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A sharp-eyed ballet.co poster has discovered two potential treasures apparently to be released later this month: the Sadler's Wells/Royal Ballet in Cinderella and Sleeping beauty, dating from 1957 and 1955 respectively, both starring Fonteyn and Somes.

I assume these are the two which were shown on American television at the time - does anyone know any more about them? NYPL only lists the two leads, but the video site mentions Beryl Grey in Beauty, and possibly Ashton as Carabosse, and Ashton and MacMillan as the Ugly Sisters.

Cinderella:

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?...yle=movie&Bab=E

Sleeping Beauty:

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?...yle=movie&Bab=E

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Hello, Jane! I've seen the Sleeping Beauty at the New York Public Library, this is their listing for it: (it's really nice IMO by the way) and what a cast!

NBC-TV Producer's Showcase telecast of a condensed version of the Sadler's Wells Ballet production. Directed by Clark Jones. Narrative play by John Van Druten, with David Wayne.

Choreography: Marius Petipa, adapted by Frederick Ashton. Music: P. I. Tchaikovsky. Conductor: Robert Irving. Settings: Burr Smidt. Costumes (from the stage production): Oliver Messel. Danced by the Sadler's Wells Ballet. Cast: Margot Fonteyn (Princess Aurora), Michael Somes (Prince Florimund), Beryl Grey (Lilac Fairy), Frederick Ashton (Carabosse), Bryan Ashbridge (King), Gerd Larsen (Queen), Leslie Edwards (Cantalabutte), John Hart, John Field, David Blair and Desmond Doyle (Four princes), Philip Chatfield, Rosemary Lindsay, Pauline Clayden (Florestan and his two sisters), Douglas Steuart (Puss in Boots), Dorothea Zaymes (White Cat), Rowena Jackson and Brian Shaw (Bluebirds), and Alexander Grant, Peter Clegg and Ray Powell (Three Ivans).

Contents DANCE CONTENTS: Cassette 1: Prologue: Dance of the Fairies, with their cavaliers; Lilac Fairy variation; Dance of maids of honor; Carabosse mime scene (Carabosse solo omitted). Act I: Garland dance; Entrance of Aurora's friends and the four princes; Aurora's entrance and first solo; Rose adagio; Dance of Aurora's friends; Aurora's second solo; Aurora's dance with the spindle. -- Cassette 2: Act II; Court dances (condensed); "Vision" pas de deux, solo, and ballabile; Florimund's journey, the Awakening, and Transformation. Act III: Entrees of the Court and guests; Florestan pas-de-trois; Puss in Boots and the White Cat. Bluebird pas-de-deux; Three Ivans; Grand pas de deux (Aurora's solo omitted); Finale.

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Here is the listing for the Cinderella, also a really great cast.

Telecast April 29, 1957, on Producer's Showcase, NBC-TV.

Cast Margot Fonteyn (Cinderella), Michael Somes (Prince), Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan (Ugly Sisters), Alexander Grant (Jester), Julia Farron (Fairy Godmother), Merle Park, Elaine Fifield, Annette Page, Svetlana Beriosova (Seasons), and artists of the Sadler's Wells Ballet.

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Here is the listing for the Cinderella, also a really great cast.

Telecast April 29, 1957, on Producer's Showcase, NBC-TV.

Cast Margot Fonteyn (Cinderella), Michael Somes (Prince), Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan (Ugly Sisters), Alexander Grant (Jester), Julia Farron (Fairy Godmother), Merle Park, Elaine Fifield, Annette Page, Svetlana Beriosova (Seasons), and artists of the Sadler's Wells Ballet.

Are the seasons in order? I was so disappointed by Bergsma's Winter in the Sibley/Dowell version. Is it really Beriosova as Winter?

Kenneth MacMillan as the really mean sister -- that I've got to see.

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I'd assume Beriosova was Winter - I don't remember reading of her dancing any of the others. However... I just found a review of the original transmission (by Arthur Todd, in Dance and Dancers) and one of his complaints is that 'it was almost impossible to recognise the individual dancers who appeared as the four seasons...I could only identify them by their costumes'. On the other hand I suppose we'll be watching on much bigger screens than then.

Interestingly he says the programme was transmitted in colour to the 1% of the audience who had colour sets. He liked Ashton best and thought MacMillan was trying too hard.

I just found another review - Lillian Moore in the Dancing Times. She is rather more enthusiastic and could see well enough - she saw it in colour - to give 'special honours to Beriosova as Winter'. She says 26 million people watched it! - though 30 million had watched Sleeping Beauty.

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This was part of the VAI release memo:

Carmen Suite Ballet (Shchedrin) September 28

VAI DVD, cat# 4294, $34.95

Maya Plisetskaya always dreamed of dancing the role of Carmen and had approached Shostokovich for a score. He demurred out of respect for Bizet’s celebrated opera. It was eventually Plisetskaya’s husband Rodion Shchedrin who agreed to provide the music after seeing some of the initial rehearsals with his wife and the choreographer Alberto Alonso. His Carmen Suite Ballet, based on Bizet, was a perfect complement to Alonso’s choreography and, in its theatricality, a showcase for Plisetskaya’s considerable dramatic gifts. Plisetskaya's Don Jose is the brilliant dramatic dancer, Nicolai Fadeyechv. Sergei Radchenko dances the role of the Bullfighter. The Carmen Suite Ballet, one of the darkest settings of Mérimée’s tragic story, deeply symbolic and overtly sensual, premiered at the Bolshoi Ballet on April 20, 1967. Bonus segments feature Plisetskaya in performances of The Dying Swan, Raymonda Variations, and Bach Prelude.

Playable in all regions.

Cinderella (Prokofieff)

VAI DVD, cat# 4296, $39.95

Another historic Producers’ Showcase telecast starring Margot Fonteyn and the Sadler’s Wells (Royal Ballet). Cast also includes Michael Somes, Kenneth MacMillan, and Frederick Ashton, who also choregraphed the production. The orchestra is under the direction of Robert Irving. This is the only available visual record of Dame Margot in her signature role. Originally telecast April 29, 1957. B&W. 87 minutes, including bonus: scene from The Sleeping Beauty, starring Fonteyn. Playable in all regions.

The Sleeping Beauty (Tchaikovsky) September 28

VAI DVD, cat# 4295, $39.95

This legendary 1955 telecast from the Producers’ Showcase television series presented Margot Fonteyn, Michael Somes, and Frederick Ashton in the Sadler’s Wells (Royal Ballet) production of Tchaikovsky’s classic. Choreography is by Petipa. Orchestra condcuted by Robert Irving. This is the only available visual record of Dame Margot in one of her greatest roles. Originally telecast December 14, 1955. B&W. 75 minutes, including bonus: scene from Cinderella, starring Fonteyn. Playable in all regions.

This was part of the release letter:

Ballet lovers, and fans of Margot Fonteyn in particular, will finally have a chance to see the great ballerina in her two signature roles. In 1955 and 1957, respectively, Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet was featured in NBC telecasts of The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella as part of the Producers' Showcase series. Dame Margot was partnered by Michael Somes in both ballets and such Royal Ballet stalwarts as Svetlana Beriosova, Brian Shaw, Frederick Ashton, Beryl Grey and Kenneth MacMillan were cast in supporting roles.

There are no extant visual records of Dame Margot from this period and no videos of her in her two most famous roles. The ballerina was very much in her prime and these releases fully capture her radiance, her supreme musicality and consummate charm.

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