Theatre is no longer an ephemeral experience. Thanks to photography, film, and video recordings, the spectacle lives on well after the final curtain call. This modern day possibility offers spectators the chance to enjoy performances time and again, although live theater is a completely unique and magical experience.
In this case the idea of recording performances emerged given the impossibility of attending all the shows in an event like the Havana International Theatre Festival (October 22-November1), which in its 16th edition had the audacity to present 81 productions by 74 groups from 22 countries (this year the event organizing committee received some 360 proposals), in addition to works by the most outstanding Cuban collectives.
Musicals, or performances featuring music, were a compelling offer on the festival’s varied program which included: Posible imposible, a co-production between Swedish company Memory Wax and Danza Teatro Retazos directed by maestra Isabel Bustos; Vaal, by the Saint Petersburg Komissarzhevskaya Theater Academy; Beatlemania and La victoria sobre el sol, by Russian group Stas Namin TheaterofMusicandDrama; Crash, Drumming In Motion by U.S. collective Mary Ellen Childs Company; Glory Box, by Finucane & Smith, Australia, which exhibited the most exotic facets of cabaret in the Hotel Riviera’s Copa Room; Mía bonita, also a cabaret based piece by Ecuadorian group Zonaescena, and a parade along the Malecon, where, among a dozen other groups, the Rosario Cárdenas Company, a reference of global contemporary dance, performed six minutes of the piece Tributo a El Monte, in homage to Lydia Cabrera; to mention just a few.
It was no coincidence therefore that opening and closing the festival, which transformed the entire city into a stage, were performances of Broadway Rox (October 23-24-25) and Cinderella by the Monte Carlo Ballet (October 30-31 to November 1).
A TASTE OF BROADWAY
Broadway Rox is an incredible show paying homage to the most contemporary Broadway musicals. The work of renowned choreographer Rob Evan, the piece combines the best of the Broadway classics with elements of a high energy rock-show, all resulting in an extraordinary concert.
Songs from seminal musicals such as “Aquaruis” from Hair or “Memory” from Cats, as well as tracks from Wicked, Mamma Mia!, Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ Superstar, or The Phantom of the opera could be appreciated during the three, one-and-half hour long performances at a packed Mella Theater; which also included tributes to Paul McCartney (“Hey Jude,” with the entire audience singing along and Billy Joel, whose hit “New York State of Mind” was reworked into “Cuba State of mind” (eliciting rapturous applause).
The concert brought together six Broadway vocalists: Daniel Luis Domenech, Janine Divita, Ashley Loren, Darren Ritchie, Shelley Thomas and Jason Wooten, accompanied by a band composed of some of New York’s finest musicians: Alan Stevens Hewitt on bass, Matt Zebroski on percussion, Thomas Monkell on guitar, and Cam Collins on wind instruments.
This high-caliber show was the result of costly but selfless effort, stated Robert Nederlander, president of Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment during a press conference.
“It is a pleasure to be back in Havana. It’s our third time here and great expectations were aroused four years ago when we premiered our first work (Broadway Ambassadors) and the result has always been tremendously surprising.”
He also commented on the production of Rent by a young Cuban ensemble, showing from the end of 2014 through April 2015, whose cast members joined the U.S. troupe on their closing night, to perform Steve Perry’s Don't Stop Believing, among other numbers.
Broadway Rox, with the exceptional voices and commanding stage presence of its singers and an impeccable repertory, was a complete hit, offering a little taste of several of the most famousBroadway musicals, some of which it is hoped will soon be brought to Havana, stated Robert Nederlander.
A SHOELESS CINDERELLA
The three performances of Cinderella – with music by Sergei Prokofiev and based on the original tale by German authors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm – saw the lead ballerina Anjara Ballesteros dance barefoot, because choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot likes his “shows to provoke a positive reaction from the audience.”
Shortly after the company’s arrival, Maillot expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to visit the island and present his work there. “It has always been a dream of mine to come to Cuba - given the strong tradition of ballet which exists here - and now it’s come true. We have worked all over the world and it’s amazing to visit and see the Cuban School of Ballet and a people bewitched by dance.”
Maillot combines elements of classical contemporary techniques in this work. “I wanted to move away from the traditional story, the children’s tale the whole world knows, to give a deeper and more human substance to a basically banal story.”
In his version of Cinderella there is no pumpkin or glass slipper. “I though about the meaning of the shoe, in this case a ballet slipper, and I realized that the foot is more beautiful than a slipper. The foot is the most important thing for a dancer. So here, unlike in other versions of the ballet, Cinderella is always barefoot. A bare foot is the epitome of simplicity.”
The Monte Carlo Ballet is today a company defined by Maillots’ visionary aesthetic; thus the logical decision to premier one of the director’s own works: an acutely personal version of Cinderella. The staging (Ernest Pignon-Ernest) combines simplicity, clean lines, mystery and large scale backdrop, in addition to stunning costume design by Jerome Kaplan.
Maillot also adds a few original features to his version, such as a greater focus on Cinderella’s father (performed by Spaniard Alvaro Prieto); the duality of the protagonist’s dead mother and fairy-godmother (both danced by Mimoza Koike) while the step-mother (Maude Sabourin) and step-sisters (Gaelle Riou and Anne-Laure Sellan) who are “as beautiful outside as they are wicked inside,” take on a new aesthetic.
This version of Cinderella by Maillot, one of the most successful French choreographers whose works have been performed in major cities across the world, is a festive, joyful spectacle, which has received numerous awards since it premiered at the Monte Carlo Opera in 1999.
Maillot works on the basis of fusion, combining classic and contemporary techniques to create an interesting, attractive and modern performance ...
The imaginary curtain of the 16th Havana International Theatre Festival has been lowered; and we are left with the sensation, the experience, the taste, of having enjoyed a broad array of outstanding theatrical productions and the prospect of a new encounter in 2017.
