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OLGA CONNOR

Especial/El Nuevo Herald

El Miami Dance Festival está llegando a su fin esta semana y la próxima, con una serie de conciertos y conferencias. Mañana, en el Botanical Garden de Miami Beach, se presentarán fragmentos de Cordel, un trabajo en vías de desarrollo por el coreógrafo Augusto Soledade, quien a su vez explicará su proceso creativo con su grupo Brazz Dance Theater. Le precederá una discusión sobre danza, Critics Roundtable Discusión, entre él, nuestro crítico Orlando Taquechel, la profesora de la Universidad Internacional de la Florida Andrea Seidel y Celeste Fraser Delgado.

Soledade, quien ha sido profesor de danza en FIU hasta abril de este año, hablará sobre su modo de inspiración ilustrado con los pasos de Cordel, que prepara desde su institución matriz, el Little Haiti Cultural Center. Cordel se basa en los folletines de literatura folclórica que se colgaban en tendederas para su venta en los mercados de Bahía. “Es una literatura folclórica muy específica, de fuerte estructura poética, que se conecta muy bien al hip hop y el rap americano”, declara Soledade, “y que también se relaciona con el repentismo portugués, el canto improvisado al son de la guitarra”. Este coreógrafo combina la música -fusión, la danza contemporánea y la danza negra de las Américas. En Cordel incorpora lo que ha denominado “en-tango”, influenciado por el baile argentino, pero con música de las islas del Caribe del haitiano americano Daniel Bernard Roumain.

Soledade se inspira en las sociedades marginales, un fenómeno que ocurre en todos los aspectos: la religión, la raza, el género y el arte, declara. “En el tango, la relación que se establece entre el hombre y la mujer al bailar es una idea de alguien que dirige y alguien que le sigue en una cultura machista”, expresa el coreógrafo. “En eso también hay marginalización, y además, es una danza que nació en los arrabales. La relación que quiero explorar, se hace creando una improvisación de bloqueo y desbloqueo, para ver cómo los bailarines salvan los obstáculos creados entre sí, un juego metafórico entre el hombre y la mujer”. Soledade creció en Bahía dentro de la cultura de la zamba, pero entiende la estructura del tango desde un punto de vista de las formas, aunque nunca olvida el aspecto cultural del baile.

Best of Now!, Decade II, será la próxima función en el Byron Carlyle Theater, Miami Beach, el sábado 7 de mayo, del grupo Dance Now Ensemble, DNE, que dirigen Hanna Baumgarten y Diego Salterini, también asentado en el Little Haiti Cultural Center. Y se les ha asociado Tandy Beal como coreógrafa invitada. Están celebrando el primer año de su segunda década, expresa Baumgarten, quien habla en términos gloriosos de su experiencia miamense. El programa incluirá ballets favoritos de esta temporada: Forest Dreams con coreografía de Tandy Beal; They, Asunder, de Diego Salterini; Memos from the Last Millennium, de Hannah Baumgarten, y otros.

“ Millennium es un debut en Miami Beach, un ballet clásico combinado con danza moderna, que presenta a seis colonizadores entrando en un ambiente primitivo de una tierra extraña”, describe Baumgarten, “los estudiantes de las escuelas que lo han visto se dan cuenta enseguida de que los bailarines están entrando en la jungla”.

Baumgarten se graduó de Juilliard School of Music de Nueva York, en 1993 bajo la dirección de Benjamin Harkarvy. Su estilo, declara, no es avant garde, se basa en ballet, danza moderna y jazz, que atraiga a audiencias más jóvenes. La coreógrafa vivió de joven en Israel, y más tarde en California. Su padre, de procedencia ruso judía, se crió en Panamá, ella entiende y habla el español y proclama que lo que le gusta de Miami es su cosmopolitismo. “Lo mejor de esta ciudad es su devoción por las artes”, comenta. “Somos la nueva generación artística”, advierte. “Y sólo aquí se puede innovar de esta manera, ‘para ser diferentes hay que ir a donde se está empezando’, me dijo un mentor, ahora nos consideramos parte de la infraestructura artística de esta ciudad”. • 

Review of Ballet Flamenco La Rosa's World Premiere: Cleopatra Y Cesar

The 2011 Miami Dance Festival opened last weekend at the Colony Theater with the world premier of Cleopatra y Cesar, an evening-length performance by Miami-based Ballet Flamenco La Rosa. The company’s artistic director Ilisa Rosal has shown serious devotion to the art of flamenco – this year her company celebrates its 26^th anniversary. For Cleopatra y Cesar, Rosal has assembled a large ensemble of accomplished flamenco dancers including Leonor Leal, a sought-after soloist from Sevilla who makes her American debut in this production.

The original George Bernard Shaw play Cleopatra and Cesar, interpreted here by Ballet Flamenco La Rosa, is filled with romance, betrayal, military threats and assassinations, the kinds of high-pitched emotional exchanges that destroy and rebuild families and nations. Perfect material for a night of flamenco, a dance style marked by emotional intensity. The plot revolves around Cesar’s arrival in ancient Egypt. He came as a conqueror, but while wondering through the desert, he encounters a young Cleopatra at the feet of a Sphinx and a passionate love affair develops. Cleopatra, who doesn’t realize who she has fallen for, has her own grand ambitions. She is vying with her ten-year old brother Ptolemy for rule over Egypt.

