James

I do

The one I have is NTSC all regions. The newest I don't know, I find no indication on ICA website. I guess you would have to e-mail them to be sure --> info@icartists.co.uk

By ICA Classics : http://www.icartists...-rudolf-nureyev

Plus, this previous ICA release : http://www.amazon.co...C/dp/B004TWOWUE has become very affordable on UK amazon (I paid almost 3 times this price when I bought it a year ago).

Until next time

James

Thanks everybody for your informed comments !!!

I've stumbled on these two releases but have no idea what to think of them, I mean is it of interest to the classical or neo-classical ballet lover ?

http://www.amazon.co...duct/B006CAXOAK

http://www.amazon.co...y/dp/B006CAXQ4E

I watched it last night and liked it very much although I thought it was rather difficult to get into it. The dancing is beautiful, very delicate and fully attuned to the music which is good contemporary learned music, not the repetitive garbled sounds that often try to pass as music.

This is not a festival of jetés and fouettés, I guess you could call it subdued compared with the athletic feats that you can often see nowadays. Then the whole piece had an undertone of despair as the little dancer is constantly surrounded by the abonnés, her mother with dubious motives, even the étoile looking a bit smug to me, hinting at a hard and competitive world.

It is also a real tribute to Degas' world, not only through the story. The set and costumes are taking full opportunity of the subject. I found the colors went right from a Degas painting, the dancing class more reminiscent of his earlier works, the cabaret part with its fan-shaped designs or the mother's reflection in her mirror with its gaudy colors recalling his later works.

So on the whole a beautiful ballet without instant appeal, colourful but un-glamourous.

ICA label will release two studio performances from the BBC archives : http://www.icartists.co.uk/classics/catalog/dvds/les-sylphides-giselle

It's available for pre-order at french amazon : http://www.amazon.fr/Dance-Double-Bill-Chopin-Sylphides/dp/B004TWOWUE/

Enjoy

A quick word to confirm that the blu-ray quality is perfect.

Thanks Mme Hermine for the smile of the day

It was aired on french TV, I hope it's not the same film because with a black set poor lighting and darkly clad dancers I found it totally unwatchable. I couldn't even see what was going on on stage.

Like this mostly :

Looking at this trailer I realised what the big difference is between classical ballet and cutting-edge modern dance : in the latter dancers are not allowed to smile.

I didn't seet it. I guess focusing solely on his energy and commitment would produce a propaganda show more than a documentary while showing a man with flaws sticks closer to reality.

And maybe he's a big sports fan and this was the event of the year. After all he gets to see Uliana Lopatkina in his office all the time.

If she came in mine THAT would be the event of the year for me.

I was quite disapointed too. It's just made of bits and pieces of small talk plus some rehearsal scenes which, as interesting as they might be, bring nothing new on Aurélie. On the whole it lacks feeling and vision.

Next Tuesday on France 3 10:40 pm "Aurélie Dupont danse" a Cédric Klapisch documentary

Next Sunday on european channel Mezzo at 8:30 pm POB's Raymonda featuring the following : Marie-Agnès Gillot (Raymonda), José Martinez (Jean de Brienne), Nicolas Le Riche (Abderam), Dorothée Gilbert (Henriette), Emilie Cozette (Clémence), Josua Hoffalt (Béranger), Florian Magnenet (Bernard)

It looks like the film that is due to release on dvd some time this year.

Next Monday on germano-french channel Arte at 10:10 pm a 2009 documentary about Sylvie Guillem titled "Sylvie Guillem, sur le fil", which I would translate "Sylvie Guillem on the edge".

So if you're living around get your recorders ready !

At the end of November the french daily "Le Figaro" wrote it was to be aired on france 3 soon... without giving a date. To my knowledge it has not been broadcasted yet.

A bientôt mes amis !

I didn't realize the dancers have a permanent contract until age 40-42... I always wondered what happened to those who didn't do well at the annual exams... would one get a pension if one was let go before age 40? Now I understand!

In Nils Tavernier documentary "L'étoile" I remember it was said that retirement age for dancers at POB was 40 for women and 45 for men.

This DVD is available for a very good price on french amazon (16.99 euros) as well as "Romeo & Juliet" also with Rojo and Acosta, at the same price. I guess this could interest those leaving within the eurozone.

