“Music in the Blood”: Performance and Discourse of Musicality in Cuban Ballet Aesthetics

Abstract

Alicia Alonso contended that the musicality of Cuban ballet dancers contributed to a distinctive national style in their performance of European classics such as Giselle and Swan Lake. A highly developed sense of musicality distinguished Alonso's own dancing. For the ballerina, this was more than just an element of her individual style: it was an expression of the Cuban cultural environment and a common feature among ballet dancers from that island. In addition to elucidating the physical manifestations of musicality in Alonso's dancing, this article examines how the ballerina's frequent references to music in connection to both her individual identity and the Cuban ballet aesthetics fit into a national discourse of self-representation that deems Cubans an exceptionally musical people. This analysis also problematizes the Cuban ballet's brand of musicality by underscoring the tension between its possible explanations—from being the result of the dancers' socialization into a rich Afro-Caribbean musical culture to being a stylistic element that Alonso developed through her training with foreign teachers and, in turn, transmitted to her Cuban disciples.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank Joellen Meglin for advising the dissertation that inspired this research, the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions in the review process, Lynn Matluck Brooks for her thoughtful editing, and the Society of Dance History Scholars for awarding me a Graduate Student Travel Grant that made it possible to present an earlier version of this work in Paris in 2007.

Notes

This article is not concerned with how faithful the Cuban productions of these works are to the original choreographies and styles.

Musicality, for the purposes of this essay, is defined as the particular manner in which dancers are sensitive and react to music: how they perceive and respond to a composition, complementing its musical qualities through movement, and how they infuse movement with intrinsic musical effects. Here, the focus is on Alonso's style as an example of the Cuban ballet dancers' musicality since, for decades, she was the best-known exponent of the Cuban ballet as a dancer as well as a pedagogue, choreographer, and artistic director who shaped the practice of this dance form among her countrymen. Future research could address documentation of the musicality of other Cuban dancers.

Although there are minor choreographic discrepancies in the four ballerinas' interpretations, they all dance Tchaikovsky's musical passage in its entirety, with the exception of Fonteyn, in whose performance a few bars are cut at the end.

Bourdieu argues that education and family upbringing endow individuals with not only specific ways of perceiving themselves and being in the world, but also a repertory of bodily practices in accordance with the norms of their culture, gender, social class, and geographical location. Pierre Bourdieu, Esquisse d'une théorie de la pratique: Précédé de trois études d'ethnologie kabyle (Geneva: Droz, 1972), translated as Outline of a Theory of Practice, trans. Richard Nice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977).

For a visual reference, see Son Cubano, DVD (Seattle: Academy of Cuban Folklore and Dance, 2009).

Directing attention to the relationship between imagery and factuality in the context of national identities, Benedict Anderson points out that national communities “are to be distinguished, not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined.” B. Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, second edition (New York: Verso, 1991), 6.

Alonso reiterated such recollections in other interviews. See Alicia Alonso, “El latinoamericano se expresa con todo el cuerpo,” interview by Alberto Dallal, in Balletomanía (Mexico City) vol. 1, no. 2 (Nov./Dec. 1981), reprinted in Alicia Alonso's Diálogos con la danza, fourth edition (Mexico City: Océano, 2004), 243; and “Alicia Alonso, Living on the Tips of Her Toes,” interview by John M. Kirk and Leonardo Padura Fuentes, in Culture and the Cuban Revolution, Conversations in Havana (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001), 48.

Explaining the heterogeneous character of narratives of national identity, Ruth Wodak and collaborators detail a range of strategies at play in their formulation. Construction narratives aspire to establish a certain national identity by consensus. Perpetuation narratives seek to reinforce a national identity under threat. Transformation narratives look to replace an established national identity with a new one. Finally, destruction narratives aim to dismantle an existing national identity without putting a new one in place. Homi Bhabha, too, recognizes that national identities are subject to contestation. In his view, individuals and communities have agency in constructing new narratives of the nation. R. Wodak et al., The Discursive Construction of National Identity (Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press, 1999), 33; Nation and Narration, ed. Homi Bhabha (New York: Routledge, 1990), 2–3.

Wodak and her collaborators maintain that narratives of identity entail the possibility of rearranging and reinterpreting past events. R. Wodak et al., The Discursive Construction of National Identity, 15.

