Carlos Pons Archive

Quick Bits : Kenneth Tharp Is Outraged on 23 April 2012

Third Year and Boxing Gloves The question 'what am I doing here?' was present throughout the whole gruelling morning. From the moment I stepped into Urdang Academy, as I was tying up my Bloch jazz shoes (bought for the occasion), as I warmed up in... Published Thursday, 8 September, 2011 at 01:24
Yorkshire Dance: An Elegy Whether we'll be able to take a daily contemporary class for four pounds is a truth that no longer remains certain. Published Wednesday, 30 March, 2011 at 12:30
The Odile Complex Like a dog that eats grass to binge and purge, so does Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan regurtitate an incredible amount of incongruencies and misconceptions about the dance world to its eager audiences. 'Have you seen Black Swan yet?' is the... Published Wednesday, 26 January, 2011 at 06:59
Puppy Love When I was sixteen and suffering through the agonies of my first heartbreak, I remember reading an interview to Alicia Alonso in which she declared that 'the Dance' (her capitalization, not mine) was her only lover. Being the hormonal yet... Published Monday, 17 January, 2011 at 07:00
A Grimm Dominatrix I couldn't quite believe their 'Snow White is dead! Quick, let us grand jetté several times!' Published Saturday, 18 December, 2010 at 12:53
The Canarian Russian Ballet Folly The Canarian audience is, sadly, unlearned and easily pleased; and I think we may not be the only Spanish audience in this situation Published Wednesday, 8 December, 2010 at 09:37
A Room of One's Own But training as a dancer means you have to stick to a different type of living- one that includes windows and central heating. Published Wednesday, 17 November, 2010 at 07:45
Political Correctness Incorrectness why was it only offensive that I mentioned the Asian girl, and not that I implied that gay men like to and are destined to go cruising? Published Saturday, 23 October, 2010 at 06:39
Letter to a Nephew You're not even two years old, and although it'll be years before you can understand any of this, I thought I'd write you and tell you how much I miss you anyway. Published Monday, 27 September, 2010 at 10:24
Madrid in Retrospect, or How I Emptied Up my Closet Madrid, the city, and what happened in it,had bitch slapped me in the face like nothing had ever done before. Published Tuesday, 31 August, 2010 at 02:22
Flying Solo? Now I realize that this, unfortunately, is going to be life, and it will be full of goodbyes which will hurt and bring about tears. Published Tuesday, 31 August, 2010 at 11:37
In Sickness and in Health She was nice and understanding; she gave me some paracetamol and told me that not in a million years could I miss her rehearsal. Published Friday, 20 August, 2010 at 08:32
The Importance of Being Scrutinized But here, we are watched throughout the day by teachers and choreographers, so it becomes a sort of Big Brother meets the X Factor which is very unnerving. Published Sunday, 15 August, 2010 at 05:30
Carlitos On the Road I realized this was no summer school. It was a socio-scientific experiment: what happens if we put 50 dancers in tiny studios under 43 degree temperatures and make them dance from 8 am to 7 pm? Published Tuesday, 10 August, 2010 at 04:55
Corella's Croquettes '...or what I call contemporary, you know, the demi-pointe shoes and rolling around the floor as if you were a croquette...Like most of the good companies in the world, we do not have to tear our shirts whilsts screaming or roll around the floor naked, which for me is not dance.' Published Wednesday, 4 August, 2010 at 11:57
The Ironies of Mr. D Nacho Duato will be directing the Mikhailovsky Ballet, starting January 2011, under a five year contract that could be extended indefinetely. Published Thursday, 29 July, 2010 at 08:00
Apologies Who can keep fit under a minimum of 36 degrees? Published Thursday, 29 July, 2010 at 07:45
In Search of the Lost Unitards Have you ever skimmed through the Dance Direct catalogue and noticed what a huge section is devoted to women's leotards, tights, warm-ups, and then looked at the two pages in the men's section? Or have you gone to any dance... Published Tuesday, 1 December, 2009 at 06:30
A Wail of Two Cities It was the worst of times....It was the worst of times. Perhaps because I'm sat freezing in a room with a miserable view of clouds, rain and no prospect of sunshine, knowing that in a few hours it will be... Published Saturday, 21 November, 2009 at 01:22
Choreographers, tramps and thieves 'Dancers are the choreographer's whores'. These sage words come from one of our choreograohy teachers in Madrid, Sharon Fridman, at the start of our three-week workshop culminating in an assesed piece. He was talking about how as choreographers we can-and... Published Sunday, 25 October, 2009 at 08:56
In Teachers We Trust I had spent so much time thinking that what she taught was useless, and that she was stuck in the 80's, that I probably missed out a lot on very useful information, and now the subject was over and I had lost my opportunity to learn from her. Published Wednesday, 30 September, 2009 at 05:50
Fama, fama, fama! The TV ads show a teenager sweating as she ties on her pointe shoes, and a Spanish boy acting out the 'electricity' scene from Billy Eliot. All around Spain people are attempting crazy lifts and trying to jump into splits.... Published Tuesday, 1 September, 2009 at 12:10
