Cervantino 2014: Unhappy Endings

I knew the music but was seeing the ballet
for the first time. FIC42 photos -Claudia Reyes

I have written so enthusiastically about FIC42 that I may be losing credibility with you, dear readers, So, even though this has been an incandescent Festival, I do have some reservations.

First of all, as reporting on each event takes more time than you might think, I skirt writing up theater or dance events that bore me. Think 1.8 of the two dance productions I've seen so far this year at the State Auditorium.

I broaden my perspective as I go to more dance and theater. I thought that although Coriolanus gripped me most of the way through, the end of this modern version let me down when it failed to suggest the noble funeral given the superhero. After seeing how Tiger Lillies staged the aftermath of Ophelia's death, I was even more skeptical of the company's decision.

In this small photo, a closer look would show
Romeo is grimacing  not smiling

At Edipo, I felt unhappy about the staging at the end. As always, Edipo/Oedipus gouged out his eyes, but then suddenly the backdrop shone a brilliant sky blue. I nay have an idea of what the director intended but he didn't knit the themes of the play together as I would have liked.

Again, during the final scene of the nearly perfect Romeo and Juliet ballet, at the end suddenly a great deal happened very fast. I consider the problem to lie with Prokofiev (or some say Stalin), not the choreography or dancing. In fact, the company from Monterrey kept me wide-awake until after eleven when the ballet ended.