In general Decca releases seem to be much more affordable than Opus Arte.

I don't think this Rite of Spring is pallid but rather that there is so much happening on stage that the director had no idea how to convey it on film. To be fair it must be a daunting, maybe impossible task. Still he seems to have done all the bad choices, including endless close-ups on one dancer when crowds are moving around and shots from a camera suspended right above the set which shows the symmetry within the groups of dancers, which would be interesting in a documentary, but nothing of the impression the spectator has, which is what I'm expecting as much as is possible from a good ballet video.

In short I was looking forward to seeing this Rite of Spring and was hugely disappointed. But maybe this makes me a bit too harsh...

Oh ! and the Firebird is very watchable indeed...

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

Thanks sivermash. Being french I am so going to cinema next october !

wonder if the selection of clips for the trailer, which weights the 'classical' rep over the 'modern' from the over-two-and-a-half-hour film, was Wiseman's choice or the distributor's.

With so few ballet featuring on french TV and almost none in movie theaters I suspect the distributors chose not to scare off the audience with anything too "outlandish", hence the more traditional tutu-and-tulle look of the trailer.

On the other hand Nils Tavernier movie "Tout près des étoiles" was a big succes in 2001 so one should'nt underestimate the open-mindedness of the public. You don't get the best out of people by assuming they have bad taste.

This Neumeier's work is a masterpiece (...) Both the performance and the choreography are stunning, although quite different from the original Swan Lake.

Ok Ok I surrender ! I'll add this lake to the five other versions I already have. This ballet has such an appeal no wonder every choreograper wants to add his own vision. With the upcoming ROH version due to release in September I'll reach a sum total of seven lakes in all.

Alexandra, neumeier's being out of stock right now I don't know when I get my copy but I'll try not ot forget to tell you about it although with most of you being somehow pros I sometimes feel a bit out of my depth in this forum.

"The Seven Lakes", that would do a nice title for a novel, the story of a lunatic who compulsively buys swan lakes videos to the point where he doesn't know whether he's Siegfried or... well... who am I by the way ?

Thanks rg.

I just found this new DVD release of Neumeier's "Illusions like swan lake" on UK amazon : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Illusions-Like-Swa...r/dp/B002DU7MEW

It was filmed in 2001 at Hamburger Staatsoper.

The cast includes Jiri Rubenicek, Elizabeth Loscavio, Anna Polikarpova, Carsten Jung, Alexandre Riabko, Silvia Azzoni, Anna Grabka.

It is listed on amazon as being PAL region 2 but this is not clear checking the Zyx label site.

If somebody tells me this ballet is worth watching I might buy the disc and tell you exactly...

hourgrass figure and all!

I guess you mean that with time she's turned into a beautiful plant, in full bloom and all...

What is missing enormously I think are ressources for the greater public to get to know and make sense of this great art.

Compare with music, at school we all learn what are a note, chord etc... we learn to play an instrument, even if only the basics, then on radio and TV if you want to go further than the pop-rock stuff there are a lot of ressources.

With ballet if you've not been luckily born in some educated family with an interest in dance all you can do is watch it and try to make some sense out of it by yourself. No surprise it is an art often looked at as elitist, some weird stuff from the past or outlandish avant-garde.

But the eye needs to be educated as much as the ear. I got my own insight watching Aurélie Dupont dance La Sylphide. She really looked like she was the music in motion, suddenly I found the whole thing immensely pleasurable and kept playing my recording of La Sylphide over and over. Before that I would only watch a ballet once in a while and mostly for the music, the rest looking to me like some additional decorating. I had eyes but couldn't see the beauty of the movement for want of education.

So what I would really really love would be educational programs that would familiarise us with ballet, like having a variation danced and then the basic steps explained, what they are supposed to express, some historical context to go along, interviews, all this can be made in a fun way, for children and adults alike.

It exists the same for music, with small scores being analysed etc... Why is there nothing about dance while companies around are craving for new public ? Or maybe they really prefer to stay confined in their own little world of the happy knowledgeable few rather than having to cater to the vulgar tastes of the main audience ?

Or maybe nobody would broadcast these programs of my dreams...

And to answer the original question I would rather go for full-length, on DVD (wich allows multiple viewings, I need more than one viewing to appreciate a production), and documentaries plus behind the scenes stuff would be great too thanks.