This ballet company is a bit of a legend here in the US. It's partly due to Alicia Alonso, who is its director. She was a dancer at ABT and although is now 90 years old and has been blind for many years, still runs the company. It's also partly due to the number of prominent Cuban dancers who have left their home to grace world stages (Jose Manuel Carreno, Carlos Acosta, the Feijoo sisters, etc.). I think a great deal of the mystique can be attributed to the state of relations between Cuba and the US. In any case, I was so excited to hear they would be performing in Los Angeles and doing Don Quixote! That should be a ballet that highlights the Cubans famed charisma and passion.
Unfortunately, the company and performance were a disappointment. Although there were wonderful moments by the lead male and female dancers, she with wonderful jumps and balances, he with great ballon and lifts, as a whole everything felt a little shabby. The feet were sloppy all around (weak fifths in landings, not fully pointed), the costumes were ill fitting and in some cases, completely swallowed up the dancers so that any feet and legwork were hard to discern, the corps was poorly coordinated, and everyone seemed to be sleep walking through the performance. The choreography did not help in the least. Don Q is one of the most non-sensical ballets (and that's saying a lot) so if there's nothing special or unique in the variations, there's not much point in it.
It was sad to see this audience, so wanting to support these dancers, with very little to cheer. Any time there was the slightest bit of excitement, the roar of the crowd was deafening, but too often throughout the night, the crowd's applause was merely polite.
Perhaps when the torch is eventually passed to a younger generation to lead this company, they will regain their power and be worth watching again.
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