Ballet on film - what do you want to see?

[Ray]

Thanks so much to everyone for your interesting replies.

Your responses show that one thing is for sure - people want to watch in different ways! And distributors are going to have to take this into account.

You're welcome, and best of luck on your project--it sounds like you and your team are carrying it out in a very thoughtful way. I'm going to make a huge generalization here, that on the whole European dancers and dance-makers often express themselves more articulately than their American counterparts. I imagine that's because they experience more of a culture of support for their voices than those the US (like your project!). And we tend to hear from dance artists (on those rare occasions that we do) in PR or marketing contexts, promoting a ballet (or ballet in general, alas), a company, or a season.

[ami1436]

Is it too late to add?

I'm with Giannina on Rojo and Cope in Mayerling (which I luckily have seen live) -- and also in Manon. (Cope makes a better DG than Acosta, and is so much more alive with Rojo than Guillem).

Balanchine -- I'm with CMB for a Theme and Variations; would love a good quality Tarantella as well.

And, I like the idea of an Ashton tape -- maybe also with Rhapsody? I think Symphonic Variations would be fab, and Month.... and maybe Enigma Variations?

Wheeldon's Tryst...

I'm sure I'll think of more -- but I probably need more caffeine in order to think!

[Hans]

I would love films of Pillar of Fire, Lilac Garden, The Leaves Are Fading, and any other Tudor it's possible to capture.

[Natalia]

....

And, I like the idea of an Ashton tape -- maybe also with Rhapsody?....

There is an extraordinarily fine commercial DVD of Ashton's RHAPSODY by K-Ballet of Japan, starring (who else?) Tetsuya Kumakawa. Not only a great performance but very sharp resolution and well edited. Still available on amazon-Japan, I believe.

[innopac]

innopac, out of interest, do you mind saying where you downloaded these ballets from? Were you happy with the quality?

A couple of comments....

The quality was fine for the computer. The ballets were

Coppelia

and a documentary about

Godunov

. They are no longer available.

I would rather have a recording that I could keep and watch on tv but I would be willing to give streaming a try. There is such a dearth of ballet recordings available that I would be willing to pay to watch on the computer.

Youtube has led me to buy dvds/videos of ballets I had never heard of before. It has also helped me choose a production when I have wanted to buy a dvd of a particular ballet.

I wish we had available televised performances and documentaries from the past (with english or a choice of subtitles). There have been so many done all over the world -- it would be wonderful if television archives could be persuaded to open up access to programs and performances that already exist.

[DanceActress]

What about a release of Ashton's "Cinderella" with Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg? Didn't the BBC broadcast it a few years back? I've seen some lovely clips on Youtube.

[Helene]

There was a beautiful streamed Bolshoi "Raymonda" from Russia a few years ago, and Maria Allash was gorgeous in it. I wouldn't care if the video quality was the visual equivalent of cylinder recordings if it were released as a DVD.

[GoCoyote!]

Did I hear someone mention Rojo and Cope in Mayerling? .... I've seen clips of the Durante / Mukhamedov Mayerling which looks breathtakingly good, but yes if there is footage of those Rojo/ Cope performances it must be set free!

The RB ties in masterclasses and 'insight' events with their up coming productions, I've always thought this type of thing would also suit online or DVD type release - whether coupled with the actual ballet or not. I know there are occasional releases along these lines, there don't seem to be that many though. It's the one case in ballet where close ups do make sense and work well and a small computer or TV screen matters far less. Also seeing X and Y revered authorities coaching A and B favourite current dancers or simply explaining the meaning and history of whatever ballet would be just as educational/ fascinating/ entertaining for the balletomane, inexperienced ballet watcher or mere casual observer and be far more interesting than 'backstage' type documentaries.

I'd love to see/ buy MacMillan's Requiem and Rite of Spring (Yanowsky or Rojo please!). Yanowsky's Swan Lake I could watch again. Mark Morris - Gong. I'd quite like to see Fearful Symmetries again ..... but mostly lots of ballets and companies I am unfamiliar with.

[Marga]

On PBS, in Canada, right now (just started): Romeo & Juliet (1989) with Bessmertnova and Mukhamedov. It's called "The Bolshoi at the Bolshoi".

edited to add: It may be only Buffalo/Toronto since it's brought to us by WNED. It's already paused to ask for our money. But Bessmertnova! I'll sit through the solicitations gladly.

[Jack Reed]

Well! I couldn't be more in agreement with Mireille! What do I want to see? I want to see the dancing, please! I think, also based on experience as her post was, that means showing me the space and letting the dancers dance in it. Merrill Brockway's excellent old Dance in America series had some close-ups I'm not sure I would have used, but very brief ones usually, when the dancers were motionless.

Like many here, I want the video on a disc I can play and watch again: Not only does that give more pleasure, but if the directing is not so good, a few more viewings help me to get past the obtrusive technique to the performance beyond. But it shouldn't be work!

