50 replies to this topic

[Marga]

deleted -- gremlin posting of unfinished post

[Paul Parish]

In no particular order, but hte order in which they come to mind --

The Danish version of La Sylphide, directed by Henning Kronstam, staring Nikolai Huebbe and Lis Jeppesen and SORELLA ENGLUND

The ABT Giselle starring Makarova, Baryshnikov, and van Hamel (out of this world)

The old Royal Ballet 1-act version of Swan Lake starring Fonteyn and Somes, which has also a couple of other ballets on the video

The Kirov's Sizova/Soloviev Sleeping Beauty

The old Bolshoi Swan Lake staring Plisetskaya

THe PBS Balanchine biography

The Royal BAllet Makarova/Dowell Swan Lake

The Royal Ballet in Ashton's Cinderella, starring Ashton, Helpmann, Sibley and Dowell

The BBC biography of Margot Fonteyn

"We sing, we dance" (biography of hte Nicholas Brothers)

Singing in the Rain

Hairspray

Swing Time

Shall We Dance? (both of them, the Fred/Ginger and the Japanese titles)

Elusive Muse

Strictly Ballroom

[Marga]

I own about 100 ballet videos and what my daughter and I have watched most often are Elusive Muse, Dancing for Mr. B, Children of Theatre Street, Backstage at the Kirov, ABT's Le Corsaire, Baryshnikov at Wolf Trap, Reflections of a Dancer (Alexandra Danilova), World's Young Ballet, & Holiday of Ballet.

For videos focussing on individual dancers in class, it's Peter Martins: A Dancer, Natalia Makarova In a Class of Her Own, & Fernando Bujones.

The "Glories of..." videos contain real gems, as do Essential Ballet, The Magic of the Bolshoi Ballet, Classic Kirov & Kirov Ballet, Mixed Program .

Favorite versions of story ballets:
Sleeping Beauty (Asylmuratova/Zaklinski)
Sleeping Beauty (Sizova/Soloviev)
Giselle (Makarova/Baryshnikov)
Giselle (Ferri/Murru)
Romeo and Juliet (Loudière/Legris)
Romeo and Juliet (Ferri/Eagling)
Swan Lake (Ulanova)
Swan Lake (Mezentseva/Zaklinski)
Nutcracker (NYCB)
Manon (Penney/Dowell)
Don Quixote (Terekhova/Ruzimatov)
La Bayadère (Komleva/Terekhova)

[Hans]

Marga, where can I get Ulanova's Swan Lake?  I MUST see it!

[Marga]

Hans, on Nov 19 2003, 01:36 AM, said:

Marga, where can I get Ulanova's Swan Lake?  I MUST see it!

Hans, I happened to find it on Ebay, not too long ago. It may show up again. Ebay has been my only source of ballet videos for the last year and a half. No more shelling out $20 - $40 each for them! Unless, of course, they are rare and otherwise unavailable, and ones that I simply must have!

[djb]

Balletmom, you should be aware that often young dancers are not impressed by dancers of past generations, because their technique does not look modern.  An online friend of mine who is a balletomane and loves the videos of the old Bolshoi and Kirov performances says that his sister, who is a dancer, generally does not enjoy watching performances from the '60s or earlier.  If you are able to rent ballet videos somewhere, it might be a good idea to see whether your daughter likes the older performances before spending a lot of money on them.  Or try to find them on ebay -- I found the Makarova/BaryshnikovGisellethere.

[perky]

Here's my two cents:

ABT at The Met-mixed bill(1984) Les Sylphides, Sylvia pas de deux, Paquita

ABT Giselle with Makarova

The Kirov Ballet in London(1988) including a charming Elena Pankova in La Vivandiere and an ageless Irina Kolpakova in Le Papillon

The Glory of the Bolshoi(1995)

Essential Ballet- Stars of the Russian Ballet (1992/93) Asylmuratova/Zaklinsky in The Leaves are Fading pas de deux(it looks a little under rehearsed, but who cares? I'd pay money to see Asylmuratova dance the macarena! ) and Nina Ananiashvili in Don Q

Of all my Choreography by Balanchine Tapes the ones I love and play the most are:
Robert Schumann's Davidsbundlertanze and
Tzigane, Andante from Divertimento No. 15 and The Four Temperaments

X-mas wish list (in case Santa is viewing):
Any ballets on video by Frederick Ashton
Royal Ballet La Bayadere with Asylmuratova

[koshka]

Some public libraries have dance videos too.  :-)  Renting or library borrowing (or borrowing from friends??) are always good preview options.

