EvilNinjaX

I have the first pressing of the DVD released by EMI Classics. Assuming you have the newer edition, it would seem that both version have the same options. Does your DVD also include Neumeier's English and German introductions? The background on how the ballet came to be is very interesting and basically tells you everything you need to know about the production. If anyone's unfamiliar with the staging I'd suggest watching it first.

Mine is the R0 ZYX edition and it does contain the english and german intros.

thx

-goro-

Has anyone else seen this DVD? I just received it and as i started it up, i noticed a couple of quite interesting items in this DVD:

1. It has DD5.1 (which is not unusual), but it has >2< separate settings: 1 for Concert Hall mode and 1 for the "Conductor's position". That's quite interesting.

2. It has a DD2.0 which has John Neumeier's running commentary on the ballet. I've only listened to some of it, but it is quite interesting and a very cool extra to have.

-goro-

I haven't seen it mentioned it and i just finished watching it. A superb documentary about 2 aspiring ballet dancers in Brazil (1 male,1 female) and their difficulties and efforts to become professionals.

Among the many things it brings to mind, most pointedly for me is how lucky we are to be able to dance (or pursue any of our joys and dreams, really).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQwiq4SojqA

thx

goro

I noticed this dvd also - I clicked on the title for more info and just saw "Ann Marie Duff" listed beside the title. I believe that this is the British tv film which was shown in the UK last November. The title does suggest a wonderful idea for a documentary though.

Is it this dvd?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002QH4R36

thx

-goro-

I haven't seen much talk about this movie. I just recently watched it and found it quite good. The story covers a huge range of time and though it truncates parts and some sections feel a bit rushed, overall the pacing is really good, amazing actually. There is a bit of dancing, but it's naturally a bit frustrating to watch truncated DonQ and slow-mo'd video moments (while the music continues at tempo), but the sheer beauty of the dancers (Chi Cao and Chengwu Guo) makes up for it!

It's particularly amazing that in this movie that is quite serious, and which is at times really more of a political movie than a "dance movie," that the dancers cast to act manage so well. It helps that Li Cunxin's character is often not asked to do too much and that he's not to be too expressive (as a foreign exchange student woudl be), but there are emotive moments which are good and, more notably, Chi Cao's natural charisma does translate to the screen extremely well (with a couple of years of acting classes, he could probably be a star on screen,too!). And seems like Amanda Schull's taken some more acting classes as she's come a long way from Center Stage!

<very slight spoiler>

The story is broken into 4 segments : his foreign exchange summer training as a student at the Houston ballet, flashbacks to his selection and training at the Beijing Dance Academy, his subsequent fight to stay in the United States, and then the post-Defection life as a dancer in the US. It's all really quite interesting, engrossing, and inspirational.

</very slight spoiler>

My minor nits about the movie would be that what gets lost in telling the story are elements of the emotion and inspiration. The bonds he had with his family, with his teachers, falling in love for the first time, his relationship with Ben Stevenson, losing his first partner, etc. They are all told in a bit of shorthand. There's a moment where Li Cunxin tells his teacher, "I don't like ballet. I don't understand it." It feels like a linchpin moment and yet there's not really a followup to it. A few other moments like when Ben Stevenson says, "They all seem more like athletes than dancers... except for one." feel like they need/could use more explanation or have more preparatory scenes. Much of this we can infer, naturally, but their inclusion in the film would have elevated it significant, imho. But those are minor and are swept aside in this sort of grand tale that's being told.

It's a strong, serious movie that--on your DVD shelf--sits better alongside The Turning Point than Center Stage.

My teacher is a friend of Li Cunxin and danced Giselle with him. I'll be interested in showing this to her and seeing what her impressions of it are.

Definitely recommended!

(Also, Joan Chen can still light up the screen)

-goro-

Here's the trailer, which is slightly spoiler-ish (akin to my spoilers above):

And here's a nice article on Chengwu Guo:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainmen...3989818290.html

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.

One more question for you.

I showed a friend some of the 2nd act and when he saw the extended use of the veils and the circling of the wilis, he was sure that it was Peter Wright's production. Later, there were some bits that convinced him otherwise, but he wanted to know if there was some Peter Wright influence here, because some of these bits he had only seen with done with Peter Wright's productions.

So do you know if Rachel Beaujean and Ricardo Bustamante took inspiration from him?

thx

-ed-

I wouldn't watch. Were they willing to showcase dancers in Exhibition, that would be fine. Competition? Do I really want to see Murphy, Bouder, Somova, et. al. in a fouette contest? (Hell, no!) What would the basis of judging be: whoever did the most tricks? If it's the one who did the finest technically -- and how to compare difficulty? -- or the ones the judges felt were the greatest artists? And how to explain that to an audience.