Parents When I decided to train as a dancer my biggest obstacle wasn't auditioning or funding or whatever- it was my parents. They would've gladly supported me through a drama or music degree, but dance was unthinkable. It took me close... Published Thursday, 13 August, 2009 at 07:30
Spreading the Word For the last two weeks of July I've been teaching dance at a summer camp where Spanish children learn English through all sorts of activities, the idea being that through playing they'll learn more than through traditional teaching methods. When... Published Thursday, 30 July, 2009 at 02:58
The Spanish Press Strikes Again Unlike Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham's death was lucky enough to get a whole paragraph in the Canarias7 newspaper culture section (no pictures, though). I thought it was great that he was mentioned in more than three sentences, until I read... Published Wednesday, 29 July, 2009 at 02:48
Lilies that Fester I was aware of the very unethical methods of some ballet teachers, particularly with young girls, from the moment I began dancing. At my school, the skinniest girl by law had to stand at the front of the barre and... Published Wednesday, 22 July, 2009 at 09:26
Lost in Translation I wonder why some dance teachers feel the need to use twenty languages at once when teaching, especially when their students are all Spanish. The other day, during a ballet class here in Gran Canaria, the teacher had to count... Published Sunday, 19 July, 2009 at 01:09
Weird plots and morphing sleeping beauties In this version, Aurora goes to sleep with one body, and wakes up in a different one (the body that can turn the fuettes, incidentally). Published Saturday, 11 July, 2009 at 11:56
Reasons behind the madness Being stuck there when I could be having a mojito at the pool bar didn't feel so bad all of a sudden. Published Wednesday, 8 July, 2009 at 08:35
The Day Pina lost to third Division Football I was very upset, as I suppose many were, about hearing of Pina Bausch's death yesterday. However I cannot decide what upset me most: the news of her death or the Spanish press' treatment of it. When I sat down... Published Wednesday, 1 July, 2009 at 09:59
'Multitasking' Reconsidered I have spent the past few weeks in a mental stew full of sylphs, dolls, swans, corsairs, and fairies (and no, I haven't just been out in the gay scene). Published Sunday, 21 June, 2009 at 08:59
The need for a reference One of the things that baffled me the most when I began training in Madrid was that there didn't seem to be any recognizable contemporary technique being taught. Coming from a school that teaches Graham and Cunningham religiously I found... Published Thursday, 11 June, 2009 at 03:27
The end of Duato I came to the conclusion that learning repertoire is necessary duringdance training. It´s very helpful not only for developing observation skills, but also to improve technically and artistically. Published Monday, 1 June, 2009 at 07:21
Multitasking Whenever I heard a dancer has to multitask I always thought it meant rotating the standing leg with the gesture leg rombing away, while holding your center, projecting and smiling at the same time. But I never imagined it would... Published Friday, 22 May, 2009 at 10:34
Happy 100th, Ballets Russes! 100 years from today Diaghilev's Russian Ballet premiered in Paris. I thought it was necessary to have a brief tribute to the company that probably did the most for modern dance. Published Monday, 18 May, 2009 at 10:57
This is all theatre! This year I have had to check my student handbook several times, just to check I'm in the second year of the B.A in dance, and not drama. Published Friday, 15 May, 2009 at 04:30
Carlos' vile parody of address. So there I am, my torso showing behind the hole, as if I were on BBC News about to say 'Let's see what's happening in your area'. Published Saturday, 9 May, 2009 at 06:15
'Nearly 90', or 'That acid tab I took in the 60's...' Our week of Cunningham delights was ended by our attending the dress/tech rehearsal for 'Nearly 90', Cunningham's latest piece and which is being premiered in Europe over here in Madrid, tonight in fact, probably as I write this, for those... Published Wednesday, 29 April, 2009 at 09:15
Learning to play the hose pipe Our next venture with the MCDC was a concert/lecture with the musical director of 'Nearly 90', Takehisa Kosugi. We were taken to the New Creator's Association building, in Madrid, where we were sat in a room where there was a... Published Tuesday, 28 April, 2009 at 10:20
When your career depends on flipping coins... Ah, the joy of curving the upper back, of bouncing for sixteen counts, of being on your feet and not aimlessly rolling on the floor for two hours, of knowing where your hips are...Madrid has been blessed with Cunningham technique... Published Monday, 27 April, 2009 at 07:25
Becoming a Willy (or learning 'Giselle') This week we've had Aurora Bosch as our guest teacher. She has been teaching Cuban ballet technique and Classical repertoire analysis. Bosch is one of the Cuban National Ballet's best soloists and has danced for over 50 years. Apparently a... Published Friday, 24 April, 2009 at 09:48
From Leeds to Madrid Hello, my name is Carlos Pons, and this is my first attempt at blogging (been known to be a good blagger, not blogger, yet!). I thought It'd be a good start to tell you a bit about myself and what... Published Friday, 17 April, 2009 at 06:16