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Hi everyone,

I'd like to let you know about Dutch National Ballet's new production of Giselle, which will be out on DVD and Blu-ray this summer! We don't have a definite release date yet but I will post it here when we do. Giselle will be on the Kultur label in the US and the NVC Arts label in the UK / Europe.

You can see a short clip here on our YouTube channel, we will upload more soon: http://www.youtube.com/3minuteswest

The clip shows an excerpt from our interview with Russian ballerina Anna Tysgankova, who danced Giselle. Albrecht is performed by Jozef Varga, Myrtha by Igone de Jongh and Hilarion by Jan Zerer.

Dutch National Ballet's new production is by Rachel Beaujean (former Dutch National ballerina, muse of Hans van Manen) and Ricardo Bustamante (former principal with ABT and SFB). Bustamante danced Giselle with the legendary Carla Fracci. It was a pleasure to watch him rehearsing the principal dancers and there is some behind the scenes footage included in the DVD bonus materials.

As the producer, I will look forward to hearing people's reactions!

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I'm glad to hear about this. I had begun to despair of seeing any new ballet releases from Kultur, so this is welcome news.

Thanks volcanohunter. Your comment leads on to another discussion, which is - how difficult it is to get ballet productions (the filming side of things, I mean) off the ground these days!

I am old enough to remember the good old days when ballet was shown fairly frequently on TV in the UK. Now it's a rare event.

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Your comment leads on to another discussion, which is - how difficult it is to get ballet productions (the filming side of things, I mean) off the ground these days!

I am old enough to remember the good old days when ballet was shown fairly frequently on TV in the UK. Now it's a rare event.

BTers have ripped their hair out over this issue, for example, on this thread, which would certainly benefit from your input as a producer. Most of us can only speculate about how ballet comes to be filmed.

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=28457

For example, I'd be interested to know whether Dutch television has any sort of quota for ballet programming. DVDs of the Netherlands Opera seem to turn up fairly regularly, but there aren't nearly enough videos of the Dutch National Ballet for my taste.

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Your comment leads on to another discussion, which is - how difficult it is to get ballet productions (the filming side of things, I mean) off the ground these days!

I am old enough to remember the good old days when ballet was shown fairly frequently on TV in the UK. Now it's a rare event.

BTers have ripped their hair out over this issue, for example, on this thread, which would certainly benefit from your input as a producer. Most of us can only speculate about how ballet comes to be filmed.

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=28457

For example, I'd be interested to know whether Dutch television has any sort of quota for ballet programming. DVDs of the Netherlands Opera seem to turn up fairly regularly, but there aren't nearly enough videos of the Dutch National Ballet for my taste.

I just had a look at that thread, volcanohunter - and yes I could certainly add to that discussion! But possibly my insight would make everyone tear their hair out even more. (A newbie question, that thread is quite old now, should I post to that thread, or start a new one?)

I'm very glad to hear that you're eager to see more of Dutch National Ballet, because hopefully we will be bringing out a series of DVDs filmed there! That is the goal, anyway.

The situation in Holland is that there is only one broadcaster that shows opera and ballet, and that is a government-subsidised, public broadcaster - NPS. NPS exists for one reason only - to bring culture to the audience! Every Netherlands Opera DVD that you see on the market has been shown on NPS. The reason - surprise surprise, the opera receives far more support than the ballet. I don't think I am divulging any secrets when I say that there is a specific and very generous subsidy which enables many, many opera productions here to be filmed. No such subsidy exists for the ballet.

However, luckily for us, NPS is enthusiastic about the national ballet and they were enormously helpful and generous in making the Giselle project happen. It would have been almost impossible without them.

There is, and always has been, this idea that opera is 'more popular' than ballet. Opera has certainly been more successful in hyping itself. However opera fans would probably be surprised to know that ballet DVDs outsell opera DVDs. It makes sense really - ballet appeals to a much wider age range, and there are no language barriers! Now if only we could convince the broadcasters of that again...

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Thanks for letting us know. :)

I saw the broadcast of the 2nd act on Dutch tv a couple of weeks ago and I liked it, so I'm curious for the first act now. :)

I'm really happy to hear that you liked it, Lidewij! Ben je Nederlands?

The NPS will broadcast the complete ballet in December. But the DVD will be out before then!

