Ballet Boys takes you through disappointments, victories, forging of friendship, first loves, doubt, faith, growing apart from each other, finding your own way and own ambitions, all mixed with the beautiful expression of ballet.
In the spring of 1913, Parisian businessman Gabriel Astruc opens a new theater on the Champs Elysées. The first performance is the premiere of Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring', danced by the Ballet Russes. The rehearsal process is extremely fraught: the orchestra dislike Stravinsky's harsh, atonal music; the dancers dislike the 'ugly' choreography of Vaslav Nijinsky. The volatile, bisexual Nijinsky is in a strained relationship with the much older Sergei Diaghilev, the Ballet Russes' charismatic but manipulative impresario. Public expectation is extremely high after Nijinsky's success in 'L'apres-midi d'un faune'. Finally, 'The Rite of Spring' premieres to a gossip-loving, febrile, fashion-conscious Parisian audience sharply divided as to its merits.
Dance film inspired by the life and work of the artists Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin.
The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States. In the film, Carmencita is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at Koster & Bial's in New York since February 1890.
In County Durham, England, 1984, a talented young dancer, Billy Elliot, stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor. He faces many trials and triumphs as he strives to conquer his family’s set ways, inner conflict, and standing on his toes in a musical that questions masculinity, gender norms and conformity.
Stephen Dwoskin brings together members of the Ballet Negres dance company, founded in London in 1946.
Dancer Vera Grabinska performs choreography by Pierre Michailowsky for the piece "Le Cygne", by Saint-Saëns, next to the artificial fountain on the grounds of the International Sample Fair in Rio de Janeiro. The dance movements alternate with images of swans in the water.
Choreographed by Frederick Ashton in honor of William Shakespeare's 400th birthday, this magical production -- based on the Bard's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" -- features Felix Mendelssohn's famed score and sublime sets that add to the charm. Ethan Stiefel delivers an impressive performance as the lordly Oberon, Alessandra Ferri shines as fairy queen Titania, and Herman Cornejo is pitch-perfect as the impish Puck.
Edward Watson takes the role of Crown Prince Rudolf in Kenneth MacMillan's compelling ballet which lives out the final eight years of Rudolf's life with its relentless downward spiral of political intrigue, drugs and murder. It culminates with the suicide pact at the hunting lodge - known as Mayerling - between Rudolf and his 17-year-old mistress, Mary Vetsera (Mara Galeazzi). Filmed in high definition and recorded in true surround sound.
Paris, the middle of the XIX century. Young Marius Petipa is going on a long journey to St. Petersburg, where he is invited to become the first dancer. He doesn't know that his life will develop both happily and dramatically, and his work will be the glory and pride of Russian ballet.
Three days leading up to Tiler Peck's direction and performance of a ballet exhibition in Los Angeles.
Muammar Gaddafi: Inside the Dictator's Mind
This recording of all six cantatas from the Salle Henry Le Bœuf in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium, in December 2012 features internationally renowned Bach expert Philippe Herreweghe and the Collegium Vocale Gent.
The extraordinary life of Carla Fracci, the greatest Italian ballerina of all time, told from her first steps at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan to the stages of the most prestigious international theaters, passing through the controversial choices, difficult sacrifices, and important satisfactions that marked her rise. Freely inspired by the autobiography “Passo dopo passo – La mia storia” (Step by Step – My Story).
The attempt to accompany the creative process (with the inevitable difficulties and silences) of five women-dancers-choreographers, in their experience of creating a work of dance theater.
A Delicate Balance explores the life and dreams of young dancers at the dawn of adolescence. A tender and captivating documentary in which the students of the Quebec Superior Ballet School tell each other with candid lucidity.
A documentary that follows six young dancers from around the world as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world.
A behind-the-scenes look at Moscow's prestigious Bolshoi Theatre as it's rocked by an acid-attack scandal in 2013.
Maurice Béjart answers an interview about choreographic creation; it shows ballets and improvisations. The film was screened for the 1970 Directors' Fortnight, at the Cannes Festival.
For many, modern ballet began with the Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo, originally made up of Russian exiles from the Russian Revolution. This film tells the story of this landmark company with its stars and production as well as its power games, rivalries and tribulations that marked its turbulent history.