That's just a "Would I watch?"

The IOC only allows in sports that have national federations, established rules of competition, a history of competition, worldwide viewership, and relatively recently, a competitive playing field. (There was talk of removing Women's Ice Hockey, because there were two dominant teams worldwide, but then the Swedes won the day by beating the US team.) Ballroom dancing has been proposed, because it does have the history and infrastructure, but also a history of judging that is not disinterested. What would the criteria be? In sport the judging is immediate: no panel juries, no discussion, no criteria such as usefulness to the profession, etc. How would the dancers be selected? It has to be a competitive process, not just nominations by a committee.

Competitors for the non-sanctioned World Professional Figure Skating Championships were invited, and its founder, Dick Button, had financial interest in at least some of the skaters who were chosen. I believe that this was a major weakness to professional skating, and why it was vulnerable to the International Skating Union's successful attempt to keep its skaters from "defecting". It would be as if Stars on Ice got to pick the field for US Nationals based on who they wanted to hire in skating shows.

If they televised a Ballet Competition with commentary akin to those in Figure Skating, my head would certainly explode. I enjoy watching figure skating on tv but those announcers just won't ever shut up and you can't MUTE the tv b/c of the music... *argh*

/rant mode

-goro-

I just got the Bluray of the Dutch National Ballet's Giselle and watched a bit of Act 1; seems pretty nice overall but nothing really particularly stood out to me; I am going to watch Act 2 this week sometime. But the Peasant Pas was quite different. Has anyone seen it? It is 2 couples and they do the adagio together, but then each dancer gets one of the variations. The men's variations used music that was from Peasant Pas, but the women's variations were totally different music and none that I've heard before. Does anyone know what this music is from?

thx

-goro-

Hi, I asked the choreographers about this and was told the following: the flute solo is from the original score of Giselle. The other solo is a piece of Adam music which was found in the Kirov library by the music researcher who worked on this production. It was originally for piano and was orchestrated for the Dutch National production. Hope that answers your questions!

Thanks very much for the response. That's quite interesting. So then was the choreography for the women's variations new or were they previously existing? They are not the "normal" Peasant Pas woman's variations (or at least the ones I'm familiar with).

thx

-ed-

Does anyone else have the Mariinsky Nutcracker Bluray? I just received this and watched it on my big tv and was struck by a notable item: It seems like they mix HD and upconverted SD video! The closeup and medium shots are clearly HD cams, as is the robocam (or whatever that floating steadycam-like camera); but the longer shots look absolutely awful, as if it were an SD cam and upconverted to HD. It is dull and muddy and all the clarity and brilliance of the other shots are totally missing. Has anyone else noticed this or know the reason behind this?

I mean, I understand having SD EXTRAS (The Nutcracker Story), but mixing quality of footage like this is really irritating... almost as much as the terrible camera work! (heh)

-goro-

As a followup, I found an amazon reviewer that noticed the same thing as I did and so I will consider this confirmed.

I just got the Bluray of the Dutch National Ballet's Giselle and watched a bit of Act 1; seems pretty nice overall but nothing really particularly stood out to me; I am going to watch Act 2 this week sometime. But the Peasant Pas was quite different. Has anyone seen it? It is 2 couples and they do the adagio together, but then each dancer gets one of the variations. The men's variations used music that was from Peasant Pas, but the women's variations were totally different music and none that I've heard before. Does anyone know what this music is from?

thx

-goro-

Does anyone else have the Mariinsky Nutcracker Bluray? I just received this and watched it on my big tv and was struck by a notable item: It seems like they mix HD and upconverted SD video! The closeup and medium shots are clearly HD cams, as is the robocam (or whatever that floating steadycam-like camera); but the longer shots look absolutely awful, as if it were an SD cam and upconverted to HD. It is dull and muddy and all the clarity and brilliance of the other shots are totally missing. Has anyone else noticed this or know the reason behind this?

I mean, I understand having SD EXTRAS (The Nutcracker Story), but mixing quality of footage like this is really irritating... almost as much as the terrible camera work! (heh)

-goro-

Hi,

I'm watching the Royal Opera House Nutcracker on Ovation (that's what they call it- is it the Royal Ballet?)

and I'm wondering if the young woman dancing Clara/Marie is a studen or a member of the company. I'm always confused by how different companies do this- she is definitely young but doing quite a bit of dancing on pointe- which I know students are capabale of, but it seems like a lot to be resting on a student's shoulders.