For a more detailed discussion of Alonso's dual identity as an heir of European tradition and a Cuban renovator of ballet, see chapters 3 and 4 in Lester Tomé, The Cuban Ballet: Its Rationale, Aesthetics and Artistic Identity as Formulated by Alicia Alonso (doctoral dissertation, Temple University, 2011).

1. All translations from Spanish to English are by the article's author. Alicia Alonso, “La danza: triunfo ilimitado de nuestras culturas,” speech in acceptance of a doctor honoris causa degree from the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, Dec. 3, 2002, in Cuba en el Ballet (Havana), no. 100 (Jul.–Dec. 2002): 70.

2. For a biography of Alonso see the chapter on the ballerina in Miguel Cabrera, Ballet Nacional de Cuba: medio siglo de gloria (Havana: Ediciones Cuba en el Ballet, 2000), 42–59. In English, see Walter Terry, Alicia Alonso and Her Ballet Nacional de Cuba (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1981). The genealogy of Alonso's performances and productions of these ballet classics is established by Alicia Alonso in her essay, “Performing Giselle,” in Charles Payne, American Ballet Theatre (New York: Knopf, 1977), 333–42; and in an article by Alicia Alonso, “Dos personajes en una obra magistral,” in El lago de los cisnes, souvenir program for the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Havana, Oct.–Nov., 2002, 11–15.

3. Alicia Alonso, “El clasicismo hoy y mañana,” in Cuba en el Ballet, vol. 6, nos. 1–3 (1995): 15; “La danza: triunfo ilimitado de nuestras culturas,” 70; and “Alicia Alonso's Passion and Exuberance,” interview by Samuel B. Cherson, in Performing Arts Review, vol. 8, no. 3 (1978): 292.

4. A. Alonso, “La danza: triunfo ilimitado de nuestras culturas,” 70.

5. Quoted in P. Simón, “La escuela cubana de ballet,” in Conjunto (Havana) no. 17 (Jul.–Sep. 1973), 95.

6. A. Alonso, “Pero el artista sí,” interview by R. Moya and R. Rivero, in R. Moya, Estrictamente personal (Havana: UNEAC, 1985), reprinted in A. Alonso, Diálogos con la danza, fourth edition (Mexico City: Océano, 2004), 282.

7. See A. Alonso, “Sobre la escuela cubana de ballet,” in Diálogos con la danza, third edition (Madrid: Editorial Complutense: 1993), 19­–26; Alicia Alonso and Ramona de Sáa, “Definir cómo bailamos,” interview by Pedro Simón, in Cuba en el Ballet, no. 104 (Jan.–Apr. 2004): 20–33; and quotes from Alonso in Pedro Simón, “La escuela cubana de ballet,” 95–97.

8. A. Alonso, “Pero el artista sí,” 282.

9. A. Alonso, “Seguiré bailando eternamente,” interview by Hugo García Fernández, in Juventud Rebelde (Havana), Dec. 29, 2001, 7, reprinted in Alonso's Diálogos (2004), 336.

10. A. Alonso, “Interview with Alicia Alonso [sound recording],” conducted by Doris Hering on July 21, 1979, Oral History Archive, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

11. Ibid.

12. Dolin made his remark in “Alicia Alonso,” telecast aired on WNET/13, New York City, on May 9, 1971, available in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

13. See excerpt of Vecheslova's review, reproduced in Spanish translation, in XLV Aniversario de Alicia Alonso en el personaje de Giselle (Havana: Ediciones Gran Teatro de la Habana, 1988), no page numbers; John Percival, “Caribbean Classic,” in Dance and Dancers (London, Jan. 1967): 42; quote of Arnau in Francisco Rey and Pedro Simón, Alicia Alonso: órbita de una leyenda (Madrid: Sociedad General de Autores de España, 1996), 114; and excerpt of Ottolenghi's review, reproduced in Spanish translation, in XLV Aniversario de Alicia Alonso en el personaje de Giselle, no page numbers.

14. Giselle, film, dir. Enrique Pineda Barnet, featuring Alicia Alonso, Azari Plisetski, and the Ballet Nacional de Cuba (Havana: ICAIC, 1963), released in VHS (West Long Branch, N.J.: Kultur Video, 1995).

