Word: latinities
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Sarabia is only the latest of a long line of Latin dancers, especially Cubans, who have joined top U.S. and European troupes, infusing them with a new warmth, sensuality and flair--what in Spanish is called chispa, or spark. There have been individual Hispanic stars before, like the great mid-century ballerinas Alicia Alonso of Cuba and Lupe Serrano of Chile. But now rosters from San Francisco to Houston to Cincinnati are studded with Latin names. Roughly half the principal dancers in the Boston and Miami City ballets are Latins. American Ballet Theatre (A.B.T.) features so many that...
Solid training is a key to the Latin influx. In contrast to the U.S., where training is haphazard except at a few top companies, many Latin countries have excellent ballet schools, often subsidized by the government, where youngsters are put through a rigorous classical regimen. Spain boasts a fine school run by former Maurice Béjart dancer Víctor Ullate. Argentina has another, at the century-old Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. But the most celebrated and influential school in the Latin world is the one attached to Cuba's National Ballet, supported by Castro since 1959 and presided...
Schooling accounts for the Latins' superb technique; their culture supplies the rest. A love of movement, says A.B.T. artistic director Kevin McKenzie, "is part of the daily fabric of their lives." Adds A.B.T.'s Julio Bocca, who is from Argentina: "We improvise a lot. Our kind of living is very fresh and spontaneous." And Latins are never shy about injecting a little drama. "We try harder to be actresses in the roles we dance," says Mary Carmen Catoya, a Venezuelan with Miami City Ballet, "to seduce the audience a little more, make our eyes talk a little more...
With Cuba's National Ballet and other Latin companies achieving such high quality, why do dancers keep leaving? For one thing, the companies stick mostly to traditional repertory, emphasizing the classic 19th century romantic ballets. Homegrown choreographers are in short supply, and leading international choreographers rarely visit. The dancers are understandably restless and eager to explore more varied and contemporary styles. For another, the U.S. and Europe are still the big leagues, offering more visible (and lucrative) careers and often a freer, more comfortable way of life than are available back home...
...wanted to revolutionize the way campus operates and the way a Harvard education operates.†Some students have expressed disapproval of the shirts. Amanda L. Shapiro ’08 created a facebook group, “The Che-Summers Shirt Is a Desecration of Latin Revolutionaries and Humanity in General,†after the shirts were first produced last spring. “I was particularly offended by the shirts because I think that Che Guevara is an icon for rising from inequality and justice, and I don’t see Larry Summers as even...