Farrell & Donn in Bejarts R&J

[gatto97]

I recently came across a video of Bejart's Romeo and Juliet with Jorge Donn & Suzanne Farrell. Those of you familiar with the Farrell DVD Elusive Muse have seen bits of this footage.

It appears the video/DVD is only available through hardyclassic.it - only released in Italy.

http://www.hardyclassic.it/searchresult.as...20e%20Giulietta

Vaimusic - which recently released the D'Amboise DVD, has begun to carry some hardyclassic CD's and DVD's (all opera), but do not carry the Bejart.

Has anyone on Ballet Talk come accross this DVD - was it available for purchase in the U.S.?

Thanks.

[Farrell Fan]

I saw this video some years ago, thanks to a friend -- I don't think it was ever for sale here. It was interesting how Bèjart expanded the tale of two warring families into a contemporary anti-war drama, complete with the sound of bombs and machineguns. I love the Berlioz score, but I actually think the best parts of this ballet were in the snippets seen in the "Elusive Muse" film. I loved Farrell and Donn together, and regret I never saw them live.

[dirac]

It's too bad there isn't more available video of Farrell during her Bejart years. Choreography aside, going by the Elusive Muse excerpts she was at a physical peak (and never looked more beautiful).

[drb]

It's too bad there isn't more available video of Farrell during her Bejart years...

It's too bad there isn't more available video of Farrell during her Balanchine years.

[gatto97]

It's too bad there isn't more available video of Farrell during her Bejart years...

It's too bad there isn't more available video of Farrell during her Balanchine years.

Speaking of which, I just received "A Stravinsky Portrait" and there is about 5 minutes of Balanchine working with Farrell, D'Amboise and Gloria Gorwin in Apollo. Throughout the film, Stravinsky is conducting a German Orchestra, which will be recording the score that the NYCB dances to. Snippets of this ballet rehearsal are shown in Balanchine and the actual taped performance was shown in Ellusive Muse.

Anyway, what is interesting about the clip is that Stravinsky conducted the Terpsichore Variation tempo much faster than Balanchine had ever heard it before. We see Farrell attempting to trace her steps at this new tempo and her getting out of breath, goofing off a bit and then getting a bit frustrated. At one point we hear her saying something about "all the variations being this fast" and seeing her roll her eyes. Sort of bratty - which I found funny. There is also this close up of Balanchine intently watching Farrell dance - a stare that brought those stories about his "obsession" to life. It's one thing to read about it -quite another to see it.

It's too bad there isn't more available video of Farrell during her Bejart years.

There is a video of Farrell and Donn in Nijinsky - clown of the Gods. I'm attempting to borrow a copy for "personal use" - lets see how much red tape gets in the way.

As far as R&J, I contacted Hardy and VaiMusic and was given the name of someone who may be able to sell me a copy in the U.S. However, the region of the DVD is not compatible with most U.S. systems.

The search contintues. Thanks everyone!