Video Recommendations

[carbro]

A lurker has e-mailed the following request:

Would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to recommend a DVD of a ballet for a young girl who is in ballet class.  It's a birthday gift.  I was thinking of Coppelia; I understand that the Kirov performance turned the dollmaker into a diabolical character -- not great for a youngster.  Are you familiar with the currently available DVD of the Royal Ballet?  Is it good?

I will also probably buy Peter and the Wolf.

Thanks for your help!

I know there are others who are far more qualified than I to reply. Please do.

Thanks!

[canbelto]

The Coppelia from the Royal Ballet is excellent -- both Leanne Benjamin and Carlos Acosta are in top form. It's a good production too. The Australian Ballet has a version of Coppelia but I have not seen this video.

Needless to say, for five-year-olds, I really recommend the super family-friendly Balanchine Nutcracker video.

[Helene]

I think you mean the video Peter and the Wolf that Anthony Dowell narrated and which was performed by children of the School of the Royal Ballet. She may like watching children perform.

[Dr. Coppelius]

I think the most suitable Coppelia for a little girl is the one by Paris Opera Ballet School, it has young dancers and does not have the boring (to a child) third act.

And I think that Pierre Lacotte does a very good, not so diabolical, Dr. Coppelius.

It also have a bonus, there is a documentary about the school, which is interesting.

[Mrs. Stahlbaum]

Tales of Beatrix Potter would not be first on the list for a child looking for pretty ballerinas in tutus, but a five-year old should enjoy it as a third video. The classic Beatrix Potter stories are well-costumed and danced by the Royal Ballet.

[Joseph]

Yes, Paris Opera Ballet School's Coppelia would be good and it is not too long...

Balanchine's Nutcracker would be good too, (with McCauler Culkin) it is narrated.

Any Sleeping Beauty's or Cinderella's???

[canbelto]

I cant think of a Sleeping Beauty that would be good. Most are too formal and I imagine would lose a 5-year-old's interest pretty quickly.

Cinderella -- the music is perhaps not "tuneful" enough for a 5-year old. But the recent Bolshoi release of Raisa Struchkova's Cinderella is very kid-friendly (perhaps TOO much so for my adult tastes).

But as odd as this may sound, I think Swan Lake is a perfect choice for a 5-year old. Kids inherently respond to fairy tales like Swan Lake, and the music is beyond compare. Seriously, plop down with Makarova and Dowell in Swan Lake, and I bet you the kid will be carried away.

[atm711]

But as odd as this may sound, I think Swan Lake is a perfect choice for a 5-year old. Kids inherently respond to fairy tales like Swan Lake, and the music is beyond compare. Seriously, plop down with Makarova and Dowell in Swan Lake, and I bet you the kid will be carried away.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The recent Burmeister Swan Lake with Zakharova would be a good choice for a 5 year old, since it is the original fairy tale and they live happily ever after.....

[E Johnson]

If the child hasn't seen it yet I'd definitely start with the Balanchine Nutcracker -- My son enjoyed it starting when he was three, if not earlier.

[BalletNut]

The Australian Coppelia is danced beautifully, and Dr. Coppelius is portrayed as a "mad scientist" of sorts in this production; a little eccentric, perhaps, but nothing that would give a child nightmares. The costumes and scenery are also quite nice. Lisa Pavane and Greg Horsman have great chemistry, and their interactions onstage are often quite humorous.

If Balanchine's Nutcracker video with Culkin was out when I was five, I probably would have loved it (I do now, more or less), but I grew up on the Baryshnikov/Kirkland version, which isn't too bad either.