James

I just found this on the UK amazon site and thought some of you might be interested : http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001RE9HGG/ There's a trailer here : "This major work brings together two of today's pre-eminent dance talents, AKRAM KHAN and SYLVIE GUILLEM, as they explore the dynamics and language of two great classical dance forms, kathak and ballet. "

There's one here : http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...amp;mode=linear and here : http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=20668 and here : http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=20971 I wish I was as proficient at ballet dancing as at search engines...

The same goes with me. I can't watch it without getting a headache.

At the end of the movie we are left in suspense as to the future of Isabela Coracy. Her family strove to send her to the NY Youth America 2008 competition but unlike Irlan she wasn't a winner. Her mentor Mariza says she has the required technique but her figure is not classical enough, she needs to be more slender, to lose more weight. She finally decides not to have another go at the New-York competition and instead to work improving herself and find another opportunity, "possibly at home" (which we are told at the beginning of the movie is most unlikely for a black dancer). Her parents are in debt and very despondent at all the efforts having yielded nothing. On the brigth side we are shown Irlan's departure to New-York and his new career as a professional at ABT. His family too had to struggle to pay for his going to competitions abroad (we are shown his Nijinsky variation at the 2008 Prix de Lausanne which won him acclaim). It is moving to see how both family put trust in their children, their choice of careers and are supportive both emotionally and materially. You can have a glimpse of Isabela on youtube by putting YOqAHP_VIsQ and 3mohP9bPWuc in the searchbox.

I've never seen this. Is it worthwhile ?

I feel that it's actually this transposition in movement and music that enhances the emotional impact of the narrative. I can watch graphic violence in a movie and not feel too upset while I'm moved by the plight of poor Nikiya in what could be described as a silly corny story. I am in my late forties and I think that age makes us more vulnerable to violence and suffering in fiction but not that it's due to some frailty of the self. It's rather that with time we have been more exposed to the real thing while as teenagers it all looks like some wild abstraction. What you call wimpiness should more aptly be described as great sensitiveness, an asset that allows you to enjoy a ballet and life in general to the full but can also put you aside the mainstream of society. In the bonus part of POB's DVD of Roméo & Juliet they say the dancers are using real swords in the fight scenes and that sometimes during the rehearsals they would get cut. I guess this must have added some intensity to the performance...

Thanks for this clip, with such a wonderful dreamlike quality, just like ballet...

They only remove the ones that are not viewed any more, so if you want them to stay you know what to do

Has somebody seen that already ? Any comments ?

Is this Madame Alonso in the middle of clip 10 ?

Personally I especially appreciated the one about La Bayadère. Before, I liked the dancing but didn't think much of the story. On the documentary you see Isabelle Guérin (among others) discussing how and why it should be danced this or that way. Making sense of the characters has helped add a lot of emotion to the dancing itself. La Bayadère has actually become one of my favourite ballets, thanks to Dancer's dream.

The half-hour documentary is subtitled in english and french, most of it an interesting interview of Alicia Alonso including old (and I guess rare) excerpts of her performances of Giselle and Don Quijote. In this feature we see her directing a rehearsal of Giselle while at Grand Palais when this production of Don Quijote was fimed. So I'm wondering, was Giselle performed at Grand Palais too and did somebody have the good idea to film it ?

It is cheaper on amazon.fr : http://www.amazon.fr/Don-Quijote-Ballet-Na...a/dp/B0018KW3XS or alapage.com : http://www.alapage.com/-/Fiche/DVDVideo/97...pel=ALAPAGE than fnac.com : http://video.fnac.com/a2260308/Don-Quichotte-DVD-Zone-2 For those like me who need to let their credit card cool off a bit...

True happiness doesn't come fom love or zen, I now know it is imprinted in plastic and is called Royal Ballet's La Fille Mal Gardée. Seriously, everytime I watch this video I end up with a wide smile of pleasure on my face, this ballet being so well danced, so funny, in perfect taste and with good picture and sound (colours a bit too bright ?).

I just got a message from english amazon that my copy has dispatched after some delay.

Giselle's mother does a mime warning her daughter of death and becoming a willi but I didn't find it very clear. I mean, if I hadn't already known what it is all about I wouldn't have understood much of it. Still, it adds a tragic edge to Berthe's character which I find bland in some productions, and to the whole first act. Before the entrance of Myrtha two willis appear and scare off Hilarion, and I think the group of gamblers, but I would have to check to be sure and being too lazy now I'll let somebody else answer this one for me. When I saw Marie-Agnès Gillot featuring on the dvd cover I thought obviously she must be Myrtha, and yes she is. But there's nothing of the obvious in what she does, that is superb dancing. All the cast looks deeply involved in their roles and give sense to the (great) dancing. Laëtita Pujol does some very physically demanding steps, Nicolas Le Riche is superb too. Being ignorant as to the technical dance vocabulary I'm at a loss to tell you exactly why I particularly loved this Giselle. But I just ordered "The Video Dictionary Of Classical Ballet" so I might not be totally hopeless...

I finally got mine. There's a list of distributors on the TDK site : http://www.tdk-mediactive.com I ordered it from the french seller and got it in 2 days. Amazon and all sellers I usually order from are chronically out of stock.

Has anyone got hold of this DVD ? I'm living in France, I've tried to order it on sites in the UK, but they tell me it's out of stock. I've just received a message from french amazon telling me that this item is "rather hard" to find but if I wish they'll keep looking for it. It's strange for a just released DVD.

They always list the DVD release date, never the date of the performance, which would be much more informative !!!

For those who live in Europe, it is available on french amazon : http://www.amazon.fr/Proust-Ou-Intermitten...0322&sr=1-8 and for pre-order on uk amazon : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Proust-Ou-Intermit...0132&sr=1-1 (release date : 3 Mar 2008)

A small word, just to UP this topic in case some of you folks missed this release. I got my copy last Tuesday and watched it twice in a row I liked it so much. And a 3rd time yesterday evening. OK, now I'm officially nuts...

As far as I know the only edition currently available is a Kultur/region 1 release. So it makes sense to issue an all region DVD on Opus Arte. And if I am correct, Opus Arte is now a property of of ROH, which staged the Mayerling ballet, so it's all money that stays in the family.

One drawback with Kultur releases, they seem to take pride in never never including a decent synopsis with their discs. It might not be of great inconvenience with La Bayadere, but with rare stuff like Medea and Macbeth (which I pre-ordered), well I didn't find anything on the net. And I don't look forward to watching a 90 mn Macbeth without knowing who's who. For Mayerling I found a synopsis on the Royal Ballet website, but here oh as we say in my country !