Ballet Performance Videos and DVDs 4

Ballet videos - Don Quixote, Dream, Erik Bruhn and Firebird.

Don Quixote Video (1175)

Rudolf Nureyev's film version of Don Quixote which he co-directed with Sir Robert Helpmann, stars famed dancer Nureyev and Lucette Aldous of the Royal Ballet as the young lovers. Their romance flourishes with the assistance of Helpmann, who portrays the title role. Dancers of the Australian Ballet are featured in this elaborate production which was photographed in lavish color by Academy Award winning cinematographer, Geoffrey Unsworth. The virtuoso pas de deux in the final act of Don Quixote has been until recent years, the only portion of the full length ballet to be seen in this country, a tour de force for major dancers, it is but the tip of the iceberg of a brilliant and colorful production, conceived by the great 19th century choreographer, Marius Petipa. With the filming of Don Quixote, another dimension has been added. New sets and costumes were designed, and advanced camera techniques used to enhance the action in transferring the classic from stage to screen.

DVD - Digitally re-mastered this lavish production stars Rudolf Nureyev, Robert Helpmann, Lucette Aldous and The Australian Ballet. This spectacular program has been hailed as the finest full-length dance film of all-time. DVD includes a special feature documentary on the making of the film.

DVD - 127 minutes.
DVD - Region 1

The Dream Video (D2933)

A comical tale of fairies, mismatched lovers, and a mischievous sprite, Sir Frederick Ashton's enduring one-act ballet, The Dream, has delighted audiences since its premiere in 1964. Set to the ethereal music of Felix Mendelssohn, the ballet is a charming interpretation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. “Ashton's genius soars typically to the heights of poetic metaphor,” boasted The New York Times. “Charm is making a comeback in New York this spring,” enthused The Washington Post. The New York Observer described the ballet as “so fluent, so charged, so natural,” that “you know you're in the hands of a master.” To celebrate the centennial of Ashton's birth, DANCE IN AMERICA presents American Ballet Theatre's acclaimed staging, starring Ethan Stiefel, Alessandra Ferri, and Herman Cornejo.

54 mins. (2004)
DVD - Region 1.

Fernando Bujones: A Portrait of an American Dance Legend Video  (D4349)

DVD Only - $24.99
Features three programs on one DVD: Bujones In Class; In His Image; and Bujones Winning At Varna.

Bujones In Class - The art of Fernando Bujones is captured on DVD. This unique film is an excellent learning and teaching tool especially designed by Mr. Bujones to teach the technique of classical ballet with emphasis on posture placement and the classical movements. Bujones is a unique, classical dancer of enormous versatility and artistry.

In His Image - Starring Fernando Bujones in performances and conversations and featuring classical variations from: Giselle, Raymonda, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Le Corsaire, La Sylphide, and 7 Greek Dances. 10 might be a better title, with the subtitle The Best of the Classic Male Variations.

To have a young virtuoso whose stamina and explosive style have made him a favorite guest artist around the world perform nine variations back-to-back is unprecedented. Only once or twice in our generation, a dancer comes along that can create this special excitement that is always present whenever Fernando Bujones dances.

In the words of Clive Barnes, dance critic of the New York Post, ... he is the finest male classical dancer this country has ever produced. The audiences adore him because he gives all that he has, says Jane Herman, presentations director of the Metropolitan Opera House.

Produced and directed by Zeida Cecilia-Mendez, this DVD anthology offers an education impossible without DVD. With one viewing, one gains a sophistication that might escape you despite years of going to the ballet. One stellar moment of slow motion explains the mechanics of a jump better than any patient teacher's verbalization. This is a dancer whose beats and aerial geometry mark him as one of the greatest of our times. Covering the spectrum from the Romantic bravura of the court, to the stark simplicity of the neo-classical 7-Greek Dances by the brilliant choreographer Maurice Begirt, this DVD inspires as it touches. The dancer is shown at his peak, and In His Image captures the excitement which Bujones brings to dance.

Bujones Winning At Varna - Hailed as one of the greatest dancers of the 20th century, Fernando Bujones' Gold Medal victory at the International Ballet Competition VII in Varna, Bulgaria on July 24, 1974, developed into a history making event for the world of dance. In Bujones' own words, winning the Gold Medal in the competition was an achievement that remains the truest challenge of self-discipline and courage. And courage is what it took for a young Bujones to win at age nineteen (still junior age and competing in the senior category) a Gold Medal along with the Highest Technical Achievement award. This triumph established him as the champion of the competition, and the first male American dancer to win such an honor. Varna was an exciting turning point in Fernando Bujones' life that rocketed him to international stardom and a global dance career.

106 mins. (2008)
DVD - All Region

Firestone Dances: Ballet Highlights Video

For more than thirty years, The Voice of Firestone brought the world’s greatest artists into the homes of music lovers. Now, through a special arrangement with the New England Conservatory in Boston, Kultur is proud to make these rare telecasts available.

Among the treasures from the Firestone archives are Rudolf Nureyev’s American television solo debut; the legendary team of Jacques D’Amboise and Melissa Hayden; the brilliant Maria Tallchief; Carla Fracci in a rare Pas de quatre set to the music of Pugni; as well as principal dancers of the Royal Danish Ballet and a performance by the Ballet Espanol Ximenes-Vargas.

49 mins. (2008)
DVD - All Region

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See also our  Instructional Ballet Dance Videos 1, Ballet Dance Videos 2,  Ballet Dance Videos 3, Ballet Dance Videos 4 or our other Dance Lessons  Videos and DVDs.