Thanks,

Sandi

I was hoping this was going to be the "new" Royal Ballet Nutcracker, the one with Iohnna Loots as Clara and Alexandra Ansanelli dancing Sugar Plum.

/disappointed

-goro-

What? You're missing Alexandrova? I like Osipova a lot, but I think Alexandrova's the class act among the three.

I look forward to your report/s.

Spaced that. Actualy I'm also seeing the 27th evening performance with Alexandrova. I might be totally Don Q'd out that week. Last time I did something like this, I went to see The Royal Ballet do Sleeping Beauty 4x in 3 days (and nights) and of course now my memory of it is a total melange.

heh.

-goro-

Looks like she's bringing a little contingent called "Bolshoi" with her.

Interestingly, I could find no mention on OCPAC's website of the production/s. There are photos of Don Q, but no title in digital print. Strange. If the fare is Bayadere, wouldn't the cast list include Gamzatti? Perhaps that info is available on hard copy brochures and mailings.

LOL.

You are correct. When they first announced the season's lineup, they had Bolshoi La Bayadere (no cast info). Now that there is cast info, there's no indication of the performance and I just assumed it was still the same. I wonder if they have changed it to Don Q. I will call today and find out.

curiously, the Sunday tickets were extremely expensive. $140/seat in orch. Sat were $120. Any ideas why?

thx

-goro-

I just got off the phone with OCPAC and they told me that "it has been changed to Don Quixote." I'm a bit disappointed since I've already seen Osipova in Don Q when i was in Moscow, and i was really looking forward to Bayadere, but still, I'll be able to see her 2 or 3 times with Vasiliev and I have never seen Zakharova live.

-goro-

The thing I love most about this Giselle, and I miss in almost every performance I've seen is the connection between Cojocaru and Kobborg. It makes their act 2 pas very human and warm. The thing that always gets me is when and how she makes eye contact with him, and how that's so seamlessly integrated into the choreography. By comparison, every other Giselle I've seen seems cold in comparison.

--Andre

THere are two very nice BBC documentaries that you might want to seek out. One is on Kobborg and Cojocaru and their relationship. It's a very nice piece. THe other is on Giselle and interviews Cojocaru. The second one might not be a full-length documentary but BBC bits clipped onto the broadcast of the performance. I forget. But you might find these enjoyable from what you poasted.

-goro-

I thought one thing Cojocaru needs to improve on are her "Wili turns." When Giselle is first initiated as a Wili I always watch the turns. I like Giselles to turn like demons. To see how it's done, watch Natalia Makarova.

or, more recently Diana Vishneva. The DVD is good, but I saw a live performance and she was literally a 'bat-out-of-hell'.

Why do i think that she was not LITERALLY a "bat-out-of-hell"?

-goro-

I'm just playing b/c this is a bit of a pet-peeve of mine, using the word "literally" to either (a) provide emphasis or (b) to mean "figuratively".

Looks like she's bringing a little contingent called "Bolshoi" with her.

Interestingly, I could find no mention on OCPAC's website of the production/s. There are photos of Don Q, but no title in digital print. Strange. If the fare is Bayadere, wouldn't the cast list include Gamzatti? Perhaps that info is available on hard copy brochures and mailings.

LOL.

You are correct. When they first announced the season's lineup, they had Bolshoi La Bayadere (no cast info). Now that there is cast info, there's no indication of the performance and I just assumed it was still the same. I wonder if they have changed it to Don Q. I will call today and find out.

curiously, the Sunday tickets were extremely expensive. $140/seat in orch. Sat were $120. Any ideas why?

thx

-goro-

Just got informed that Orange County Performing Arts Center has got tix to La Bayadere available to members. Public should be able to buy soon (January?)

Wed Feb.24 - Zakharova, Volchkov

Thurs Feb.25, Sat Mat 27, Sun Mat 28 - Osipova, Vasiliev

Fri Feb.26, Sat Night 27 - Aleksandrova, Lobukhin

I got my tix for the 24th, 27th, and 28th. about $600 for the tix. ouch.

But it'll definitely be worth it!

See you there?

-goro-

This movie, not previously much available, and thus sought after by those who caught things from movie channel telecasts, is now on DVD and being offered on Amazon.

With any luck, the following link to Amazon should work and open the page on the movie's recent DVD release.

[a link i suspected might work has been removed by me, i assume one can got to Amazon and search for the item by title, etc.]

