It is difficult for me to express an opinion about Romanian ballet. I only know it thanks to first-class dancers. The first were Magdalena Popa and Sergey Stefanski, then George Iancu, followed by the dancers of the beautiful company of Oleg Danovski. One thing was certain for me, that they came from a very good school (which reminds me of what my maestros Nicolas Zwereff and Victor Gworsky taught me). All these dancers come from the amazing melting pot named Romania; dancers and athletes endowed with immeasurable physical abilities and talents. Dancers who travel across the world like prestigious banners of their country.It will be easier for me to talk about the Romanians working with my ballet company Danza Viva at the Baden State Theater in Karlsruhe (Badisches Staatstheater). First of all, the beautiful and gifted ballerina Christina Saru, a wonderful performer in many of my ballets: Death and Eternity in Viva Vivaldi, Wally in Lorelei, La Belle Otero, La Corregidora in Le Tricorne, Hippolyta, the Amazon queen in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Albinoni's Adagio, Fortune in Carmina Burana, etc., etc. Then Diana Dragoş, a sensitive dancer, carried on various roles created by Saru when the latter left; in her turn, she created Bebe Morla in Lorca. We also had Marian Tupisca, a handsome, talented dancer, a beautiful component of our company. But my best Fleuron is, undoubtedly, Florentina Cristali, my prevalent performer, for whom I have created my most beautiful ballets: La Belle Otero, Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ines de Castro, Sylvia, Namouna, Death in Lorca, Amaterasu, Carmen, Esmeralda, Milady in The Three Musketeers, etc., etc. For almost twenty years she was an inexhaustible source of inspiration.I am also very glad that the Ministry of the Arts and Sciences of Baden-Würtemberg appointed her "Kammertänzerin" (State Dancer), a title which is very seldom awarded. This was a tribute for her many beautiful artistic performances.I will be very pleased to discover Romania soon, and work with the Oleg Danovski ballet company to restage a very humorous and entertaining ballet, The Three Musketeers, to very good music of the 17th century. This ballet offers to many dancers the opportunity to take various delightful parts involving character and panache. See you soon… in Constantza.
by Germinal Casado
