her from the Havana performances, but it's a pity.

You're totally right, Susan. When I first checked in Wikipedia all ABT's dancers profiles, I realized about Murphy's British background-(which really surprised me, since I always thought she was American-born). For what I've seen of her-(and for what I know about the Cuban audience general taste)-I bet with no doubt that she would have become Havana's darling right away. So yes...it is a real pity that she's not going...

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sunshine_d

sunshine_d

Posted
Posted

Just returned from Cuba last night, where I saw 4 performances as part of the International Ballet Festival, including ABT's performance on Thursday, and other performances by Jose Manuel Carreno/Sarah Lane and Paloma Herrera/David Hallberg. The entire experience was so incredible. ABT performed both nights to a sold out crowd at the Karl Marx Theater. It was a shame that they could not perform at the Gran Teatro but the venue really is too small for an event of this magnitude. The audience loved every moment, as did I.

ABT was featured widely in the Cuban news-- they showed clips of their arrival where Julie Kent spoke of how wonderful it was to be in Cuba with Carreno and Xiomara Reyes-- and how she hoped that they could return in the future to stage an entire production. Ojala! Wednesday night's performance was televised live as was Saturday's performance (I think) which featured both ABT dancers and Cuban dancers, though not together.

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