15. Alicia Alonso, Prima Ballerina Assoluta (Pleasantville, N.Y.: Video Artists International, 2005), DVD.

16. Walter Terry, “American Ballet Theatre,” in New York Herald Tribune, Sep. 20, 1958; John Percival, “Caribbean Classic,” 42.

17. Agnes de Mille, Portrait Gallery (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990), 81.

18. “Alicia Alonso: Adagio del segundo acto, Lago de los Cisnes,” footage of Alicia Alonso and Jorge Esquivel in Swan Lake, 1977, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTVCaWap-Jo (accessed Jan. 11, 2012); Swan Lake, film featuring Maya Plisetskaya, Nikolai Fadeyechev, and the Bolshoi Ballet (Moscow: Central Documentary Film Studio, 1957), reissued in VHS (West Long Branch, N.J.: Kultur, 1984); Swan Lake, film featuring Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev and the Vienna State Opera (Munich and Vienna: Unitel/Neue Thalia Film, 1966), reissued on DVD (New York: PolyGram, 1998); Swan Lake, videorecording featuring Natalia Makavora, Anthony Dowell, and the Royal Ballet (West Long Branch, N.J.: Kultur, 1982).

19. “Alicia Alonso, Cascanueces, Ballet Nacional de Cuba,” footage of Alicia Alonso and Jorge Esquivel in the Nutcracker pas de deux, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcIGX-ep3dA (accessed June 10, 2012).

20. Ann Barzel, “Tres bailarinas en la historia de la danza,” in Cuba en el Ballet, vol. 8, no. 2 (May–Aug., 1977): 46; Francisco Nieva, “Como nunca se había bailado,” in Cuba en el Ballet, no. 93 (Jan.–Apr. 1999): 31.

21. Quoted in Ann Barzel, “Tres bailarinas en la historia de la danza,” 46.

22. Don McDonagh, “Alicia Alonso Dances Giselle with Canadian Cast,” New York Times, June 26, 1967, 37; Doris Hering, “The Unavoidable Decade,” in Dance Magazine (Aug. 1967), 36.

23. Giselle, featuring Alicia Alonso, Vladimir Vasiliev, and the Ballet Nacional de Cuba (Pleasantville, N.Y.: Video Artists International, 2007), DVD.

24. Quoted in Walter Terry, Alicia Alonso and Her Ballet Nacional de Cuba, 82.

25. Alicia Alonso, “Bailar ha sido vivir,” interview by Lester Tomé, in El Mercurio (Santiago, Chile), Nov. 19, 2000, E24; Alicia Alonso and Ramona de Sáa, “Definir cómo bailamos,” 21.

26. Alicia Alonso, “George Balanchine: el gran músico de la danza,” first published as “Tema y variaciones a 40 años de su estreno,” in Cuba en el ballet, vol. 6, no. 4 (Oct.–Dec. 1987): 24–26, reworked for the program notes of a gala in tribute to George Balanchine by the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Havana, Oct. 20, 2000, reprinted in Alonso's Diálogos (2004), 136–39.

27. Italics in the original. Alicia Alonso and Ramona de Sáa, “Definir cómo bailamos,” 20.

28. Alicia Alonso, “Interview with Alicia Alonso,” conducted by Marilyn Hunt, Nov. 19–21, 1977, typescript, Oral History Archive, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 30, 101.

29. Alicia Alonso Coaching Excerpts from Theme and Variations (New York: The George Balanchine Foundation, 1998), VHS.

30. Alicia Alonso and Ramona de Sáa, “Definir cómo bailamos,” 20.

31. Pierre Bourdieu, Esquisse d'une théorie de la pratique: Précédé de troi etudes d'ethnologie kabyle (Geneva: Droz, 1972), translated as Outline of a Theory of Practice, trans. Richard Nice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), 214.

32. Pierre Bourdieu, Questions de sociologie (Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit, 1980), translated as Sociology in Question, trans. Richard Nice (London: Saget, 1993), 86.

33. Sheenagh Pietrobruno, Salsa and Its Transnational Moves (New York: Lexington Books, 2006), 113–16.

34. Quoted in Raúl Fernández, “The Musicalía of Twentieth-Century Cuban Popular Musicians,” in Cuba, the Elusive Nation: Interpretations of National Identity, ed. Damián Fernández and Madeline Cámara (Miami: University Press of Florida, 2000), 274.

