rg

thanks for noting that this tape was released commercially, glebb, and now may i return the favor w/ a suggestion: NEVER loan your own MASTER cassettes, if nec. shhhhh. make a copy and loan that, that way if the loan is lost, damaged, or otherwise goes missing no real harm done except to an extra cassette. i've learned this policy the hard way.

i now see that the 'nutcracker' post comes from europe. i didn't read carefully enough. probably then european advice would be more apt to this post than replies from a different dvd region.

[misclicked here - please ignore]

probably the best all-round NUTCRACKER is the less-than-ideal transfer that balanchine's landmark production made to film, then video, and now, dvd. ironically, the most interesting extra i've found is on the Barbie NUTCRACKER, which of course is an animation, however that disc has a charming little documentary about some female pupils of school of american ballet. one is already a dancer in the co. another if mem. serves is an apprentice and the other two are still in the school. this is a nicely done documentary film, not an animation. the royal ballet's version of NUTCRACKER includes especially memorable performances of drosselmeier by anthony dowell and of clara by alina cojocaru. hope this helps.

i'm not sure this telecast w/ sabina alleman at tatiana was ever released commercially. if it was it would be as ONEGIN, as the ballet is not called 'eugene onegin' but i have a hunch this tape may not have been available commercially. still someone here might have a copy and be willing to trade. keep looking. good luck.

this historic footage sounds more like a loie fuller imitator (perhaps an edison film) than duncan. to the best of my knowledge the only POSSIBLE duncan film footage is that of a woman in loose, grecian-styled draperies caught dancing at a garden party in england.

for what it's worth redgrave's ISADORA was highly regarded by lincoln kirstein, he must have written about it and maybe these are even collected in books of his writings. sorry to be so vague. maybe other kirstein followers have more specific info.

re: ID and MFK, as in Mathilde Felixovna Kshessinska firstly i also have to pause to look up just how to spell this (in)famous prima ballerina assoluta's name, for the record here's how linc.cent.lib.for perf.arts lists her: Kshessinska, Mathilde, 1872-1971 in any case re: MK's connection to ID, i recently read when doing some work on nijinsky that it was the assoluta, who, first seeing ID in berlin, invited her to russia for the first time, which was 1904.

there might be a way to go back to an exchange about this 'problem' of dvd's in the euro region(s) for PAL systems. the short of it is, probably not, unless you ask about being able to play other regions, most dvd players here play our region, that is no. 1, only. best to stick to ntsc/region 1 disks unless you know something special about your player. the royal ballet SWAN LAKE recently released on dvd is definitely for region 1/ntsc, so you'd be able to play it w/no trouble.

fyi: if you are looking buy and play your tape/dvd in the US, you might need to check to see that you are set up to play whatever item you purchase. for ex. i don't think the paris BAYADERE is available in ntsc tape or dvd, tho' i could be mistaken. i know the bart SWAN LAKE w/ berlin is available here, tho it is hardly what one might call 'traditional' or in much of a direct line from the ballet's russian history regarding petipa/ivanov/gorsky's choreography. it does however include odette's mime which the royal ballet one does not.

i wonder if there is some way to get through to the discussions that doubtless took place when the kirov recently presented in nyc its new 'old' version of LA BAYADERE, which in many ways 'corrected' any number of elements that nureyev's generation thought sacrosanct. but regarding the bronze idol in the choreography nikolai zubkovsky created in 1948(?) makarova didn't really change it or its music, she simply moved it from the betrothal scene to the final wedding scene that she put together to conclude her production. (in fact this non-petipa dance was initially included in the kirov's 'reconstructed' 1900 production and then dropped again as it was from a much later era.) as i say there may be a way to go back and read much of what was said on balletalert about the most recent kirov reconstruction after some historical documents in archives both inside and outside russia.

after giving some thought to this question when choosing taped examples for my book, i decided upon the royal ballet's SWANLAKE w/ makarova & dowell, and recently out now on DVD and the kirov's LA BAYADERE w/ komleva, terekhova & abdiev. my reasons are given in the chapters on these ballets/tapes in my book, BALLET 101. still other balletalerters may have strong feelings for other choices. so watch this space. and good luck, rg

how interesting dale, to think that the bbc dowell/park 'dream' once WAS available commercially. (do you rem. if the 'month in a country' that was telecast around the same time was also available? i hadn't know it to be made available in this way either. ah well, those of us old enough to know better, could probably all write books about the books, tapes, &/or sundry items 'that we let get away...' i can't think that tape was available for very long. but maybe it just slipped by my notice.

