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Does anyone know of any videos featuring the Japanese dancer Tetsuya Kumakawa and where I could purchase them? There were several variations that he danced (corsaire, quixote, and 2 bayaderes) on a homemade/mixed video I saw a while ago, but I couldn't tell if they were filmed for video or television. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. :)

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BalletNut, I usually only buy classical story ballet videos for a specific performer or performers. Do you think that Kumakawa's performance is worth getting the tape for? Who else is there in the video?

I admit that I've never watched an entire Bayadere before. I have seen the variations, including the bronze idol, but I'm not very familiar with the ballet otherwise. Could you give me an idea of what the dancing is like, and how much there is in comparison with the character and pantomime aspects of the ballet? Thankyou.

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Short answer: Yes, it's worth it to get the tape (maybe it's on DVD too, at least it is in Europe) , because it's one of the best videos I own, and I own plenty. :dry:

Long answer: The cast is as follows: Nikiya--Altynai Asylmuratova; Solor--Irek Mukhamedov; Gamzatti--Darcey Bussell; Brahmin--Anthony Dowell; Rajah--David Drew; and of course Kumakawa is the bronze idol, but next to these heavyweights, he almost looks like a side attraction... that said, he's quite impressive, lots of elevation. ABT also does the Makarova version, so they have some info about it on their site. Some character dancing, though not much; a fair amount of mime; and LOTS of "classical" dancing. The Royal Ballet corps is pretty good, not surprisingly, if not as uniform as the Kirov or POB. The choreography is "flavored" with what looks like Indian classical dancing, especially some of Nikiya's variations and the mime. Kingdom of Shades choreography is to die for. Viviana Durante is the third Shade, but looks out of sync with the other two. Lanchbery orchestration of Minkus: I'll leave others to debate the music. The ballet moves pretty quickly, theatrically speaking, but I must say that the final act where the temple is destroyed is rather weak choreographically, although Gamzatti's variation here is quite nice. Hope that answers your questions.

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