Customer Reviews

Australian Ballet [VHS]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is truly an excellent performance. (Even my 3-year old granddaughter was fascinated by it.) The choreography, the dancing, the sets, lighting and costumes are all essentially flawless. The orchestra - under the baton of Noel Smith - is of high caliber, though the transfer of music onto videotape was done just a bit off speed, with the result that some sustained passages by the orchestral winds are marred by a slight 'bubble' in the sound. The camera work is some of the best to be found in the area of dance. It manages to capture the scope of the choreography while providing artistically-handled non-interruptive closeups so that we can perceive the humanness of the dancers as well as their interpretive skills.

This is a really lovely performance that anybody would be pleased to watch. The dancers passess flawless tecnical ability and musicality they're last, precise and very expressive. The music is lively and buyant, the setting, stage props and costumes come straight out of the fairy-tale. The characters have a wonderful stage presence and manage to transfer us smoothly into the world of Franz and Swanilda. I believe the Australian Ballet deserves a big praise on this production, so I would give video 5 out of 5.

My daughter and I thouroughly enjoyed this production by the Australian Ballet. The costumes were beautiful and the dancing excellent. The acting , an important part of ballet that often gets forgotten, was wonderful and my five ear old could understand exactly what was going on. I'm planning to buy every video put out by the Australian Ballet as they are first rate.

The Australian ballet did a wonderful job in their production
of,"Coppelia".This ballet was performed in the famous Sydney Opera
House. The scenary and costumes in this ballet, were lovely,the
dancers were wonderful and the story line was very entertaining. The 2
prime dancers Lisa Pavane and Greg Horsman were darling together (I
believe that they are married in real life). The music in this ballet
is by Delibes.The melodies are very famous.I am very glad to have this
version of Coppelia in my ballet collection. I also highly reccomend
the Royal Ballet's production of Manon, starring Jennifer Penny and
Anthony Dowell.

I've never seen the performance of the Australian Ballet before, so I didn't know what to expect when I saw this video. And I was pleasantly surprised. The dancing looked good and the scenery and costume were unique and gorgeous. The story of Coppelia is simple. Two young lovers, Frantz and Swanilda, has a quarrel because Swanilda suspects that Frantz might be interested in Coppelia, a beautiful but mysterious girl and daughter of eccentric Dr.Coppelius. Then Swanilda and her friends have a chance to sneak into Dr.Coppelius' house and find that the house is full of dolls and even Coppelia herself is a lifeless doll. With Dr.Coppelius' unexpected return, they flee from the house, all but Swanilda. She is hiding in Coppelia's room. And Frantz who is unaware of the truth comes in. Dr. Coppelius makes him drunk and with some sort of magic, tries to use him to give life to Coppelia! Swanilda has no choice but impersonating Coppelia to save Frantz. While Dr.Coppelius believes that Coppelia really comes to life, Swanilda finds a chance and escapes with Frantz. The young lovers find each other again and the enchanting wedding ceremony is followed. I can not make a comment about profesional matter because I don't have much knowledge of ballet and technical dancing skill, however, even without such a knowledge, watching this video gave me pure pleasure. I think that this video would be good for whole family.

This production of Coppelia is very well performed in a traditional and classic style. For the most part, the dancing is outstanding, especially the lead dancers. It is a worthy addition to any ballet lover's collection. The costumes are very decorative and the sets are rustic with an old Eastern European charm. Why four stars instead of five? It's because the Kirov (1993) version has several important qualities missing or underrepresented in the Australian version. First, Coppelia, the mechanical doll, is much more animated and charming in the Kirov version. The choreographer, Oleg Vinogradov, wisely chose to give her more character and attention. After all, the ballet is named after her. In the Australian rendition, she is strictly a mechanism, with very brief appearances. You wonder why Franz and his friends ever fell for her. Second, the Kirov version creates much more interaction and support between the lead dancers and the corps. This helps to unify the two elements and accents the rift between Swanilda and Franz, especially in the final scene. In the Australian rendition, the corps and the lead dancers are much more separated, and the corps is often seen standing passively in the shadows like members of an audience. Finally, Vinogradov has wisely added comic gestures throughout the ballet, including a delightful and humorous dance involving Coppelia and Franz's friends. This is very fitting because Coppelia is probably the most famous comic ballet in the repertory. (Incidentally, in E.T.A. Hoffmann's famous tale and Offenbach's opera, Coppelia could utter friendly sighs and dance.) The Australian rendition tends to focus on elegant and classic poses--beautiful but somewhat sugary at times and not contributing much to the story.