35. Painting in the collection of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana.

36. Nicolás Guillén, Motivos de son (Havana: Imprenta y Papelería de Rambla, 1930), reprinted in Sóngoro cosongo, Motivos de son, West Indies Ltd., España, poema en cuatro angustias y una esperanza (Buenos Aires: Losada, 1963), 37–47; Cantos para soldados y sones para turistas (Mexico: Editorial Masas, 1937); and El son entero (Buenos Aires: Pleamar, 1947).

37. Virgilio Piñera, Electra Garrigó, in Teatro completo (Havana: Ediciones R, 1960), 33–84.

38. Italics in the original. Stuart Hall, “The Question of Cultural Identity,” in Modernity: An Introduction to Modern Societies, ed. Stuart Hall, David Held, Don Hubert, and Kenneth Thompson (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1996), 613.

39. Ibid.

40. “Mi vida es cantar,” in Celia Cruz and Friends: A Night of Salsa (New York: RMM Records, 1999), CD.

41. Tata Güines, “El lenguaje de los cueros,” interview by Marcos Alfonso in Cubahora, online news service, http://cubahora.co.cu/index.php?tpl=principal/ver-noticias/ver-not_cult.tpl.html&newsid_obj_ id=1011992, released on Jun. 3, 2006 (accessed July 30, 2007).

42. Santamaría is quoted in Dana Thomas, “Hands on Experience,” in Washington Post, Jan. 29, 1990, G3; Portuondo is quoted in Jane Cornwell, “Return of the Rhythm Queen,” in Independent (London), Apr. 7, 2000, 16; and Guillot is quoted in Istra Pacheco, “Latin Grammys to Honor Olga Guillot,” for the Associated Press, Nov. 6, 2007 (all accessed through LexisNexis Academic, Nov. 6, 2009).

43. Alicia Alonso, “Primeros recuerdos, primeros pasos en la danza,” in Tonatiúh Gutiérrez, Alicia Alonso, prima ballerina assoluta: imagen de una plenitud, testimonios y recuerdos de la artista (Barcelona: Salvat, 1981), 4–15, reprinted in Alicia Alonso's Diálogos (2004), 57.

44. Alicia Alonso, “Plática informal,” television interview by Amaury Pérez Vidal, for “Muy personal,” Cubavisión (Havana), July 1, 1996, transcript in Alonso's Diálogos (2004), 317.

45. Alicia Alonso, “Bailo, luego existo,” interview by Luis Báez originally published in two parts, “Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad: 50 años bailando” and “Si los hombres extraordinarios se sintieran lo grande que son los mataría el peso,” in Opina (Havana), Dec. 1981 and Jan. 1982, reprinted as a single text in A. Alonso's Diálogos (2004), 236.

46. Alicia Alonso, “Plática informal,” 317.

47. Paul Ricoeur, “Life: A Story in Search of a Narrator,” trans. John N. Kraay and A. J. Scholten, in Facts and Values: Philosophical Reflections from Western and Non-Western Perspectives, ed. Marinus C. Doeser and John N. Kraay (Dordrecht, Netherland: Martinus Nijhoff, 1987), reprinted in Paul Ricouer, A Ricoeur Reader: Reflection and Imagination, ed. Mario J. Valdés (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991), 437.

48. Couze Venn, “Narrative Identity, Subject Formation, and the Transfiguration of Subjects,” in Strategic Narrative, New Perspectives on the Power of Personal and Cultural Stories, ed. Wendy Patterson (Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books Patterson, 2002), 37.

49. José Loyola Fernández, En ritmo de bolero: el bolero en la música bailable cubana (Río Piedras, P. R.: Ediciones Huracán, 1996), 15.

50. Antonio Benítez Rojo, The Repeating Island: The Caribbean and the Postmodern Perspective, 3rd ed. (Durham: Duke University Press, 1996), 18.

51. Alicia Alonso, “Interview with Alicia Alonso,” 7.

52. Quoted in Walter Terry, Alicia Alonso and Her Ballet Nacional de Cuba, 30.

53. Alicia Alonso, “Interview with Alicia Alonso,” 44.

54. Quoted in Pedro Simón, La escuela cubana de ballet, 96.

55. Alicia Alonso Coaching Excerpts from Theme and Variations.