[sylphide]

I have recently purchased "Kirov Ballet Classic Ballet Night" and I think it is a  real gem!
It features Diane and Actheon, Esmeralda , Flower Festival in Genzano, La Vivandiere, the Venice Carnaval and the Pas de quatre, all very beautifully danced by the Kirov dancers. What is nice is that  I finally got to see some pieces that are rarely danced here in America.
Although some did not like it, I would stongly suggest anyone who has  respect for dancers and the hard work they endure to get " Etoiles", a documentary by Nils Tavernier on the Opera de Paris dancers. I probably watched it a 100 times and am beginning to know it by heart. True, there are not alot of dancing scenes  since but M. Tavernier wanted to focus on the "work" that goes on behind the scenes and he did a marvelous job at it! So you get a real feel of what goes on in the life of a dancer for a major company

[Balletmom]

koshka, our local library has pretty slim pickings--they do have the Footnotes series, though, and a few others like Dancing For Mr. B.  Our local video store has even more meager offerings.  I envy those who live in more cosmopolitan areas!  Your suggestion has me thinking, though--I'm considering forming an informal video exchange group for interested parents or dancers at my daughter's studio.  If the studio gives permission, maybe posting a sign-up list on the bulletin board with space for listing the videos you're willing to loan out.  My only worry is getting my videos back, but since I see most of these people almost daily, maybe it won't be a problem.

[Paul Parish]

Balletmom, that sounds like a great plan --

Something you might consider is aranging with the school to show some videos for a whole class of students, and letting the young dancers talk about what they liked and didnt like about the performance.... it might take some tricky scheduling, might have to wait for the summer Intensive, but do a short series, Swan Lake one week, Agon the next, Who cares? the next, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers the next (Mr B told Gelsey to dance like Fred Astaire, and I've alwys thought that Suzanne Farrell had some of Ginger Rogers's qualities -- note how she uses her face to keep her privacy)

Well, that's what I would do -- but you could come up with your own.....

oh yes, don't forget SInging in the Rain

[Balletmom]

Thanks, Paul Parrish, for great suggestions. Also, Singing in the Rain has  always been one of my favorites, and I think it would be great for my daughter, as it's such a classic.  I never took dance, but I remember as a child doing my version of Astaire dancing while singing the song at the top of my lungs.  ( Only if no one was around, of course.)

[silvy]

Sorry balletmom, wasn't it Gene Kelly instead of Fred Astaire in "Singin' in the Rain"?


Silvy

[Balletmom]

Sorry, Silvy!  I should know better than rely on my swiss cheese memory!  Now that you said that, the visual image is so clear in my mind, I'm truly embarrassed!  

My memories of this movie are from my childhood--I was born just a couple of years after it was released.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen it in years. (I watch very little TV.)  But it is one the movies I plan on ordering for my daughter for Christmas.    The funny thing is, I was actually named after the female star of this movie.  It was a very popular name at the time--in one of my elementary school classes, there were 5 "Debbie"s one year.

Balletmom

[Marianna]

May I suggest the tape THAT'S DANCING! I bought it while visiting NYC few years ago, and can never get bored watching that tape - as it covers the story of the dance and dancing - starting from the pre-historical period up to Michael Jackson.

The main narrator is Gene Kelly. Several other great dancers overtake during that video, amongst them - Mikhail Baryshinkov (reviews classic ballet part); Lisa Minelli (Dancing on Broadway), etc.

It is a mini-encyclopedia of numerous genres and directions of dance in a way, and for me it is an absolute must-have video. I am sure that any young dancer (and their moms, and just about anyone more or less interested in dance and its history) would appreciate having this tape in their "essential" video collection.

Speaking of Swan Lakes - I treasure my Swan Lake with majestic Yevteyeva as Odette/Odille and her partner's name has just slipped from my aging memory - his first name was John  . Performance by Kirov's Ballet. (Gester - brilliant Valery Panov). The reason I treasure it is that they actually created some dancing for the prelude part of the ballet!

Also - a great thing to have is Don Quixote with Baryshnikov (ABT, 1983). It is always so uplifting! I love every second of that superb performance! Aspiring dancers can find plenty of things to learn on that tape, and ordinary mortals like myself - just thoroughly enjoy joy de vivre of of it.