Okay, call me crazy, but I say Marcelo Gomes wins?!? Am I insane? Is that the (dance) definition of insanity, thinking any other dancer is better than Baryshnikov??? For me, it’s kind of like Cabaret. My first viewing of it was the play directed by Sam Mendes and starring Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh. I fell into deep infatuation with Cumming. I then rented the film from the library and couldn’t for the life of me understand what my parents’ generation saw in Joel Grey. And I couldn’t understand why Liza Minelli had her American accent. The film was all off to me! All of my older friends thought I was deranged. And now, it’s the same with Baryshnikov v. Gomes. When I saw it performed by ABT for the first time this season, being a ballroom dancer / balletomane / mad crazed nutty Marcelo-mane and all, I was beyond smitten. And now that I see it on tape, performed by someone else, with a different interpretation of Frank, it’s just not the same.
Anyway, the important thing, and the reason I bought the DVD, is that, I showed it to Jacob last night during my lesson and he’s totally into teaching me the choreography!!!!!! It’s NOT above my head, says he, unlike a certain MacMillan version of Romeo and Juliet 🙂 and I can learn it, and we can do our own, more ballroomy version, but most definitely with all the lifts (!) for the next showcase! Jacob just said I need to learn, big-time, how to hold myself. He called me “bunny cakes” when he said this (“You’re gonna need to learn big time how to hold yourself, bunny cakes!”). What would the dance world be without gay men 🙂 🙂 🙂
On a last note… so the Dancing With the Stars finale is going to be Mario versus Emmitt. I really liked Joey, and at first was annoyed that football fans, for the second time, were voting for who I thought the least deserving to make it to the finals. But then I thought, well hey, this means that football fans are really tuning into dance these days. That’s cool. The merging of one of the country’s most popular sports and ballroom dancing. Tres interesting times we are livin’ in…
Found your blog through the Winger Board; very cool! Can’t wait to see you and Jacob performing this in March. I’m VERY nervous about the cha-cha/salsa combo Michael and Tony have in store for me but at least I have a few months before panic truly sets in.
Hi! Thanks!! I can’t wait to see your routine with Michael — combos are a lot of fun because you don’t have to stick to one thing and can be more creative. And you have so much experience dancing and performing, this will be a total cinch for you I’m sure! This past showcase was my second time performing and I was still really nervous. I’m hoping the more I do it, the better I’ll feel — hoping anyway! Maybe I’ll see you in the studio next week 🙂
You’re doing a version of Sonatra Suite? I’m sooooooooo jealous. I didn’t make it to the show, so I’m left trying to imagine someone better than Baryshnikov…
Hi Ruth! Well, don’t be jealous yet, ha ha! I’m trying hard to learn it,but have no idea right now if or when it’s going to be presentable… As usual, everything is SO much harder than the great dancers make it look, right!?!
Hey Tonya, glad to see you’ve finally saw why you simply can’t compare Baryshnikov/Tharp dancers to anyone else doing Tharp choreography! You shoulda seen Movin’ Out on Broadway, that was an amazing show, to see Tharp done *right* live. Amazing experience.
Joel Grey was also on Broadway with the original cast of Wicked. He is an amazing performer.