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Last month NVC re-released several ballet videos from the Castle Video back catalogue. Most of these are live performances of the Royal Ballet and the Kirov in the early 80s. They are all available at the HMV shop in Oxford Street , Dancebooks Shop in Cecil Court or by mail order from Dancing Times. Our man with the freeze frame reports . . .
La Fille Mal Gardee - Collier, Grant, Coleman, Royal Ballet (Ashton)
This video will bring joy to anyone who is lucky enough to see it. It is truly "visual Prozac" that makes life worth living. There are no words that I can use to describe Ashton's brilliant choreography and scenario. It is a miracle of dance drama that is unsurpassed. Collier's performance is perhaps the finest to be captured on video. She is mischievous, passionate but very sweet and funny. I admit to having a crush on Collier because of this performance. Michael Coleman and Gary Grant(*) ably support Collier. The sets and designs are marvellous. This is an absolute must buy video.
Romeo and Juliet - Ferri, Eagling, Hoskins, Royal Ballet (Macmillan)
To me Alessandra Ferri IS Juliet. Hers is a performance of great passion, vulnerability and youth. I think this is what Shakespeare really intended Juliet to be (after all why did he lower her age to 14 - far younger then in the original story). It's not so much her dancing that moves me (fine as it is) but her personality and stage presence especially in the miming scenes. The passionate embrace at the wedding is a scene that has been etched in my mind forever. It was so beautiful. Macmillan's production leaves all others in the dust. So when it is so well danced the effect is absolutely stunning. This is another must buy video.
Nutcracker - Collier, Dowell , Rose, Niblett, Royal Ballet (Peter Wright)
This version of the Nutcracker is not quite as good as Wright's later Birmingham production but it is still better then most. There is some wonderful dancing in the second act. The Waltz of the Flowers is a textbook example of the English style with delightful performances by Fiona Chadwick and Pippa Wylde. However in the Grand Pas De Deux I think that Collier is somewhat less committed then she should be. Her Sugar Plum variation was very good though. Julie Rose is one of the better Claras - mostly because of her acting ability. Guy Niblet (Collier's partner in real life) is suitably handsome as the Prince.
Don Quixote - Baryshnikov, Harvey, American Ballet Theatre
Barsynikov's Americanized production speeds up the production and cuts out many dramatic scenes. The result is an exciting but rather lame excuse for great dancing. Baryshnikov is terrific but rather dominates the ballet. He even has additional music composed for him to dance to. Cynthia Harvey does well to keep up with Baryshinikov. She is a good soubrette and has a light lyrical style to her steps. Her solo in the first act was pretty good. The sets and production are good. This is a lightweight Don Quixote and is not be preferred to Nureyev's more thoughtful production.
Giselle - Galina Mesenseva, Tatyana Terekova, Kirov Ballet
This video was re-released after I submitted my review of the available Giselles. This is a good Giselle but does not displace the ABT version I recommend. Mesentseva(**), an incredibly thin Giselle is very effective. Perhaps she is little bit too mature for the role. Terekova is terrific as Myrtha with her powerful leaps. It also has a younger Asylmuratova as one of Myrtha's attendants (noticeably better then other one) However it suffers from shabby costumes and sets. Moreover the very slow music tempo takes out much of the energy and excitement of the ballet. This is rather surprising because the conductor is Victor Fedetov.
Some September 2004 amendements...
(*) we originally had Alexander Grant - many thanks to Alex Martin for updating us.
(**) thanks also to Alex for correcting the spelling of Mesentseva - we had Mesenseva.
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