03 October 2011
Ballet: Cuban and South American Style
I've seen many different versions of this particular pas de deux, but the version with Fernanda Tavarès-Diniz and Joan Boada remains my favorite due to the sophistication and musicality of the performers. Her variation in particular is something I never tire of watching. I love the way she savors each moment in the music and finds those previous little nuances to present to the audience. I suspect she's enjoying it as much as they are.
What to note:
Her arms have a Russian inspiration, but the overall quality is far more South American with its focus on strong but musical turns and a beautifully uncomplicated core.
(Quick mention: Fernanda is from Brazil, while Joan is from Cuba. Joan, I believe, is currently dancing with the San Francisco Ballet. I'm not sure about Fernanda.)
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2 comments:
So ignorant question of the day - why do the women dance on point and the men don't? I mean, in his solo piece, he goes up on his toes at times, as it were, whereas her heels never touch the ground. It seems to give him a more (clumsily worded) sort earth-bound, quality, and her more of the floating ethereal quality that people think of with ballet (perhaps this is just because most people think of it as a 'girl's activity' now, so they think of the girl dancers?). Or is it just his style, or the style of this particular choreographer, or this particular piece? Just curious.
This was a beautiful dance, though - the symmetry of it was gorgeous, especially in the first number. And the sheer athleticism of both of them is very different - it almost does remind me of Flamenca dancing, with that sort of muscular rigidity that sort of expresses passion, rather than the sort of fluidity that makes you think of effortlessness and dreaminess in some of the Europeans? These two dance more they way I've always thought that, say, Firebird Suite probably looks.
Homans's book does come in handy for explaining why women ended up on pointe and men didn't. It's actually a little arbitrary and has been up for ongoing discussion for the last decade or so. There's a measure of practicality to it: for partnering at least, women on pointe have less stability than men, so it would make no sense for both to be on the tips of their toes. There are ballets where men do pointe, but it's uncommon. I think it's one of those topics that will live on in discussion, even as the tradition remains unchanged.
Yes, I agree that some of the traditional "Latin" style dances (such as Flamenco) have influenced the South American and Cuban ballet styles -- and all for the best. Dancers from these schools tend to be a little more solid (not necessarily in a weight sense, although sometimes that's the case), have stronger cores, and fall more into the "bravura" category than the lyrical. It's had a big impact on dance in Europe (for the best, in my opinion), and many European companies now have at least a couple of dancers from these schools. For instance, three of the Royal Ballet's female principals are of Spanish or South American origin: Tamara Rojo (Spanish, though born in Canada), Marianela Nunez (from Argentina), and Roberta Marquez (from Brazil). Carlos Acosta, from Cuba, is one of the Royal's male principals. You'll see the same trend in other companies in Britain, Scotland, and on the continent (except in Russia, of course).
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