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D'Amboise and Gaite Parisienne DVDs from VAI


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There's some really fabulous DVDs being released by VAI (vaimusic.com or searchable at the above amazon link). Both come out in mid-to-late August. The Gaite Parisienne was released before on VHS, but the DVD features some special extras that, to me, make it very worthwhile to get again. The D'Amboise disc has the complete Apollo w/Diana Adams as Terpsichore, three pas de deux with the now-departed Melissa Hayden, and Afternoon of a Faun with LeClercq, among other items. :clapping:

VAI DVD 4384 GAÎTÉ PARISIENNE (1954) The legendary “in-house” filming

of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, shot and edited by Victor Jessen,

is now available for the first time on DVD, with fascinating bonus

features. The ballet stars Alexandra Danilova, Frederic Franklin, and

Leon Danielian. DVD extras include audio commentary by Franklin,

optional explanatory subtitles which identify many of the dancers in

the ensemble, an interview with Frederic Franklin, a documentary

titled “The Saga of Victor Jessen,” and a complete list of the ballet

productions filmed by Jessen. B&W (feature) / Color (bonus segments),

87 min. (ballet plus special features), $34.95

VAI DVD 4377 JACQUES D’AMBOISE: Portrait of a Great American Dancer

A dazzling compilation of previously unissued television appearances

(1956-1965) taken from Canadian television and the American series

The Bell Telephone Hour. D’Amboise dances Stars & Stripes, the Love

Duet from The Still Point, the Snow pas de deux from The Nutcracker

(all with Melissa Hayden); the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake

(with Lupe Serrano); Afternoon of a Faun (with Tanaquil LeClercq);

and Apollo (with Diana Adams, Jillana, and Francia Russell). DVD

includes 84 minutes of performances in addition to a 50-minute

interview with d’Amboise. Color/B&W, $34.95

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There's some really fabulous DVDs being released by VAI (vaimusic.com or searchable at the above amazon link). Both come out in mid-to-late August. The Gaite Parisienne was released before on VHS, but the DVD features some special extras that, to me, make it very worthwhile to get again. The D'Amboise disc has the complete Apollo w/Diana Adams as Terpsichore, three pas de deux with the now-departed Melissa Hayden, and Afternoon of a Faun with LeClercq, among other items. :clapping:

Did I miss the sad news about Melissa Hayden?

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(it has English and French titles)

JACQUES D’AMBOISE: PORTRAIT OF AN AMERICAN DANCER (VAI DVD 4377)

1 Opening credits/Générique d’ouverture

Apollo/Apollon

Apollon : Jacques d’Amboise;

Calliope: Jillana; Polymnie: Francia Russell ; Terpsichore: Diana Adams

Music/Musique: Igor Stravinsky

Choreography/Chorégraphie: George Balanchine

Orchestre de Radio-Canada

Robert Irving, conductor/chef d'orchestre

L’heure du concert • Radio Canada • March 10, 1960/10 mars 1960

First Scene/Premier Tableau

2 Birth of Apollo/Naissance d’Apollon (prologue)

Second Scene/Deuxième Tableau

3 Variation d’Apollon (Apollon et les Muses)

4 Pas d’action (Apollon et les trois Muses)

5 Variation de Calliope (l’alexandrin)

6 Variation de Polymnie

7 Variation de Terpsichore

8 Variation d’Apollon

9 Pas de Deux (Apollon et Terpsichore)

10 Coda (Apollon et les Muses)

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I think it's interesting - the DVD is said to include The "Snow" pas de deux from The Nutcracker, performed by D'Amboise and Hayden, with choreography by D'Amboise. But the NYPL listing for the same December 19, 1965 Bell Telephone Hour item, has the choreography as by "George Balanchine after Lev Ivanov." I guess we'll have to see. It wouldn't be the first time that the NYPL listing was wrong (usually because the item is old and somebody just guesses).

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Of forget it, my mistake. Here's another NYPL entry:

Snow pas de deux (Motion picture)

Imprint 1965.

LOCATION CALL NO. STATUS

Performing Arts - Dance *MGZHB 4-1237 AVAILABLE

Division Performing Arts - Dance

Descript 1 reel. 5 min. 159 ft. : sd. b&w. ; 16 mm.

Note Excerpt from Bell Telephone Hour, telecast on December 19, 1965, on NBC-TV.

Choreography: Jacques d'Amboise. Music: P.I. Tchaikowsky. Scenery: Peter Dohanos. Performed by Melissa Hayden and Jacques d'Amboise.

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The D'Amboise DVD is not yet up on the vai site, but do a search on Amazon using "Portrait of a Great American Dancer."
Thank you so much for that. I didn't find it on the VAI site, and then I searched amazon for "D'Amboise" and "Jacques D'Amboise" and nothing came up. "By D'Ambroise" was on the search results page and in the browser title, although it I didn't see any name on the details page, and a search on "D'Ambroise" will bring up the DVD on page two of the search results.

I sent them the correction on the feedback form, but it could be centuries before anyone looks at it, if they view it at all.

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Thank you so much for that. I didn't find it on the VAI site, and then I searched amazon for "D'Amboise" and "Jacques D'Amboise" and nothing came up. "By D'Ambroise" was on the search results page and in the browser title, although it I didn't see any name on the details page, and a search on "D'Ambroise" will bring up the DVD on page two of the search results.
I sent them the correction on the feedback form, but it could be centuries before anyone looks at it, if they view it at all.