indeed there are no commercial releases of THE DREAM. at least however the one w/ park & dowell was telecast in color here so some off the air copies are around. the very gifted margaret dale did a filming for bbc tv, B&W, w/ sibley and dowell, mostly original cast all around, but that taping, which was shown here in the 70s i think, has not be re-shown during the era of the vcr.

wonders never cease: ari, this bbc tape w/ sibley was a complete BEAUTY? opposite dowell i assume? this was still the messel production? i knew CINDERELLA was done then but didn't realize that BEAUTY was too. must have been late 60s? she was first cast in the so-called plantaganet production = wright/bardon/de nobili but that was in '68. could it have beenit telecast that same year? i know there are excerpts that have surfaced of the prince's solo and of the awakening pas de deux. i wonder if the full telecast is around anywhere? i just heard from someone looking for a record of the production, and he's in london and he'd not heard of this telecast at all. as i say: wonders never cease...

there is not much footage of sibley in THE SLEEPING BEAUTY around. she can be seen doing the grand pas de deux from act 3 on a series hosted by peter schaufuss called DANCER, but that series is available to the best of my knowledge only on off-the-air copies. commercially, sibley can be see as princess florine in the blue bird pas de deux on the following tape: An evening with the Royal Ballet c1963. Danced by the Royal Ballet. Music performed by the Orchestra of The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, conducted by John Lanchbery. Le corsair [pas de deux] / film directed by Anthony Havelock-Allan ; choreography, Rudolf Nureyev ; music, Riccardo Drigo ; danced by Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. La valse / choreography, Frederick Ashton ; music, Maurice Ravel ; danced by the Royal Ballet. Aurora's wedding (Act III of The sleeping beauty) / film directed by Anthony Asquith ; choreography, Nikolai Sergeev after Marius Petipa ; music, Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky ; sets and costumes, Oliver Messel ; cast: Fonteyn (Princess Aurora) and David Blair (Florimund); Graham Usher, Merle Park, Georgina Parkinson (Prince Florestan & his sisters); Antoinette Sibley, Brian Shaw (Bluebirds); Douglas Steuart (Puss-in-Boots) & Virginia Wakelyn (White cat); Ann Howard (Red Riding Hood) & Ronald Plaisted (Wolf); Alexander Grant, Keith Milland, Lawrence Ruffell (Three Ivans); Leslie Edwards (Cattalabutte); Ray Powell (Carabosse); Deanne Bergsma (Lilac fairy); Derek Rencher & Gerd Larsen (King Florestan & his queen). Les sylphides / film directed by Anthony Asquith ; choreography, Serge Grigoriev and Lubov Tchernicheva after Mikhail Fokin ; music, Chopin, arr. by Ray Douglas ; danced by Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, with Merle Park (valse), Annette Page (mazurka), and members of the Royal Ballet. Filmed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 1963, under the supervision of Frederick Ashton, assisted by John Hart as to additional videos of THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, i have a list of what was extant in 1998 for my book BALLET 101, pp. 570 - 573. other ballet-alert readers here will likely have their own recommendations.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...6&category=1051 FYI: i think the balletgala cds have been sought after here. here's a copy on ebay. i'm not at all sure if it's still in print, but if not, here's a chance to get it.

i THINK i've seen this book at a friend's place. does it have the hammer&sickle-pattered house curtain on the end papers? i almost snagged my own copy of this book recently but then didn't. not, mind you, that i read much russian. if you could scan the title page or if a photocopy of the page could be scanned maybe clever alexandra could put the image up somehow here and all those who do read russian could enlighten you. possibly for starters these catalogue entries from NYPL for the Perf. Arts at Linc. Cent. would help: Moscow. Bolshoi Theater. Title:Opera [and] ballet. Imprint:Moscow, State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of the U. S. S. R., 1956. Description:1 v. (chiefly illus., ports.) 25 cm. 1956 Author:Moscow. Bolshoi Theater. Title Opera [and] ballet. Imprint: Moscow, State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of the U. S. S. R., 1956. Description:1 v. (chiefly illus., ports.) 25 cm. 1958 Title:Bol'shoi teatr SSSR: opera, balet. [Otvetstvennyi redaktor I. F. Belza. Imprint:Moskva, Gos. muzykal'noe izd-vo, 1958] Description:565 p. (chiefly illus., ports.) 35 cm. Notes:Bibliography: p. 547-[564] 1955 Author:Moscow. Bolshoi Theater. Title:Balet Gosudarstvennogo ordena Lenina akademicheskogo Bol'shogo teatr SSSR. [Pod obshchei redaktsiei A. I. Anisimova] Imprint:[Moskva] Gos. izd-vo izobraziltel'nogo iskusstva, 1955. Description:1 v. 27 cm. Notes:On cover: Balet Bol'shogo teatra SSSR. Chiefly plates. 1952 Author:Shaverdian, A. I. (Aleksandr Isaakovich) Title:Bol'shoi teatr Soiuza SSR. Imprint:Moskva, Gos. muzykal'noe izd-vo, 1952. Description:227 p. illus., ports. 23 cm.

