new to Ballet and needing some guidance about what to watch next

[KatieRo]

HI! i just stumbled unto Rudolf Nureyev Swan Lake on amazon prime, and it was just magical! i've never been a ballet fan before, even though i was in some when i was a little girl.

i'm a little "soft" and the sad tragic endings are hard for me, i don't like to be sad. 

i'm just dipping my toes in ballet, i'm looking for something i can easily get on dvd or stream online if i can, I don't have the money now to see it in person.

 

I'd like something that doesn't make me cry, something with a happy ending and something magical like swan lake with Rudolf Nureyev.

 

the limited ballet i have seen was always boring to me, but something about Rudolf was magical, and i loved how the story moved, how the dances meant something.

I loved how they danced spoke the story more than the scene or setting did. how the dancers became the part.

I don't know how to describe it

 

i'm a total novice, I know i don't understand much about ballet, but i'd like to try to learn more.

 

Thank you for your time,

Katie

[Helene]

Welcome to Ballet Alert! Katie!

 

Just in time, if you have a good internet connection for streaming, medici.tv is now hosting a free stream of  Paris Opera Ballet in Rudolf Nureyev's production of "Swan Lake," which he created for the company in 1984 when he was Artistic Director of the company:

 

http://www.medici.tv/#!/swan-lake-tchaikovsky-nureyev-opera-de-paris

 

It was from a live video recorded last week.  

 

Edited to add:  medici.tv may make you create an account (without payment info) and be logged in to watch free streams.  (Warning:  you may get sucked into their catalog!)

[Jayne]

I recommend something sunny and happy: la fille mal gardee.   Completely charming in the dreary december days. 

[sandik]

Fille is indeed a sunny ballet for a dark day.

[kbarber]

also The Dream. Really almost anything by Frederick Ashton will give you warm fuzzies. Les Patineurs. Rhapsody and Two Pigeons are just out on DVD. Coppelia (the Australian Ballet DVD has GORGEOUS costumes)

[kbarber]

Also Napoli, but the older Royal Danish Ballet video from about 15 years ago, not the one that came out a couple of years ago, where the camera angles are extremely annoying.

[Kaysta]

Welcome!

 

NYCB nutcracker.  Not sure if the new version is on YouTube, but the 1993 move version should be!  

[Drew]

Hello KatieRo and welcome: On Youtube you can find a Bolshoi broadcast of one of the great 19th-century ballet comedies--Coppelia.   It has fantastic leading dancers including the wonderful Natalia Osipova as Swanilda (I think it's one of her best parts) and it's a genuinely great production of this ballet.  Coppelia also has a beautiful score. (After the Tchaikovsky ballet scores, Delibes' are probably the best among 19th-century ballets). If you do a search on youtube then you will find a lot of 'excerpts' from this performance but you can also find the whole broadcast. One of my favorites. 

Edited December 17, 2016 by Drew

[cubanmiamiboy]

C'mon...we are in the season!! The NYCB Nutcracker!!!❤❤❤

[Drew]

21 minutes ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

C'mon...we are in the season!! The NYCB Nutcracker!!!❤❤❤

 

Sure. I'm guessing even ballet newbies probably know about Nutcracker. And free versions are available pretty easily, as already mentioned, via youtube or even on Cable TV if one has cable.

 

For someone who loved seeing Nureyev in Swan Lake I might recommend a Bolshoi or Mariinsky Nutcracker over Balanchine's unless they were watching with children or just really loved watching children. (All easily found on youtube.)

 

But I gotta say, too,....Nutcracker is not everyone's cup of tea ... so by all means keep in mind the other great choices out there.

 

Edited December 15, 2016 by Drew

[cubanmiamiboy]

29 minutes ago, Drew said:

 

Sure. I'm guessing even ballet newbies probably know about Nutcracker. And free versions are available pretty easily, as already mentioned, via youtube or even on Cable TV if one has cable.

 

For someone who loved seeing Nureyev in Swan Lake I might recommend a Bolshoi or Mariinsky Nutcracker over Balanchine's unless they were watching with children or just really loved watching children. (All easily found on youtube.)

 

But I gotta say, too,....Nutcracker is not everyone's cup of tea ... so by all means keep in mind the other great choices out there.

 

 

Oh I know...and BELIEVE me...I did struggle with Act I when I first started watching it here in Miami, after years of watching the all adults after-Fedorova staging of Alonso's. By now I definitely LOVE it. Balanchine places such a HIGH sense of choreographic language all over the production that really needs to be discovered little by little.  Even after 15 years of watching, I still discover "hidden" choreographic clues here and there...even during both the party and the battle scenes. 

Edited December 15, 2016 by cubanmiamiboy

[KatieRo]

Thanks so much everyone! i'm really excited and i real enabled to get a start in my ballet journey!

 

Thanks again!

Katie