One review of the Kirov version has appropriately commented that the Australian production is more traditional and classic. This is true to a large extent. However, Coppelia lends itself to new choreography due, in large part, to its intrinsic comic element. The late George Balanchine added a considerable amount of new choreography to Coppelia, especially in the final act. This same review has added a few comments that should probably be taken with a grain of wheat. Yes, the Mazurka is missing from the first act because Vinogradov thought it was more appropriate to include it in the final scene as one of the festive dances in the town celebration. Yes, the Kirov left out the shaking of the wheat (a test for faithfulness) probably because the sets and costumes are more contemporary. (There's a very charming shaking of the wheat in the Paris version, 2001.) And what about the strange accusation that the second act of the Kirov version is grotesque? In the Australian version, we see a menacing figure carrying a severed head, a writhing bandaged body, and Franz placed on a wheel rack--enough said? (Incidentally, these scenes are not mentioned in the "traditional" story.) They might have frightened Hoffmann and Delibes. After all, Dr. Coppelius was meant to be eccentric but not necessarily malevolent. Finally, this same review concludes that the Kirov version is for people who hate ballet. Needless to say, this comment is not worth one grain of wheat--not to mention the chaff.

It was the Australian Ballet that got me interested in this so very beautiful art form. I purchased a three ballet boxed set of Tchaikovsky ballets, which included "Sleeping Beauty", "Swan Lake", and "The Nutcracker". I fell in love with Sleeping Beauty, by THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET. Sleeping Beauty / Christine Walsh, Australian Ballet It stars Christine Walsh and David Ashmole. Since then I have been collecting all the ballet DVDs I can afford.

Little did I know that in the "Sleeping Beauty" was the up and coming sensation of "Coppelia", Lisa Pavane and Greg Horsman. If you have that DVD, Lisa is the Fairy Godmother in the brown tutu. I could not identify Greg.

I know my job as a reviewer is to inform you of what I think of "Coppelia" by the Australian Ballet, so I will get to the point. First of all, it is the most FUN ballet in existence. It is the happiest ballet that I have so far seen. I saw it live once many years ago in Nashville, Tennessee, so I knew the story and LOVED the music. One reviewer commenting on "Snow White" with music composed and conducted by Emilio Aragon from Spain, said that Aragon's music had only one theme and was repeated over and over throughout the entire ballet.Aragón: Snow White (ballet) I did not agree (read my review on Snow White). The same could never be said about Coppelia because Leo Delibes gives us at least 31 distinctly different melodies, and most of them are so beautiful that words cannot describe them. The producers of this Coppelia were not happy with 31 melodies so they borrowed one from another Delibes ballet "Sylvia". The melody is the one used by the bridesmaids and groomsmen in their dance to honor the bride and groom Swanilda and Frans in the third act. It is so beautiful I do not blame them for adding it to Coppelia. Delibes: Sylvia

Lisa Pavane is a sensational ballerina and her partner Greg Horsman is a sensational danseure. They both have a tremendous amount of dancing to do in this ballet, and most of it is fast tempo. It shows in the curtain calls as they are perspiring profusely. The costumes used in this ballet are fabulous (as they were in the Australian version of Sleeping Beauty) And the sets were also the best I've seen both live and in the Royal Ballet production of Coppelia. Each act has a completely different set. The Coppelius workshop set puts the Royal Ballet's to shame. There is simply no comparison, and that goes for the animatons (dolls) too. You don't have to believe me, just buy this ballet and listen to the patrons of the Sydney Opera House go wild when the dolls come to life and go through their dance routines, especially the disjointed rag-doll. Colin Peasley is simply great as DR. Coppelius, the "mad" doll maker. Peasley is also a member of the governing body of the Australian Ballet Company.

When I saw this ballet live so many years ago in Nashville, the promoters offered anyone who was not happy with the production, their money back. I did NOT ask for my money back. If you buy this ballet, I don't believe you will ask for your money back either.

This was my first time seeing anying by the Australian Ballet and I was very impressed. Costumes and sets are beautiful. Pavane and Horsman are very talented performers. I really enjoyed the second act in the Dr's "workroom". The members of the company who "dance" the various "dolls" are great especially the one who performs the floppy, unformed, unsculpted "doll". Also worth noting is that a friend who knows nothing about ballet easily understood the story without help from me or any other source.

I also had not seen anything by the Australian Ballet before and was very pleased with the quality and entertainment value of this production. Costumes, music, scenery, acting, and dancing all excellent. My 5 year old daughter and I have collected most of the renowned versions of the classic story ballets and this one may be the most fun to watch. This would be a great way to introduce someone of any age to ballet. Act two is superb.

Coppelia has always been my favorite ballet (to watch and to dance).
My friend and I decided that we wanted to see the ballet again, after several years of not seeing it, so I went on Amazon to see what was out there. I'm really glad that I chose the Australian Ballet's version.
If you read the other reviews, yes, there are some differences from the 'classic' version of the story, but it's done really well and the dancing is phenomenal. If you're looking for a great version of this ballet for your collection, pick this one up, you won't be disappointed.
(this, from a professional ballet dancer. Well, 2 if you count the friend I watched it with!) :-)