© Video Artists International This DVD is avilable from: DanceBooks Amazon 'Diana and Actaeon' reviews Graham Watts reviews

The DVD will be of peripheral interest to anyone interested in TV/media anthropology, as evidenced in the brief introductions for each performance. What interested me most about this is that to British eyes, the vintage gowns of a Grace Kelly look-alike and the clipped pseudo-English accents of the American presenters seem to stem from the 50s, several years before the actual date of these “telecasts”, perhaps an indication of how McCarthyism and the consequent social and cultural conservatism that it created held back a more modern approach to TV in the States.

This aside, the real significance of these rare recordings is in showing Bruhn and Nureyev at their prime. Bruhn was in his mid-to-late 30s, where Nureyev was a whole decade younger, but the special qualities of both; Bruhn, the premier danseur of such dignified nobility and technical precision; Nureyev, fiery, charming and athletic. There is a lot of film of Nureyev but not much commercially available to show how Bruhn’s mastery of classical ballet was different but no less commanding.

There is another remarkable historical significance in the last of the Bruhn recordings on this DVD (although not the last chronologically), since his live performance of the ‘La Sylphide’ pas de deux – performed with Carla Fracci (although the DVD cover mistakenly credits Maria Tallchief) – was broadcast on the evening of 22^nd October 1962 and thus was dramatically interrupted by a news update of the unfolding Cuban Missile Crisis. VAI has found a black & white segment of what was captured on the studio monitors and – in a piece of televisual magic - has cleverly patched this into the broadcast as seen in American homes that evening to present the uninterrupted performance in its entirety for the first time. This has allowed Fracci’s ethereal lightness and fragility as the Sylphide to be captured in this delightful film, especially the most moving sequence of her blindness and death following James’ misguided attempt to wrap her in the scarf.

This performance took Bruhn back to his Bournonville roots, providing the most exquisite platform to demonstrate the innate nobility; gentle, elegant strength; and dramatic and technical artistry which characterise his qualities, and which are generally so sadly lacking today. Bruhn’s wonderful skill at using virtuosity as a servant to his dramatic interpretation of a role, rather than allowing it to dictate - as is so often the case in the modern age - is exemplified throughout these performances, along with the most sensitive of partnering skills.

Unfortunately, something significant is lost through the pared down bareness of the earliest studio performances where the intimate closeness of the camera is like examining ballet under the microscope; all it can serve to do is emphasise the imperfections. This is never more evident than at the very beginning where, in the opening of the grand pas de deux from ‘Don Quixote’, Maria Tallchief (at 36 and towards the end of her dancing years) is forced to throw out her right arm to inelegantly grasp Bruhn’s shoulder while preparing for her unsupported arabesque en pointe. So, whilst this unique close-up film gives us a remarkable insight into Tallchief’s ability to spin effortlessly in pirouette and fouéttes and captures her lovely musicality in Kitri’s variation, it also throws a spotlight on her frailties in retaining balance. This, however, is nothing to the discomfort of seeing the 36 year-old Sonia Arova, also at the end of her dancing career, struggle gamely through the Black Swan and Coppélia pas de deux (again with Bruhn), with choreography obviously restructured to lessen its demands on her fading physical and technical skills.
 

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Although Prokofiev’s score is frequently strangled into high-pitched screeching by the age of the recording, it is the 1967 film of Bruhn’s own choreography of the Balcony pas de deux from ‘Romeo & Juliet’ which is the hidden gem in his set of recordings. Performed by Bruhn (then almost 40) and Carla Fracci, this “telecast” shows two exceptional dramatic artists at the height of their abilities. Bruhn’s choreography sits interestingly alongside the work of Cranko and MacMillan from earlier in the same era, demonstrating how Bruhn’s undoubted talent as a re-interpreter of classical choreography was foreshortened between his long career as a performer and early death.

The Bell Telephone Hour provided the American debut for Rudolf Nureyev, dancing another Bournonville excerpt, in the pas de deux from the Flower Festival in Genzano (with a correctly attributed Maria Tallchief), which was broadcast live on 19^th January 1962. It’s particularly interesting to compare and contrast Nureyev’s Bournonville style with that of Bruhn: he dances with charm and elegance, jumping with greater height and equal precision, but somehow he lacks the essential, indefinable aristocratic qualities of the Danish Master. There’s a wonderful moment early on when he and Tallchief momentarily lose equilibrium in a simple linked step forward, followed by a knowing smile from Nureyev to the camera, which somehow sums up the man’s charisma in an instant. Although poor balance is also a factor for Tallchief in this film, made a year later than the ‘Don Quixote’ pas de deux with Bruhn, this is a much more wholesome demonstration of her supreme terre à terre allegro footwork and explosive attack. Her distinct personal charisma is also much more evident here than in the earlier work.

No menu of early Nureyev work would be complete without showing the pas de deux from ‘Le Corsaire’, which was broadcast in the Bell hour on 24^th September 1962. There’s no shortage of filmed Nureyev in this role (one immediately thinks of Anthony Asquith’s film of him with Fonteyn in “An evening with the Royal Ballet”) but this telecast gives a rare opportunity to see the ABT Chilean ballerina, Lupe Serrano, dancing with Nureyev. Unusually, there is an unexplained cut in the recording which suggests that something went wrong at that point; but such minor blemish aside, this is a striking film. Yet surprisingly the star is Serrano, with her stunning, lyrical musicality, pinpoint, still balances and remarkable, hovering elevation: a feat from her own variation which is mirrored in the one that follows from Nureyev. The precision of Serrano’s fouéttes is a marked contrast to the struggles of Arova (later chronologically by several months, but earlier on this DVD) and this wonderful piece of film is notable especially for showcasing the exceptional technique of a much under-rated ballerina, rarely heard of today.

Another ballerina whose contemporary reputation has not travelled as well as it should have done through the years is the late Svetlana Beriosova, who appears with Nureyev in the final two telecasts: the Diana and Actaeon and Black Swan pas de deux. Film of Beriosova is also in short supply and her classical elegance, especially in her line and the expressiveness of her upper body, is forever captured in the Diana and Actaeon pas de deux, which also highlight’s Nureyev’s athletic virtuosity at its zenith, and alongside Bruhn’s extract of ‘La Sylphide’ and his balcony pas de deux makes this the most memorable of these Bell Telephone Hour performances.

It would have been more interesting to have the performances in their correct chronological order (* given below for completeness). But, minor quibble aside, this DVD is an absolute delight, and should be in any serious balletomane’s collection: there is no better record of the special qualities of Erik Bruhn, nor such an immediate and relevant opportunity to compare and contrast his dancing with that of Nureyev; but for me, it is also the rare opportunity to see film of Serrano and Beriosova that provides an extra reason for these retrieved recordings to be so special.

6th January 1961    Don Quixote Grand Pas – Bruhn/Tallchief (1)
19th January 1962   Flower Festival in Genzano Pas de Deux – Nureyev/Tallchief (6)
24th September 1962 Le Corsaire Pas de Deux – Nureyev/Serrano (7)
22nd October 1962   La Sylphide Grand Pas – Bruhn/Fracci (5)
4th February 1963   Black Swan Pas de Deux – Bruhn/Arova (2)
8th October 1963    Black Swan Pas de Deux – Nureyev/Beriosova (9)
19th November 1963  Coppιlia Pas de Deux – Bruhn/Arova (3)
24th March 1964     Diana and Actaeon Pas de Deux – Nureyev/Beriosova (8)
22nd September 1967 Romeo & Juliet Balcony Pas de Deux – Bruhn/Fracci (4)