They did correct the search function - enter D'Amboise and then hit DVD. Unfortunately, it is still not yet available for purchase. Thanks for the heads up - I can't wait to see Faun and Apollo!

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When I order something online, I give the banner at the top of this page priority, but when Amazon fails me, I'll look further, and in this case, after Arkiv Music failed me too, I ordered from VAI and had the d'Amboise DVD a week later, yesterday.

So far, it's been pretty well done most of the time, although feet or hands or even heads are cut off now and then, as seems to be inevitable when the director isn't someone like Merrill Brockway.

Bolender's The Still Point isn't much, and the circling camera in that one starts to make me dizzy, but Apollo is satisfying, and as for Faun! I've never seen LeClercq dance before! WOW! Worth "the price of admission," right there.

That's as far as I've got; I don't know how it is for you, but when I've experienced something really fine, I like to "let it be" for a while.

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... as for Faun! I've never seen LeClerq dance before! WOW! Worth "the price of admission," right there.

Wow!, indeed. I missed LeClerq too, but started attending NYCB in the days when one constantly heard fond memories of her dancing from those who knew her well and missed her viscerally. Thanks, Jack. You've increased the antiticipation I'll feel while walking to the mailbox. :toot:

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The DVD cover photo for the D'Amboise DVD is now on the VAI site:

What a beautiful portrait.

Yeah, I noticed it the other day. They did do a nice job with it.

But I wonder what's going on with this?

Swan Lake

Black Swan Pas de Deux

with Lupe Serrano

Helen Hayes as Nadezhda von Meck

Farley Granger as Tchaikovsky

Music: Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: Petipa/Ivanov

Bell Telephone Hour • November 25, 1960

Do Siegfried and Odile have an audience?

(Looking forward to seeing Lupe as Odile again after many years)

Richard

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as for Faun! I've never seen LeClerq dance before! WOW! Worth "the price of admission," right there.
There's a very short clip of LeClerq and Diana Adams in the first movement of Concerto Barocco in the PBS Balanchine bio. That was the first glimpse of her I had seen. In this short clip she was so natural in the part that she made Diana Adams seem -- and I never thought I'd ever say this about Adams -- student-like.

There's also a pirated silent film of LeClerq in La Valse, for which Dianne Chilgren created a piano score. It was played twice in a row, once silently, and once with piano accompaniment during the Balanchine Centennial mini film series that PNB presented in 2004. A snippet of the silent was also shown in the Balanchine bio.

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this 'silence to sound' project re: LA VALSE w/ leclercq is included in a multi-dvd set from american film institute(?) called TREASURES - this compilation being part 1, if mem.serves. in any case one of the 4 discs includes as an example of the holdings of the NYPLibrary for the Perf. Arts this VALSE w/ leclercq and magallanes - the silent film as described by helene is produced for this project w/ piano music played by dianne chilgren.

i don't know that this compilation is still available but perhaps it is at least around in a used copies.

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Yeah, I noticed it the other day. They did do a nice job with it.

But I wonder what's going on with this?

Swan Lake

Black Swan Pas de Deux

with Lupe Serrano

Helen Hayes as Nadezhda von Meck

Farley Granger as Tchaikovsky

Music: Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: Petipa/Ivanov

Bell Telephone Hour • November 25, 1960

Do Siegfried and Odile have an audience?

(Looking forward to seeing Lupe as Odile again after many years)

Richard

Richard, this piece is included in the Pas de Deux I DVD. The Bell Telephone Hour include the introduction they had on TV. In this one, Helen Hayes does the introduction, I guess as Nadezhda von Meck. And there is a sort of Royal Court in the studio.

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Okay, I'm not to proud to confess that now I realize I have seen those two short LeClercq clips, the one in the PBS Balanchine bio some time ago, the Valse one as recently as July at Jacob's Pillow, where they have a very nice library and archive. Chalk it up to her effectiveness here in Faun that she blew away those memories of her! Here's hoping that AFI set turns up.

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That's an interesting idea.

In response to the question above, I do think both Apllo and Faun are "complete," although there are some small changes. Does everyone realize these are all studio performances? Sometimes the camera angles change the effect of things. The great stage set for Faun is missing. And Leto, Apollo's mother, doesn't put her legs up in a "V" as I remember from the theatre; her labor is differently conveyed. (Maybe this detail also harks back?) Not the whole Stars and Stripes Finale is here, by a long shot. But I think this DVD is a bargain, FWIW.

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The more I see of this the better I like it. All the dancing is very fine, not least d'Amboise's, but I still think the most of LeClercq's; I began to see Hayden on stage about a dozen years after these performances, and she's better here. A real treat. And then to hear from d'Amboise, in his interview, that they had no place to warm up and danced on slippery cement studio floors! (I'd choose this before the POB Jewels if I had to; more apt dancing and more straight-forward directing.) The social and ballet parodies in Filling Station are still fresh and fun, and the blackout scene is much more effective than the Ballet West staging I saw here years ago. The Stars pas is cut, too, as well as the Finale, but what tempos! I don't think I ever heard it that fast in the theatre! Will any other old-timers comment on that?

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