|
by Mary Murfin Bayley, Seattle Times dance critic
The
Seatle Times, Thursday, February 18, 1999
Cuban dancer Alicia Alonso is one of ballet's legends. George Balanchine
created "Theme and Variations" for her in 1947. She starred with the
Ballet Russe and performed with the Bolshoi and the Kirov. She continued to
dance as increasing eye problems led to near blindness. Her interpretation of "Giselle,"
which she continued to dance into her 70s, added new insights to the great
romantic classic. "Giselle"
Ballet Nacional de Cuba, 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday, Paramount Theatre,
911 Pine St., Seattle ($27.50-$45; 206-292-ARTS).
Even in a phone interview, Alonso's dignity and star quality come through, a
kind of patient hauteur, which manifests itself in her beautifully modulated,
Spanish-accented voice. She says of her "Giselle": "It's
different. The essence is the same, but we bring our own personality to it."
While Alonso is no longer dancing the lead role, Seattle will have the rare
opportunity to see her version of the 1841 ballet (original choreography by Jean
Coralli and Jules Perrot, modified by Marius Petipa) this weekend when Ballet
Nacional de Cuba makes a stop here on a goodwill tour of the U.S. and Canada.
"Giselle is the star of the romantic ballets. Its story is clear and
easy to follow," Alonso says. In her version of "Giselle," Alonso
has the corps de ballet engage in the kind of fast footwork for which she
herself was famous. She has also changed the first act pas de deux into a dance
for eight. "A group of friends dance for each other. Everybody participates
in the dance. They act. They don't just stand there and look," Alonso says.
In the second act, when Giselle joins the ghosts of other young women
thwarted in love, Alonso says, "These ladies . . . persecute the men. It is
very aggressive but lovely."
Critic Robin Grove describes Ballet Nacional de Cuba's "Giselle"
as "Simply one of the best I have seen . . . It does honor to this old
romantic production."
Alonso first started dancing when her father, an army officer, was sent to
Spain to buy horses for Cuba. She studied Spanish dancing there for one year,
including the castanets. When she returned to Cuba, she began ballet lessons.
Although now quite blind, Alonso continues to choreograph. "I put it in
my mind. I listen to the music, then I explain it to my wonderful maitres des
ballets (ballet masters)," she says.
Her company is often praised for its dancers' sense of drama and emotion,
but Alonso does not believe great technique and dramatic feeling can be
separated. "With the good art, you don't have to tell one from the other.
They both need to be there, the technique and the art. To give the feeling, you
must have the technique. Without the art, the dancers are just machines."
Alonso danced with great masters in New York and Europe such as Balanchine,
Antony Tudor, Jerome Robbins and Bronislava Nijinsky. She returned to Cuba in
1948 to create Cuba's first professional ballet company, Ballet Alicia Alonso.
In 1959, it was transformed into Cuba's government-funded Ballet Nacional de
Cuba.
This company works in the same tradition as the Russian ballet, finding
talented young children in the provinces and then funding and managing their
training. "We have our main house in Havana, but there is one school in
each province."
But as to whether its technique and style is closer to the Russian or the
American school, Alonso says, "Each company has its own personality. It
takes on the personality of its leader."
If Ballet Nacional de Cuba has taken on the personality of its leader, it
should provide some dance well worth seeing.
Copyright © 1999 Seattle Times Company |