Leonor Leal as Cleopatra.

Ballet Flamenco La Rosa’s Cleopatra y Cesar sticks to Shaw’s basic storyline as a structure for a series of dramatic exchanges, both sensual and confrontational. Striking body poses inspired by Egyptian hieroglyphics merge beautifully with classic flamenco, and notable moments from the original play, including the famous scene where Cleopatra is rolled inside a rug and smuggled out of captivity, give life and variation to the many dance sequences. Flamenco is not always a forum for subtlety, but Leal rendered Cleopatra with both fire and grace. Her elegant arm work and impassioned carriage were believably royal, and a gorgeous and extensive wardrobe emphasized her character’s stature and sensuality. Tragically, a black Egyptian-styled wig obscured the emotive expressions of her face.

Although Leal was in a league all her own, the entire ensemble, including an unusual number of talented male dancers, was strong and solid. The surprise of the night was young Gino Cosculluela’s brief appearance as Cleopatra’s brother Ptolemeo. Child performers are a rare sight in flamenco – a high level of maturity and life experience are considered indispensable for the form’s strong emotional tone. This little guy stole the spotlight with unwavering confidence and dignity as he engaged Cleopatra in a contest of posturing and temper tantrums.

Left to Right: Gabriel Arango as Cesar, José Junco as Potiano and Gino Cosculluela as Ptolomeo

Music is as much a part of flamenco tradition as movement, and the original music orchestrated for Cleopatra y Cesar by Jose Luis Rodriguez and Paco Fonta, in collaboration with Rosal and the other musicians and performers, was one of the most developed aspects of the performance. Spanish guitar and vocals were complemented by Middle Eastern vocals and the sound of an oud, effectively evoking a desert mood.

Unfortunately, the production was brought down by some unsophisticated visual elements. The costumes for the male characters were a cheap imitation of luxe, and the props, including scrappy fabric stand-ins for rugs, were distracting. The narrative was marked by projected clip-art graphics of scenery that were also far beneath the quality of the dance and musical performances. Still, Rosal is to be commended for her creative departures from the usual; Cleopatra y Cesar borrows the language of flamenco but moves away from traditional structures. The choreography was complex, offering beautiful, moving images and precise passages of footwork that were well-integrated with the live music. For flamenco fans, there was plenty to enjoy, and when the show was over, the crowd rewarded Ballet Flamenco La Rosa with enthusiastic cheers[.]

This post was contributed by Annie Hollingsworth, artburstmiami.com.

THERE’S STILL TIME TO ENJOY THE MIAMI DANCE FESTIVALby Marj O'Neill-Butler on May 03, 2011 Cordell, a new work in progressMiami Dance Festival continues all month with dance events scheduled at venues all over Miami. Here’s the schedule until May 14. For more information visit www.momentumdance.com.   May 5 at 7 PM Critics Roundtable Panel Discussion Miami Beach Botanical Garden,100 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach. Noted writer and dance historian Dr. Andrea M. Seidel (Florida International University) will moderate a panel discussion that focuses on how critics look at and write about dance, what criteria they use, what the responsibilities are when writing about dance in a young arts community, and what audience(s) they write for. Critics include: Celeste Fraser Delgado from the Knight Arts Blog, Orlando Taquechel from El Nuevo Herald, and writers from the newly launched Artburst media service. Free Admission. Immediately after the discussion Brazz Dance Theater Artistic Director Augusto Soledade, will present an informal showing of Cordell, a new work in progress. Mr. Soledade will comment on his creative process and seek feedback on the choreography to date. Free Admission. May 7, 2011 at 8 PM Dance Now! Program III: Best of Now! Decade 2 Byron Carlyle Theater, 500 71st St., Miami Beach. Dance Now! Celebrates the first year of its second decade with an evening of audience favorites from the 2010/11 season including work of renowned West Coast Choreographer Tandy Beal. Tickets: $35/$30/$15/$10 Colony Box Office: 305-674-1040 x 1. May 13, 2011 at 8 PM CORE Performance Group/Corazon Abriendo (Heart Opening) Byron Carlyle Theater, 500 71st Street, Miami Beach. Festival national guest company, Atlanta based CORE Performance Group returns to the Festival with a multi-media dance and theater work that expresses the struggles and triumphs of the Maya peoples. Corazón Abriendo (Heart Opening) is a portal that transports the audience into the vivid, lush atmosphere of the highlands and rainforests of Chiapas, Mexico through a multimedia “cloth” of dance, sculpture, video, and music skillfully woven together with the sights and sounds collected from Chiapas into this exceptional performance piece. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door/Students & Seniors $15 Groups $10. Colony Box Office: 305-674-1040 x 1. May 14 at 8 PM & May 15 at 7 PM Momentum Dance Company Spring Season 2011 Byron Carlyle Theater, 500 71st Street, Miami Beach. Miami Dance Festival’s host company offers a repertory concert that features Doris Humphrey’s historic 1928 work Water Study, considered a breakthrough work when it was created, and which still looks very contemporary 78 years later. Artistic Director Delma Iles brings back Window, inspired by paintings by Joan Miro and Cobia, returns with a new original score by Dr. Devin Marsh. Iles will also premiere a new work, Pots and Pans, about pots and pans and ingredients and appetite and hunger and wanting more than you should have. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door/Students & Seniors $15 Groups $10. Colony Box Office: 305.674.1040 x 1.