...some collect stamps, I collect ballet experience...after I got off the plane in Madrid, I spent a night watching Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon's premiere of La Bayadere in Teatro Real (Royal Theatre). The theatre is located in front of the Palacio Real. The monarch has moved to the more modest Zarzuela Palace outside Madrid, but the Royal Place is still used for state occasions. some time at the end of the journey, I witnessed on the metro screen a catholic funeral for the victimes of the devastated plane crash - although many Spaniards questioned: why catholic funeral?
La Bayadere (The Temple Dancer) was originally choreographed by the ballet master Marius Petipa (Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake,...) to the music of Ludwig Minkus (Don Quixote, Le Papillon, ...). it took place in an exotic and ancient locale of India - ideal vehicle for spectacular dances and lavish decor. the subjects are to be of the romantic ballet tradition - melo-dramas involving a love triangle of some sort. at the end of the rather tragic story, the shades of the lovers are reunited in an apotheosis and spirited off toward the high Himalayas...when Rudolf Nureiev last staged La Bayadere in Paris 1992 before he died from AIDS, it broke many's hearts...
among today's young virtuosos is the founder of the company, Spanish ballet dancer Angel Corella (winner of Grand Prix and Gold Medal 1994). it was a treat to watch him playing the leading role Solor. Although I found the leading females were all the principal dancers from ABT - Paloma Herrera as Nikiya, Gilian Murphy as Gamzatti, it was an mature production in full overall. here's a clip of Angle Corella dancing another difficult role Bronze Idol in La Bayadere to appreciate his virtuoso.
La Bayadere (The Temple Dancer) was originally choreographed by the ballet master Marius Petipa (Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake,...) to the music of Ludwig Minkus (Don Quixote, Le Papillon, ...). it took place in an exotic and ancient locale of India - ideal vehicle for spectacular dances and lavish decor. the subjects are to be of the romantic ballet tradition - melo-dramas involving a love triangle of some sort. at the end of the rather tragic story, the shades of the lovers are reunited in an apotheosis and spirited off toward the high Himalayas...when Rudolf Nureiev last staged La Bayadere in Paris 1992 before he died from AIDS, it broke many's hearts...
among today's young virtuosos is the founder of the company, Spanish ballet dancer Angel Corella (winner of Grand Prix and Gold Medal 1994). it was a treat to watch him playing the leading role Solor. Although I found the leading females were all the principal dancers from ABT - Paloma Herrera as Nikiya, Gilian Murphy as Gamzatti, it was an mature production in full overall. here's a clip of Angle Corella dancing another difficult role Bronze Idol in La Bayadere to appreciate his virtuoso.
...
then, my journey took a turn to the south. the Spanish novelist Pio Baroja verdicted that half the idiocies about the Spanish soul have been invented by foreigners, the other half by Spaniards themselves. I tried to distinguish which is which. my new friend sitting next to the table said, 'siesta is a myth. flamenco is only originated from the southern region, Andalusia.' and I am blessed to have my virgin live flamenco experience taken place in Los Gallos, an over 40 yrs old tablao (flamenco club) in seville, the cultural capital of Andalusia.
I think it is important to watch this form of arts in such a small cozy traditional setting, where the dancing (baile), singing (cante), guitar (toque), the facial expressions and body gestures all came together and gave me such a moving thrill - sometimes happy sometimes sad...in my desperate desire to understand it, I found there're so many genres (palos) of flamenco. 'For example,' my Spanish friend filled me in, ' This song of Camaron de la Isla is of Bulerías, which is rather sad. The lyrics says:
It makes me so sad,
it makes me so sad.
The bridge always stays,
while water goes away.
Grandparents, parents and uncles.
Grandparents, parents and uncles.
From good springs
you obtain good rivers.
Grandparents, parents and uncles.'
it makes me so sad.
The bridge always stays,
while water goes away.
Grandparents, parents and uncles.
Grandparents, parents and uncles.
From good springs
you obtain good rivers.
Grandparents, parents and uncles.'
it makes me so sad, it makes me so sad...that my journey does not last forever...
A big fan
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