Yolanda Sonnabend's Faberge'-inspired designs evoke a world of Imperial Russia in Anthony Dowell's acclaimed production for The Royal Ballet of 'Swan Lake', one of the world's best-loved ballets. Marianela Nunez as Odette/Odile and Thiago Soares as Prince Siegfried bring new vitality to a compelling story of tragic romance. Valeriy Ovsyanikov conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in Tchaikovsky's glorious romantic score.
County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.
Perhaps the most popular ballet video ever released, this version of Tchaikovsky's beloved work stars one of the most famous classical dance partnerships of all time, Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn. Nureyev choreographed this production for the Vienna State Opera Ballet. Two icons of 20th-century dance in magnificent form. Ballet authority John Lanchbery, former music director of the Sadler's Wells and Royal Ballet companies, as well as of American Ballet Theatre and Australian Ballet, conducts the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's enchanting score.
A slow-motion study by Norman McLaren of the pas-de-deux adagio, one of the most exacting and difficult dances of classical ballet. A ballet originally choreographed by the Russian ballet master Asaf Messerer is performed for this film by the internationally known Canadian pair, David and Anna Marie Holmes, to the music of Albinoni’s Adagio. A film to heighten the aesthetic appreciation of classical ballet and to afford observation of the technique and mechanics of the adagio movements.
Internationally acclaimed as the greatest male dancer of his generation, Carlos Acosta stars as the rebel slave in the most spectacular of Soviet ballets. Filmed in Paris after triumphant performances in Moscow and London, the Bolshoi's classic production presents the Cuban star at the height of his physical and dramatic powers -- as the greatest Spartacus of our time.
Eikichi Yamashiro, who is a former contender for the boxing title, works as a manager at a Club Champion owned by his fiancé Natsuko’s father. He lost a title match five years ago as he was besotted by Natsuko, but Eikichi actually cannot give up the dream of the championship. One day, he meets Shuntaro Fuma, who is a punk kid but a promising boxer, and realizes the dream that he himself could never fulfill. Then, they together start to train with the aim of the title. Mari Shiraki is an up-and-coming ballerina under the patronage of Eikichi as well. Eikichi forbids Shuntaro and Mari to be romantically involved with someone during their training, however, they start to go on a date. (source: Nikkatsu International)
Take That, Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, Andrea Bocelli, Sir Bryn Terfel, Freya Ridings and many more perform live from Windsor Castle in celebration of Their Majesties' coronation.
Paul Czinner recorded, using a multiple cameras technique, the performance of prima ballerina Galina Ulanova of the Russian Bolshoi, doing "Giselle, " while the troupe was on tour in England in 1956.
In this joyful version, a beautiful mechanical doll interferes with the happiness of two lovers. Original choreography by Marius Petita. New version by Sergei Vikharev. Music by Leo Delibes. Live performance 29 May 2011.
A masterpiece of classical dance, this Nutcracker is a magical version of the score by Tchaikovsky filmed at the Bolshoi Theatre. Recorded live in December 2010.
At the castle of Countess Sybil de Daurice, Raymonda is celebrating her birthday. She is also about to bid farewell to her fiancé, knight Jean de Brienne, who is going on a crusade. At night Raymonda falls asleep and dreams that she is taken to a magical garden where she is reunited with her fiancé. Suddenly, Jean de Brienne disappears and an Arab sheik takes his place and declares his passion for her. When she wakes, Raymonda discovers with horror that her nightmare has become reality… Live performance 24 Jun 2012
Carlos Acosta's first venture directing one of ballet's 19th century classics was eagerly anticipated, as was his own starring role in the production (as Basilio), opposite the Argentinian Royal Ballet principal Marianella Nuñez (Kitri). Still built on Petipa's original choreography, Acosta's clear dramatic structure and vivid stage action gave the ‘boy gets girl despite her father’ story a more convincing air than usual, with Don Quixote's parallel obsession with Dulcinea-Kitri coherently woven into the plot.
Ballet en deux actes et treize tableaux du chorég. This is a live recording of a performance at Paris Garnier in 2007. Petit's earlier production for the Ballet de Marseille used more realistic stage sets, but the current Paris version has minimal stage sets. Also, the costumes were redesigned. Roland Petit created a ballet based on "In Search of Lost Time" for the Ballet de Marseille in the 1970s. Petit's intention was not to make a faithful adaptation of the novel, but to capture its flavour and convey, through a number of selected scenes, the narrator's incessant fluctuations between happiness and torment. The highlights are the series of poetical pas de deux.
Filmed on the stage of London's Covent Garden. Includes extracts from Swan lake, Ondine & The Firebird.
Fourteen Days is a thought-provoking exploration about the methods artists employ to create their work. Given just fourteen days, 4 internationally acclaimed choreographers worked with 4 world-renowned composers to make 4 new commissions that challenge and stimulate both the audience and the dancers. Highlighting the diversity of styles and approaches, the show plays with the concept of balance and imbalance and proves to be an exciting, varied programme of dance and music.
When everyone in town falls under the spell of charismatic cosmetic surgeon Doctor Coppelius, feisty Swan must act to save her sweetheart Franz, before his heart is used to spark life into Coppelia – the ‘perfect’ robot-woman the Doctor has created.
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.
The Gay Parisian is an American short film produced in 1941 by Warner Bros. featuring the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo and directed by Jean Negulesco. The film is a screen adaptation, in Technicolor, of the 1938 ballet Gaîté Parisienne, choreographed by Léonide Massine to music by Jacques Offenbach. It was nominated for an Academy Award at the 14th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).
The scene is set at Billy Rose's Casa Manana Revue, filmed at the Fort Worth Frontier Fiesta (1937), an enormous production created as part of the Texas Centennial civic celebrations. The opening song, "The Night Is Young And You're So Beautiful" emanated from the first edition of the Revue and became a hit song on two continents in 1936.
With Tchaikovskys famous and lyrically poignant score, the beloved masterpiece Swan Lakes depiction of tragic love is performed to perfection by the unparalleled virtuosity of Russias great Bolshoi Ballet with the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra. Recorded in early 2015, this live performance provides an opportunity to see the modern manifestation of this legendary ballet troupe with lead ballerina Svetlana Zakharova along with Denis Rodkin and Artemy Belyakov among others introducing us to the new generation at the Bolshoi.