Ballet Performance DVDs -Cinderella, Coppelia, Creole Giselle.

Now, for the first time on home video, the Dance Theatre of Harlem is presented in Creole Giselle, their acclaimed interpretation of the ballet classic. Making only minor changes in the story, music and traditional choreography of the repertory staple, DTH founder Arthur Mitchell has set the ballet in 1841 Louisiana. It was a time when social status among freed blacks was measured by how far removed one’s family was from slavery: the community’s “aristocrats” looked down on those whose immediate family had been enslaved. Thus, in the DTH version, Giselle faces the same social obstacles and heart-breaking rejection by Albert and his family as their classical counterparts. Giselle is danced by Virginia Johnson, hailed as “strong and yet delicate…very moving…remarkable.” Eddie J. Shellman co-stars, and was praised as “an attractive and unusually brash Albert, his solos securely dispatched.” See for your self why Creole Giselle is one of the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s most popular works. 88 mins. (2005) DVD-All-Region.

This is an outstanding ballet of the timeless fairy tale that has captured the hearts of young and old for centuries! Set to Sergei Prokofiev’s classic score, the Bolshoi Ballet performs in this color motion picture from 1961. Filmed with multiple cameras which created long, medium and close-up shots and special effects, this is not simply a “canned” performance, but one in which film, dance and music combine to produce an unforgettable experience. And with Raisa Struchkova in the title role, and a teenaged Yekaterina Maximova in a supporting part, this historic program is a must for ballet lovers everywhere! 82 mins. (2005) DVD-All-Region.

Coppelia is a love story in three acts. This beloved ballet is regarded as dance’s great comedy with music by Delibes. Based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Der Sandmann, the ballet combines the romance between Swanilda and Franz with the story of the doll maker Coppelius, whose greatest desire is to create a doll with a soul. Franz promptly falls in love with Coppelia, whom he thinks alive, but eventually recognizes that she is just a doll and returns to Swanilda, after which the final grand divertissement sees everyone reconciled. With its touch of East European Folklore, the ballet continues to enjoy undiminished worldwide popularity…and is one of the most delightful and best-known ballets. Fernando Bujones, one of the most acclaimed male dancers of our time, gives an extraordinary performance as Franz, the young lover. Taped live in Puerto Rico with the Ballet de San Juan. 110 mins. (2006) DVD-All-Region.

Between 1919 and 1931, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, and their company toured the entire United States, England, Cuba, and the Far East. Within that period, they created some 300 pieces, using their original technique based on classic ballet discipline molded to pliant bodies and bare feet, with emphasis on various ethnic cultures. With this new expression of movement, they became the creators of the choreography from which American Modern Dance evolved. Sadly, little of the rich body of work from that time could be visually preserved. Only over the last twenty years did Barton Munaw, a member of Denishawn in its last year, and Jane Sherman, the last living member of the original Denishawn company, succeed in creating this video-documentary - the largest re-creation of Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn's dances in existence, featuring 23 powerful works of the Mother and Father of American Modern Dance. With the issue of this video, their mission to preserve these seminal works from oblivion has been accomplished. 100 mins. (2006) DVD-All-Region.

This historic dance documentary tells the story of one of the least publicized, yet most-influential modern dance companies in America. Founded by Ruth St. Denis and her husband Ted Shawn at the turn of the century, Denishawn has become legendary for its unique approach to contemporary dance. Martha Graham, Jack Cole, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman and countless others have built their companies and their work on the foundation established by St. Denis and Shawn. Incorporating elements of Far and Middle Eastern dances to create abstract pieces they called “musical visualizations,” the couple rejected the tradition of basing dances on fairy tales: their dancers played human beings, not sugarplums or swans. Husband-and-wife actors Paul and June Reed portray the Shawns in “interview” segments, and rare film footage of the real St. Denis and Shawn show them at the peak of their creative talents. The current Denishawn Company re-stages some of the founders’ original choreography, which remains as vital and modern today as it was then. 40 mins. (2006) DVD-All-Region.

Princess Grace of Monaco is the narrator of this documentary about the Vaganova Choreographic Institute, also known as the Kirov School of Leningrad, where the Soviet Union trains an elite bundle of students who will be the cream of its balletic future. Each year thousands of children, 8 to 13 in age, apply for admission. Twenty are admitted, based on physical conformation, long legs, well-arched feet, and flexible joints. The rejectees cry. Those luck or unlucky enough to make the grade will find themselves separated from their families, isolated from the daily run of Soviet life, and totally immersed in the art to which they are expected to dedicate their lives. It’s a rigorous system, but it works. Graduates of the Kirov School include such greats as Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Nijinsky, Pavlova, and Blanchine. But dance is what “The Children of Theatre Street” is mostly about. The screen pulsates with fresh, supple bodies learning all aspects of their art from the most rudimentary exercise to the finest nuance of a finished performance. “The Children of Theatre Street” is a revealing view of the way the Russians go about continuing their great rendition of classical ballet. No lover of ballet and children will want to miss it. “ ‘Theatre Street’ tells an important story and tells it brilliantly…at the Kirov School there will always be another vintage year, and ‘Theatre Street’ tells why.” – Rudolf Nureyev. “I cried when I saw ‘Theatre Street’ for the first time. It brings back many memories. – Natalia Makarova. “Anyone interested in ballet should see ‘Theatre Street’.” – Anna Kisselgoff, New York Times. 92 mins. (2004) DVD-Region 1.

Starring: Irina Shapchits, Mikhail Zavialov, Petr Rusanov, Elvira Tarasova. Conductor: Alexandre Viliumanis. Composer: Leo Delibes. Coppélia is a classical ballet in the true sense, and with its touch of East European folklore, continues to enjoy worldwide popularity. It combines the romance between Swanilda and Franz with the story of the doll-maker Coppelius, whose greatest desire is to create a doll with a soul. Franz immediately falls in love with Coppélia, who he thinks is real, but eventually recognizes is just a doll. He returns to Swanilda, after which the final grand divertissement sees everyone reconciled. 91 mins. (2006) DVD-Region 1.

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Ballet Performance DVDs

Stanton Welch believes in classical ballet. Yet your expectations will be denied and preconceptions challenged by this, his most original creation. Divergence is an adrenalin charged and provocative work performed by The Australian Ballet. From the opening movement, Welch’s vision will startle. Contradictions abound. It is at once light and playful, alien and sensuous, serene and chaotic, cool and explosive. 45 mins. (2007) DVD-All-Region.