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I just had a look at that thread, volcanohunter - and yes I could certainly add to that discussion! But possibly my insight would make everyone tear their hair out even more. (A newbie question, that thread is quite old now, should I post to that thread, or start a new one?)

There's no reason not to continue the thread. I'm sure everyone who read it the first time around would be very interested in learning about filming subsidies, DVD sales and the like.

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Absolutely. We regularly resurrect older threads. In fact, many Ballet Talk members click the "View New Posts" button at the top right of the page (under the toolbar) to find out what is new, and the date the thread started doesn't affect whether a new post is on the list.

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Andrew73 - you're right, it's unusual, but Act 2 was already broadcast in the Netherlands on May 10th.... so technically the DVD is coming out after the first broadcast...

Wedgewes, Giselle is my favourite too, so having the opportunity to film it was wonderful! The full ballet is around 112 minutes. I hope you enjoy it.

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Has there been any further word on when we can expect this to be available?

This is a rather late reply but in case anyone is interested, Dutch National Ballet's Giselle is now out on DVD and Blu-Ray in the US.

It's also available now on DVD in the Netherlands.

The UK release date is 22nd February and Germany 26th.

I'm not sure if this is the correct protocol but here's the link to Amazon UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0034L9...assoc_ss_swlb=1

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I got my copy a couple of weeks ago and thought it was a beautiful production (designed by Toer van Schayk.) The backdrop of the first act (a forbidding icy blue mountain scene) was contrasted with the warm earth tones of the village--it seemed like a foretelling of the tragedy that was to come. This same background was also used to great effect in Act 2 and was silhouetted with black trees. There was a peasant pas de quatre in Act 1 superbly danced, especially by the women. Michele Jimenez and Maia Gremillet. In addition to the usual solos, the two ladies also performed variations to music I had never heard before. I thought perhaps it was another composer, but Adam is the only one listed. Tsygankova was a credible Giselle and I especially liked Josef Varga's Albrecht.

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Thanks, 3minuteswest, for updating this thread.

I'm not sure if this is the correct protocol but here's the link to Amazon UK:
It's now available from Amazon in the USA as well. Just click the Amazon box at the top of the page. If you order from there, a percentage of the purchase price will go to benefit Ballet Talk. I've just done that, thanks to atm711's recommendation. :)
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Great to hear that you enjoyed it atm711! Thanks for your comments.

The backdrop was rather unusual as it was a single cloth that stretched all the way around the three sides of the stage, with exits cut into it for the dancers. Toer van Schayk's intention was for it to look like a watercolour painting. We thought it was very effective and the decor has received some positive comments elsewhere too.

The music for the pas de quatre was indeed by Adam. Just a note that it was Maia Makhatelli, who was partnered by Mathieu Gremillet.

I got my copy a couple of weeks ago and thought it was a beautiful production (designed by Toer van Schayk.) The backdrop of the first act (a forbidding icy blue mountain scene) was contrasted with the warm earth tones of the village--it seemed like a foretelling of the tragedy that was to come. This same background was also used to great effect in Act 2 and was silhouetted with black trees. There was a peasant pas de quatre in Act 1 superbly danced, especially by the women. Michele Jimenez and Maia Gremillet. In addition to the usual solos, the two ladies also performed variations to music I had never heard before. I thought perhaps it was another composer, but Adam is the only one listed. Tsygankova was a credible Giselle and I especially liked Josef Varga's Albrecht.
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CHazell2, yes the mime scenes are included. Having watched many Giselles in preparation for filming this one, I would say it is dramatically exciting - particularly the second act. However as the producer I'm a little biased!

It was Dance Europe's Critics' Choice 2009 for best programme and the production has got some very nice reviews.

Hi there.

Are the mime scenes included, e.g Berthe's Mime Scene? Also what is the production like? Is it dramatically exciting?

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A couple of more thoughts on th production.....

In Act 1 Albrecht also has a variation to unfamiliar music. There is a 40 minute bonus feature and I was disappointed that it was not clarified.

The Corps in Act 2 wore their veils for a longer time than in any production I have seen and it added so much to the mystery of the scene. There was one absolutely breath-taking moment when the corps formed a perfect circle around Myrtha---and for the first time in any production they really looked like a sisterhood.

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