Product Details

• Actors: Marianna Tcherkassky, Cynthia Harvey, Cheryl Yeager, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Martine Van Hamel
• Directors: Brian Large
• Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kultur Video
• DVD Release Date: April 15, 2003
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00008AORF
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,414 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "American Ballet Theatre at the Met - Mixed Bill" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

From the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, this triple bill of ballets, with an additional glittering pas de deux, is a delightful introduction to the range and excitement of American Ballet Theatre’s repertory. The first piece is Les Sylphides in which Mikhail Baryshnikov is the poet surrounded by the drifting chorus of sylphs. The Sylvia Pas de deux is a sparkling duet for Martine van Hamel and Patrick Bissell, and it is followed by Triad, one of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s most poetic and sensitive short ballets. Finally, in a blaze of brilliant dancing, the Grand Pas from Paquita shows off the technical virtuosity of ABT’s dancers in a cascade of mock-Spanish bravura choreography staged by Natalia Makarova from the original Petipa version.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If it's American Ballet Theatre, you can't go wrong, July 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: American Ballet Theatre at the Met - Mixed Bill [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This eclectic program (Les Sylphides, Sylvia pas de deux, Kenneth MacMillan's Triad, and Paquita) is a beautiful slice of ABT's wide range of repertory and features sparkling performances from Baryshnikov, Cynthia Gregory, Fernando Bujones, Cynthia Harvey, Marianna Tcherkassky, Martine van Hamel, and many others. Although the taping itself is a little less engaging than I would like (ABT's 1998 tape, Variety and Virtuosity, is far superior in this aspect), this is still a wonderful addition to any ballet fan's collection.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AFTER A FEW DECADES ABT AT THE MET IS STILL A GEM, February 17, 2008

By 

Sung-chao Cheng "Sung-Chao Cheng" (Taiwan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Ballet Theatre at the Met - Mixed Bill (DVD)

I bought this tape on laser disc format almost twenty years ago,and got rid of it when DVD came out. These days I still watch it once in a while and the ABT magic still dazzles me, to put it simply, it's a gem. There are four programs each one with its own mood and style. Les Sylphides is elegant and graceful, Sylvia-Pas de deux shows off Martine Van Hamel and Patrcik Bissell's dazzling technigue, Triad, with the smooth and agile movements of the dancers, and Paquita is appropriately the grand finale of the evening that offers ABT's numerous talents to the gratification of the audience. It is worth noticing that almost all the dancers in this tape are retired and as far as I know Fernando Bujones and Patrick Bissel are no longer alive. Anyway, for ballet fan this dvd is a must have.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Rate Dances by First Rate Ballet Company, June 18, 2010

By 

drkhimxz (Freehold, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: American Ballet Theatre at the Met - Mixed Bill (DVD)

As denoted, this is a mixed bag of dances from the library of the American Ballet Theater, performed at their home, the Metropolitan Opera House, in Lincoln Center, NYC. The performance, at the Met in the mid-80's, was directed for television by Brian Large, who is one of THE directors in the business. Three ballets and a sparkling final set piece, comprise the contents, all performed with technical versatility and panache. All but one are clearly derived from the Classical school, with Triad, choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan, providing a more modernized and, to me, more interesting approach. (I do not say "better" approach given the quality and entertainment value of all that was done, simply a personal preference). In it, MacMillan contorts, with abrupt and flowing lines, dynamic interactions among two groups of male dancers, and between the paired males and a female. The composer is Prokofiev, with whose music the dance patterns weave, leap and surge. This appears the only place in the program where male and female interact with equal force and impact at all times, rather than the basically discontinuous emphasis in the more classical dances.
Unquestionably, the disc is an opportunity, rarely offered on DVD, to see this major company as it appeared in that era 25 years ago. It is worth the price of admission.