This is actually part of the Warner Archives where WB is now doing MOD. You may find quite a few films from Warner that weren't previously available at all or minimally available.

http://www.wbshop.com/on/demandware.store/...+of+three+loves

and the main page:

http://www.wbshop.com/Warner-Archive/ARCHIVE,default,sc.html

-goro-

I just received this notification in an email from Oregon Ballet Theatre.

http://obt.org/donate_events_la_danse.html

This is such a great idea; more Ballet Companies should think of this. I definitely want to see it and would pay a premium to (a) Get it to show here locally and (b) to support the local ballet company. I think I am not alone in that.

I'm very curious as to how successful this will be.

-goro-

Also this DVD (Giselle by Ferri and Murru) is available in Japan

http://fairynet.co.jp/SHOP/4560219320680.html

although region code is 2, NTSC format.

I saw it on display at the gift shop of the Opera Garnier in Paris but it isn't listed on the website. Perhaps if you telephoned and asked them? HTH.

Looks like it's available in the UK.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giselle-DVD-Paul-C...y/dp/B00004TYYO

PAL R2, natch. 24GBP is about 40 USD. Kinda pricey, but far better than $150.

-goro-

Thank you so much for the heads up! I bought it.

Oooh, I hope you enjoy it! I just love this film. Ginny mentioned the dancing clips by the famous past Giselles but there are also the wonderful interview clips

which include Kasarvina, Chauvire(who wanders between French and English), and Ulanova

Yeah, it's a great one and one that's sadly missing from DVD. Although I've watched mine many times (well the ripped video as I've archived the original tape), if I watch a bit of it, I end up watching ALOT of it. I particularly love just the very beginning when Anton Dolin starts with, "I believe there is no ballet as perfect as Giselle. We still weep ..."

-goro-

It's available from hmv.com for 15.99 GBP plus shipping. The interview with the four Swan Queens is especially interesting, and Nunez's performance is spectacular. IMO Soares' Siegfried is a little OTT, with a fixed besotted expression, but overall this is a must-have.

I've just received my bluray disc and watched large parts of it (Black Swan, White Swan, PD3, Neapolitan, etc) on the big tv. It's quite a disc. I particularly liked Nunez in Black Swan. So often, i see a Black Swan performance and Odile is just nasty and unpleasant and i have no idea how the prince could be interested in her. Nunez makes this a very sultry, sensual, BEAUTIFUL woman who oozes this seductive energy. She has this beautiful big smile at times that isn't that often-used venomous smile. It's a softer and less harsh interpretation and i really loved it. And she uses her eyes in an almost Fonteyn fashion.

The white swan was quite nice, but i felt it a bit heavy (emotionally) and felt a touch plodding. It was quite touching and dramatic, though, and it was very easy to get pulled into the moment.

Soares just doesn't do it for me. I just get frustrated watching him and close ups where his facial expressions are notable left me quite cold. Which brings up the matter of camera work. Typical i guess, but still frustrating. To cut away to Von Rothbart's face during Black Swan pdd was irritating for example.

Yuhui Choe dance in the pd3 and I absolutely love her. Even watching her do very simple things makes me smile. And did quite enjoy the pd3. Laura Morera i believe was the other girl in the pd3 and I'm not sure who the man was (i believe he was in the BBC documentary about the Royal Ballet and its school). I always look forward to the pd3 and this was a good one.

I thought the production was somewhat interesting, but didn't feel like making Siegfried a military officer added anything at all.

sound is excellent. PCM 5.1 sounds beautiful.

This is my 3rd Royal Ballet Bluray (Sleeping Beauty, Giselle the other) and they have all been excellent audio-wise. I originally said both video and audio. There are some artifacting issues with these discs. The backdrops are particularly difficult on the format and these flat blacks (Giselle) and dark blue/purple (Beauty) play havoc with the codecs. It is particularly noticeable sometimes.

And 1 minor BluRay note: sometimes this high-res shows you too much and destroys the illusion. In Beauty, in th ePrologue when the camera shows the King and Queen, you can clearly see that the baby is a doll. In Giselle act 1, when Kobborg comes out, you can clearly see the sweat collecting on Cojocaru's brow. etc. etc. Minor quibble, but interesting...

A long time ago I saw an offering of the VHS on ebay. Now I can't seem to locate anything about it. Does anyone have any info? I'm not sure if it was titled "Homage to Diaghileve" or "Homage to Nijinsky." Thanks for any input.

i think you're looking for this:

http://www.amazon.com/Tribute-Nijinsky-Pet...6899&sr=8-3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQFWZXaBBg4

-goro-

TOKYO SONATA by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation) is an absolute masterpiece. The finale is stupefyingly beautiful that depicts (among other things) the difference b/w skill and talent, a true measure of redemption, and the restorative powers of music.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938341/

and here's the trailer

-goro-