The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker is Mikhail Baryshnikov's breathtaking and critcally acclaimed Emmy nominated production. The thisspectacular performance is danced by the magnificent team of Baryshnikov, one of the greatest classical dancers of the century, and Gelsey Kirkland, both chowcased at the peak of the their careers, with members of the American Ballet Theatre.

This interpretation of Coppélia is set in a cybernetic laboratory specialised in artificial intelligence, where Doctor Coppélius is attempting to create a female android that moves and acts like a human. Against a backdrop of futuristic sets the Víctor Ullate Ballet clothes this classic in a new, bouncy and colourful fairytale wardrobe. Recorded live at the Opera Royal du Chateau de Versailles, 2013.

Angelika

The Bolshoi's acclaimed 80s production of Tchaikovsky's Holiday classic.

A dramatic, energetic adaptation of Heinz Spoerli's ballet based on Grieg's Peer Gynt by the Zurich ballet. Marijn Rademaker is excellent as the title character, clearly telegraphing the emotional range required. Each of the characters and the dramatic scenes are supported by the orchestral passages and songs provided by Grieg; some spoken word passages extracted from the Ibsen play.

Christopher Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour is based around seven couples separating and intermingling, to music by Vivaldi and Ezio Bosso and lit with the rich colours suggested by sunset. In Flight Pattern, Crystal Pite combines Górecki's haunting “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” with a large dance ensemble to create a poignant and passionate reflection on migration. Between them, Medusa is new work inspired by the Greek myth, created for The Royal Ballet by the acclaimed choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, which juxtaposes Purcell arias with an electronic score by Olga Wojciechowska.

The classic Mariinsky (Kirov) production of the greatest of all ballets. Filmed in the imperial splendor of the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg. Starring Ulyana Lopatkina, Danila Korsuntsev and the breathtaking Mariinsky corps de ballet. Conducted by the great Russian maestro Valery Gergiev.

Ballet performance by The Royal Ballet, recorded at Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, July 1984.

Armand Duval finds himself at the auction of the famous courtesan Marguerite Gautier’s possessions after she passed away. She was Armand’s true love, and the vision of her belongings awakens vivid memories of their turbulent love story. Choreographer John Neumeier adapts Alexandre Dumas fils’s timeless novel The Lady of the Camellias for the stage with great sensitivity and emotional depth in his work of rare beauty. As the troubled courtesan Marguerite, superstar prima Svetlana Zakharova and Hamburg Ballet’s guest star Edvin Revazov as Armand bring the passionate drama to new emotional heights accompanied by Chopin’s fantastic score. Captured live in Moscow on December 6, 2015, for the Bolshoi Ballet's 2015/2016 cinema season. Encore screenings of this recording were released during the 2017/2018 and 2020/2021 cinema seasons.

During harvest festival at a collective farm, a visiting dance troupe reunites a ballerina with her childhood friend Zina. In order to teach her unfaithful husband a lesson, Zina, the ballerina, and the ballerina’s husband decide to swap roles for the evening… Alexei Ratmansky invokes the genius of Shostakovich’s score at the Bolshoi, creating a laugh-out-loud masterpiece with its bits of slapstick comedy, hilarious deceptions, false identities including Principal Dancer Ruslan Skvortsov dressed as a Sylph and its many colorful characters! The Bolshoi bursts with vivid life and bright spirits in Ratmansky’s brilliantly choreographed smash. Captured live on Apr 29, 2012.

Composed of four stories, each part of 10 minutes, namely: "Rainbow and Zebra", "The Goddess of Victory and the Snail", "The Ant and Love Letter", and "His Royal Highness and the Sheep".

A psychedelic combination of Shakespeare, rock & roll and Catholic symbolism in the shape of a Cuban ballet.

Contemporary dance company Adventures In Motion Pictures' triumphant modern re-interpretation of Swan Lake, with its cast of male swans, has turned tradition upside down and has taken the ballet fraternity by storm. Never has such a contemporary re-working of a traditional ballet thrilled both ardent critics and modern dance enthusiasts in such equal measure. Originally broadcast on the PBS series "Great Performances" (season 26, episode 15).

The one act performance by choreographer Yuri Possokhov pays homage to the celebrated founder of the fashion house that bears her name and features a stunning display of Chanel costumes specially created for the ballet. Created specifically for Zakharova, the ballet "Gabrielle Chanel" recounts the most memorable moments of the work and life of the French fashion designer, who died in 1971 aged 87.

The ballet tells the story of a peasant girl named Giselle whose ghost, after her premature death, protects her lover from the vengeance of a group of evil female spirits called Wilis

Giselle is the quintessential Romantic ballet. Its title role, one of the most technically demanding and emotionally challenging in the classical repertory, is here danced by Alina Cojocaru, partnered by Johan Kobborg as Count Albrecht. This tale of the transcendental power of love over death is evocatively portrayed through Peter Wright’s sensitive staging and John Macfarlane’s designs, which beautifully contrast the human and supernatural worlds – mastered from a High Definition recording and true surround sound. Conductor : Boris Gruzin Orchestra : The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Tamara Rojo, dancer and artistic director of English National Ballet, explores Giselle - the first great Romantic ballet, and a defining role for any ballerina. Through two radically contrasting 2016 productions - a traditional 19th-century recreation, and a gritty reimagining of the work by celebrated Anglo-Bangladeshi choreographer Akram Khan - Rojo examines the cultural and social background to the ballet’s genesis in 1840s Paris, and the spiritual themes that have fuelled its success over the last 175 years. Giselle is the story of a young peasant girl who personifies all that is good in life, and ultimately forgives the aristocrat who has seduced and betrayed her. With Giselle, the look and emotional heart of ballet was transformed forever, from mime-based storytelling to a fusion of emotion, music and movement, formulating a tradition that has inspired audiences, dancers and choreographers ever since.

Matthew Bourne choreographs this version of Tchaikovsky's ballet performed at Sadler's Wells Theatre. Bourne sets the first part of the story in 1890, the year in which Tchaikovsky completed his version of Charles Perrault's classic fairy tale, with Beauty pricking herself on the poisoned rose in 1911 and awakening 100 years later in the contemporary world.

This dreamlike fusion of political thriller and science-fiction fantasia is set to original music by Beyoncé.

A synthesis of sound and movement; colourful characters dance and move in repetitive patterns to percussive and melodic elements. A combination of motion and music that is hypnotic and beautiful. At first it feels structured and orderly but as more elements are added becomes quixotically expressive.