Customer Reviews

Balanchine: Dance in America - Tzigane/Andante from Divertimento No. 15/The Four Temperaments [VHS]

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This is definitely one of my favorite ballet videos. It showcases some of the NY City Ballet's greatest stars, including Suzanne Farrell, Peter Martins, Merrill Ashley, Daniel Duell, Adam Luders, and Colleen Neary. It is a triple bill of ballets which are widely varied and showcase George Balanchine's versatile choreographic talents.

Tzigane, a little known gem of a ballet, is set to Ravel's score of the same title, and starts out very slowly with Suzanne Farrell dancing a very unique solo, and speeds up as more dancers join the cast until the ending where the full cast dances in the frenetic manner for which Blanchine was so well known.

Divertimento #15 is a very classical tutu ballet set to Mozart's music. I found the dancing in this ballet to be considerably weaker than the other two, but it is enjoyable nonetheless, and has nothing to do with the choreography.

The grand finale of this tape is a riveting and uncut version of the classic "The Four Temperaments" to Hindemith's exquisitely crafted score. "4T's" is one of Balanchine's many "black and white" ballets [others include Agon and Episodes] in which dancers perform in basic black leotards or white shirts and black tights. It is a very stark and modern piece, with some great pas de deux and fascinating steps. It is in 5 parts: a series of three pas de deux introducing the three musical motifs [the background is color coded for each motif, which is very helpful]; and then a section for each temperament: Melancholic, Sanguinic, Phlegmatic, and Choleric. The idea stems from the belief that the human body was made of four humors, in varying amounts, which governed the behavior and mood. As with most Balanchine, there is no definite plot in 4T's, but the nature of each temperament is brilliantly portrayed in the way that the principals interact with the corps and each other. This is definitely one of those ballets that gets better and better each time you watch it.

Overall, the production values--lighting, camera work, sound, picture quality--were exemplary, better than any other ballet video I've ever seen. A must-have for any ballet lover!

I loved this movie. My teacher Maria Calligari is in it. The dancing is great!!