For examples of this second kind, recent Dance in America programs have been directed by a former dancer, Matthew Diamond, and, watching, I wonder whether a dancer's concentration on this sequence and then that sequence leads him to a more discontinuous technique than that of Brockway, not a dancer but a ballet fan often in Balanchine's theatre and a graduate of a music conservatory.

As to repertory, I prefer intact ballets of any length over gala fragments, sure, although sometimes one of those fragments -- I saw some recently, two movements from Balanchine's Chaconne with Suzanne Farrell and Sean Lavery -- can absolutely "send" me for some time! So, no hard and fast rule here for me.

But behind-the-scenes stuff I regard as filler usually, and may tend to take away from the magic for the average viewer, I fear. Dancers sometimes seem to feel under-appreciated for their effort, and that's a shame and an irony, because if their effort is successful, their dance looks not merely easy -- effortless -- but beautiful. That's what I want to see, so I'm not so sure I want to see the art demystified.

Which reminds me, programs which actually increase appreciation (rather than just sell the goods) aren't that easy to do. One of the ways I've done it on my own is to see different casts in the same repertory. No words necessary! You begin to learn to tell the dancer from the dance right there.

But the right words -- these come from the critics I value, who are more than just consumer guides -- help a lot. But they're rare. Some of Brockway's programs with Balanchine had the words of the excellent critic, IMHO, Arlene Croce; another had a few choice words by Merce Cunningham about his work.

And for Natalia's reasons, I prefer a good picture on a good TV I can relax in front of, although I can still "get a charge" from watching something on my 15" LCD computer monitor.

[Jack Reed]

I'm not completely averse to paying for what I get! The trouble is, putting dance on screen is such a sometime thing -- sometimes good, more often frustrating to watch -- the problem for this would-be consumer is knowing the quality of what he's getting before he pays. I wish I had waited for the PBS broadcast before buying the POB Jewels DVD, for example. Comments on BT can help with this, of course, and David L. Kirk's reviews in Fanfare magazine help some, too.

[mariinskyfan]

I would love to see Natalia Osipova in a full-length Don Quixote while she is still young.

I would also love to see a full-length with Obraztsova in anything.

I think a full-length La Bayadere from the Mariinsky is long overdue.

So, overall, I want more Russian full-lengths :-)

[Sacto1654]

I would love to see Natalia Osipova in a full-length Don Quixote while she is still young.

I would also love to see a full-length with Obraztsova in anything.

I think a full-length La Bayadere from the Mariinsky is long overdue.

So, overall, I want more Russian full-lengths :-)

I agree but here's what I REALLY want: a new full-length production of Raymonda with Ulyana Lopatkina in the title role and/or a new full-length production of Le Corsaire with Lopatkina as Medora, both filmed at the Mariinsky Theatre. In high-definition, no less--please?

[mariinskyfan]

I agree but here's what I REALLY want: a new full-length production of Raymonda with Ulyana Lopatkina in the title role and/or a new full-length production of Le Corsaire with Lopatkina as Medora, both filmed at the Mariinsky Theatre. In high-definition, no less--please?

I would die to have a new Mariinsky Raymonda DVD.

[Hans]

Oh, that reminds me...I'd love a Raymonda (or anything, really) with Dumchenko.

[PeggyR]

Wonderful suggestions for ballets/performers; I'd be thrilled with any of them.

I prefer full-length (including one acters) over galas, though they can be fun and might be a good way to encourage ballet novices who may be put off by three hours of swans.

The idea of commentaries is a good one, assuming the speakers have anything interesting to say and the ability to say it. I've always enjoyed 'discussion' commentaries for movies: director/writer, multiple actors. For example, a 'Giselle' commentary among the stager, Giselle and Albrecht could be interesting.

Certainly DVDs over computer, but I'd be willing to pay to watch online if the quality were good enough (not 3 inch YouTube-type video, but full-screen, HD). Online could be a good way to bring smaller American and European/Asian companies to a wider audience.

[GoCoyote!]

I'm adding one more I'd really love to see: the full version of Royal Ballet - Song of the Earth (Darcey Bussell's final RB performance). If I'm right only the last two sections were ever broadcast and it was never released. (I may be wrong).

[Giannina]

"Kings of The Dance" with the ORIGINAL CAST of Angel Corella, Johan Kobborg, Ethan Stiefel, Nikolay Tsiskaridze.

Giannina

[mardow]

How fabulous that a dancer is producing dance films. As a long time ballet fan, I, too, like behind the scenes, but in small doses. Some artists are just great communicators and you could listen to them for hours, unfortunately, others are not and platitudes and banalities are killers (see Nureyev's comments introducing NBC's "Sleeping Beauty" as an example of the latter, while the "Ballet Russe" documentary, on the other hand, is a great example of superb handling of interviews, behind the scenes, etc. What I think most of us want is great ballet on film with great production values and availability across DVD region codes and affordability.

[fredaster]

1) Like to watch full-length like 2 hours

2) DVD you can buy or rent

3) I would like performance like I mention in Aesthetic Issues,would definitly buy the DVD 60 $ or more.

Post reply fredaster