Nuestra Navidad Nuestra Navidad is a collection of Christmas inspired Mexican folkloric dances that my friend, Coco, performed in. Coco has been taking Mexican folkloric dance lessons all year, and she has really been enjoying them. She really stressed to me how serious the dances were, and how each individual region in Mexico had their own dance nuances.
First of all, I really appreciated the multicultural audience that surrounded me at the Montgomery Theater, in San Jose. There were Spanish speaking families around me, but also Asians, blacks and whites, as well. My own friend, Coco, who danced, is Chinese, but with the makeup, she was indifferentiable from the other performers on stage. This was so typical of California: anything and anyone goes.
What I had envisioned before the performance was what most people think of Mexican dance: blaring horn music, and joyful and festive twirling of colorful skirts. In actuality, the performance was very reverent of tradition, and solemn in nature. One particular dance stood out in my mind. The women were dressed in cowboy hats and gorgeous skirts. The music was haunting and sad, reminiscent of bluegrass music. The beginning of the dance had a peasant girl slowly being dressed up as the Virgin Mary. It was very moving in its ritual slowness as the peasant girl slowly took on the role of the Virgin Mary. Later on in the long, 10 minute+ dance I was moved virtually to tears by the rustic singing combined with the simple ritual dances, speaking volumes about the hard life these simple Mexican peasants must have led.
Coco was particularly humorous as an old man in a long chain of old men with walking sticks. As the women danced at the forefront of the stage, the old men would topple, and would get dragged off the stage by their fellow geriatrics. All in all, a very worthwhile performance that I was glad to have attended.
Nutcracker Ballet
I wanted to feel Christmasy this year, inspite of all the renovation that is going on in our house, and I thought that inviting friends to the Nutcracker Ballet would infuse us with the right amount of Christmas spirit. I certainly wasn't disappointed.
My coworker, M, came with her husband all the way from the Concord region. Her rationale for attending: "I've never seen a ballet performance before, and I may never will when I retire and move up to Oregon, so here's my chance." My friends, J and E, newly announced that they are getting married and are going to have a child, also attended.
There are certain things about a live performance that a superior televised performance can't beat. The San Jose Ballet is nothing to speak of in terms of prestige, or even size, but I can say that I was completely transported by the story, the byproduct of an innocent young girl's fantastical imagination. And the performance of the lead ballerina, the role of the young girl, as well as the performance by the Tsarina, were particularly impressive, not necessarily by their technique, but by their individual style.
Maria was played by a Japanese ballerina, Mira Noda who played the role with particular verve, and spunk. As she danced with the Nutcracker doll, I sensed a tenderness and vulnerability that I've never sensed from the televised performances. And when she danced with the prince, she flitted about like a hummingbird.
I forget the name of the African American women who played the role of the Tsarina (or Sugar Plum Fairy) but she was also set apart by her style. She danced with a combination of athleticism and haughtiness that I really enjoyed. I'm sure noone has ever seen a televised performance of the Sugar Plum Fairy performed with the same sort of arrogance and muscularity.
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