certain 'chipped' DVD players need to be 'told' via the remote control wand about out-of-usual-region dvds, meaning a certain number code needs to be input after turning the player off & then they are SUPPOSED to play the 'foreign' discs. but each case is likely different. so, unless you know you've got a multi-machine it's important to acquire only those dvd's of the region of the player, the US is region 1/NTSC. if your player is not multi-system prepared or 'chipped,' it's best to steer clear of any discs not marked 1/ntsc. as for the royal ballet's COPPELIA w/ acosta & benjamin, i think that's only in region2/PAL at the moment. but i could be wrong.

at the risk of sounding self-referential etc. my book, BALLET 101 has a number of tapes described for the ballets you name here. (GISELLE & SWAN LAKE even have separate chapters given over to the two specific performances, which i deemed the time, useful and recommended.) since the shorter videography in the back of the back of the book was finalized, a number of other performances have come out, including: COPPELIA by the Royal Ballet, for instance, w/ Acosta and Benjamin(?) GISELLE w/ Ferri and Murra SWAN LAKE w/ a cast of dancers from the Berlin Opera House as well as w/ the Birmingham Royal Ballet, in D.Bintley production. readers of this site more familiar w/these versions might chime, but feel free to ask me any questions regarding anything said in my book on this subject. or just wait for all the free advice likely to pour forth in any case. good luck.

regarding vcr's here and abroad. it seems a rule of thumb that MOST european systems are so-called 'multi-system' decks and can play a variety of videos, partly i suppose because there are a number of formats at work throughout europe. however, MOST u.s. vhs vcr's are simply NTSC ones, w/ no options for playing anything else. so if you had a multi-system deck you'd most likely already know all about PAL NTSC etc. as the original post(s) here indicate no awareness of such variations on the theme of a vcr. i'm afraid it's fair to say that you are not equipped to play PAL etc. tapes. dvd's are a slightly different problem but many u.s. dvd players only play our zone - 1 - discs and not other zones, like zone 2 for much of western europe. readers of this site w/ far more expertise than i have will be able to explain the nuts & bolts of these different systems, but the bottom line is likely that unless you invest in new multi-system equipment there's no point in acquiring any tapes or discs that are not specifically listed as NTSC.

alas no, where video/dvd recording is concerned a movie is a format. and you special equipment to play and view these different forms. the US and other places has NTSC vhs, europe has, among other formatS! PAL, it's different and needs a different tv even, i think. so the short of this is, if you don't know what it is, you don't have the capability and thus should not buy anything but NTSC vhs or dvd. which in the case of paris opera video recordings is limited. sorry.

i suspect the ROMEO & JULIET, BAYADERE and other recently released videos are mostly (or ONLY) available in PAL format for Europe, so our amazon would not likely carry these. have you tried dancebooks in england? if you are able to watch PAL dvds (or videos) you might find these titles at dancebooks: www.dancebooks.co.uk each site is different but i should think typing in the title: i.e. ROMEO AND JULIET and limiting your search to videos or dvds should let you know if the site has this tape. etc. hope this helps.

PARIS DANCES DIAGHILEV so far as i can recall: nureyev's paris productions of LA BAYADERE, and ROMEO AND JULIET are available on PAL video & DVD i think. perhaps also his SLEEPING BEAUTY. others will perhaps have better memories and/or records to call on. Japanese television has shown LE PARC and a bill with: L'ARLESIENNE, SOIR DE FETE, & SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE.

this film was shown on television during its first few years of its being made. i don't know of its being released commercially, however. balletalert videophiles whose collections go some way back may have off-the-air copies. i knew one fellow who got his Beta machine back in '77, who had it. alas he's now deceased and i don't know what happened to all his cassettes. perhaps with the seeming popularity of DVD films like this may be released on disc. or we can hope.