silvermash

Yes I think the dancer you mentioned is probably Jérémie 'cause the other "short" dancer in Genus is Benjamin Pech and he was shown with Marie-Agnès Gillot... Other dancers were Mathias Heymann not very tall either but easy to recognise (the youngest) and Mathieu Ganio, quite tall with long limbs...

I think the idea of Fred Wiseman was to show the ballet in the whole and that there were no main dancer but just dancers that work just the same, from étoiles to quadrilles

There are a lot of good actresses in Paris Opera Ballet, Agnès Letestu at first but Isabelle Ciaravola, Clairemarie Osta, Laëtitia Pujol are up to me far better than Aurélie Dupont. Well of course, I believe it depends from your own sensibility but I feel she lacks the emotional sides of the characters. In Onegin, it was not a problem because the way she depicted Tatiana could be seen as someone particularly hurt by the way she was treated by Onegin and so to explain the way she refused him at the end. She didn’t have to challenge the audience, she just played a role, and people weren’t so sorry for her… But in Giselle, there is no way you can build a story around fragility and sensibility if you don’t have it, especially in the mad scene. It was far too polish and sophisticated to make believe in it.

Well I don’t share your enthusiasm for Aurélie Dupont’s Giselle. I was there too I found the night more professional than anything else. She is an exceptional technician, the best so far I’ve seen in the role, but she is a poor actress. As a matter of fact, I found her first act too polish and with absolutely no emotion. It was not really possible to believe she was this poor naive girl from de country. The second act lacked of lyricism for the same reason, although it’s less demanding in acting skills and her wonderful technique is less a show off. Nicolas Le Riche was up to me, although quite good, not in his best day, I find he is better when dancing with Laëtitia Pujol’s Giselle( who is in the POB DVD)… Technically speaking, Marie-Agnès Gillot is astonishing, but perhaps lacks too a lyrical involvement…

Up to me the best show in the actual series was danced by Isabelle Ciaravola and Stéphane Bullion, two wonderful actors. They danced in harmony and they matched totally, physically and in the way they portrayed the two heroes. The first act was very fresh and spontaneous until the betrayal scene where she portrayed a very poignant girl and he was a very remorseful Albrecht, nearly as sick as her… The second act was magical because they both show an incredible lyricism. He’s a tall and very impressive in his jumps and he has an incredible ability in the lifts which were quite magical showing most of the time an incredible floating Giselle. Isabelle Ciaravola is a perfect ethereal creature and so much touching… That was a brilliant night.

In this run, debuts are including: Thiago Soares and Rupert Pennefather as Crown Prince Rudolf; Lauren Cuthbertson and Melissa Hamilton as Mary Vetsera; and Marianela Nunez as Larisch. Sarah Lamb also takes Larisch, but I'm not sure if it's a debut or not (?)

No. She danced it just the same in 2007 with Edward Watson and Mara Galeazzi but I think she was replacing Alexandra Ansanelli by then

James, I don't know if it can help but I have this DVD which I highly recommend. The cover is different but I noticed it states it's a preliminary one on your amazon link. Anyway, mine is released by Emi Classics. It's region free and PAL system.

the movie will be out October 7 in France. you can watch the official trailer here http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cm...6&hd=1.html

Well Marie-Agnès has already danced since then at the Nijinsky-gala in Hamburg mid July... It's more serious for Hervé who won't dance Albrecht by the end of September in the opening of the POB season.

I wonder how or by whom the ballets were chosen, or whether it was just coincidental. The film will certainly project the image of a highly eclectic company.

Well it's quite the order of the shows that year, i.e. from October to April as only Caligula by Nicolas Le Riche (up to me unfortunately) and the triple bill Balanchine/Noureev/Forsythe which were both just before the Mats Ek bill are missing... Perhaps the Mats Ek rehearsals, two news ballets in the POB repertoire, were before those two?

It seems that the last day of the POB in Brisbane was quite hectic as in the evening performance of the same day, Isabelle Ciaravola (who was the Nikiya of Hervé Moreau at the matinee) had to replace Marie-Agnès Gillot in the third act with Stéphane Bullion as Solor...

Jean-Guillaume Bart stopped dancing in 2007 due to medical reasons

Has anyone seen this 2008 DVD? Please review it, as it is pretty pricey and I don't want to waste money. Thanks.

it has been reviewed here in the Heads up forum!!!

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=29228

I can only add it's a wonderful film with great actors!