Product Details

• Actors: Kader Belarbi, Aurélie Dupont, Agnès Letestu, Mathieu Ganio, Laëtitia Pujol
• Directors: Pierre Cavasillas, Gerard Mortier, George Balanchine
• Format: Classical, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (PCM)
• Subtitles: Dutch, English, French, Italian, Spanish
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC / Opus Arte
• DVD Release Date: October 28, 2008
• Run Time: 152 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001D068XO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,020 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #95 in Movies & TV > Blu-ray > Performing Arts
• For more information about "Jewels [Blu-ray]" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Balanchine's three-part, evening-long ballet, Jewels, is one of the jewels of his output. Created in 1967, Jewels revisits the central pillars of his glorious career. Thus, the first of the trio, Emeralds, to music by Fauré, is an homage to the French school of ballet; a Romantic episode in which soft-core lyricism comes to the fore. The second ballet, set to Stravinsky, Rubies, celebrates American dance virtues, filled with sexy Broadway and jazz references. Finally, Diamonds, with music from Tchaikovsky, takes us to Mr. B's roots in St. Petersburg with a dazzling tribute to Russian ballet tradition. Each of the works is pure Balanchine, full of the abstract stage patterns, novel arm and feet movements, and virtuoso fireworks typical of his style. Jewels is superb in this video taken from live 2005 performances of the National Opera Ballet in its home playing field, the jewel box of Paris' Palais Garnier. The French company excels in meeting Balanchine's demands. All the featured principals turn in breathtaking performances and the highlight may be the way they turn Diamonds, which often goes flat in performance, into a thrilling experience.

The costumes and sets, designed by Christian Lacroix, are precisely what this ballet needs, with backdrops of green for Emeralds, red, Rubies, and a cool blue crossed by a glittering cloud-like necklace for Diamonds. The video direction captures the feeling of being in the hall, with full-stage shots interspersed with views of soloists or ensemble sections that are never too close-up and respect the need for air and space around the dancers. Included is an excellent documentary film about Balanchine and Jewels, with cogent interviews and exemplary excerpts from the ballet. No lover of dance should be without this. --Dan Davis

Product Description

JEWELS - Blu-Ray Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Beware of fuzzy dancers!, April 21, 2010

By 

Lars Sandell (Sweden) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jewels [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

Great ballet performances on Blu-ray are a joy to behold, not least because of the stunning HD image, but this one must have been incorrectly mastered as it goes horribly fuzzy as soon as the dancers move. Standing still, they are crystal clear. I own a dozen Blu-rays of ballets, including several produced by Opus Arte, and they all look magnificent and sharp - even in extremely fast movement. I previously bought the DVD of this title, but returned it to the shop as defective. So imagine my disappointment when I saw that the Blu-ray was just as blurry. Hopefully, Opus Arte will correct this when a new pressing is due, but that might take years, I'm afraid. I advise potential customers to stay away from "Jewels". Watching this "smear" gave me a headache and was painful to the eyes. What a pity, as this a a gorgeous balett.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a dvd, November 7, 2010

By 

Ivy Lin (NY NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jewels [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

To date, this is the only commercially available dvd of Balanchine's famous three act "storyless" masterpiece, Jewels. It was created in 1967 and the original cast included three of Balanchine's most famous muses: Violette Verdy (Emeralds), Patricia McBride (Rubies), and Suzanne Farrell (Diamonds). In the 1970's the New York City Ballet filmed some excerpts from each of the ballets, but they were filmed on a small soundstage, and focused mainly on the pas de deux of each movement. Now, we can see the ballet in its full grandeur.

Emeralds, the first movement, is perhaps also the hardest to "nail." It is set to music by Gabriel Faure, and its whole atmosphere is slightly aloof and dreamy. The heart of the ballet is a series of solos and duets, but the dancers sort of float on and offstage as if in a trance. The ballet, unlike many other Balanchine works, doesn't have an exciting climax. If ever there was a "mood piece" Emeralds is it. The Paris Opera Ballet is at its best in this movement. The corps de ballet, with their impeccable training, dance with a wonderful softness and unbroken movement. The lead dancers, Laeticia Pujol and Mathieu Ganio, are both extemely elegant, if a bit anonymous. It is Clairemarie Osta, however, in the "second ballerina" role that really opened my eyes. Osta is doe-eyed, petite, and extremely beautiful, and she's both sensual and dreamy in her solo and duet with Kader Belarbi. Osta is IMO the highlight of this video. In fact, Emeralds is the highlight of this entire performance.

If Emeralds is all liquidy legato, then Rubies is hard, razor-sharp staccato. It's set to a jazzy, swaggering score by Stravinsky, and its choreography is filled with strong, hard kicks, lightning fast penchee arabesques, and a lot of off-centered hip swaggering. Aurelie Dupont dances the Patricia McBride role, and she nails all the steps, (including some incredibly clean triple and quadruple pirouettes), but lacks some of the carefree sass, swagger and flirtiness. She's much more at home in purely classical roles like La Sylphide and Sleeping Beauty (both available on video). Here, she looks very intent on mastering the sharp, angular, off-center choreography, but I wish she'd smile a bit more, look like she was having fun teasing the audience. But Marie Agnes Gillot, tall and glamorous looking, is another highlight of this video. She *does* have the hip-strutting, sexy minx personality down pat, and she's also one of those dancers that inject every movement with a personal stamp. She uses her enormous eyes and off-the-charts beauty to great effect.

Diamonds is the last, grandest act of Jewels, set to music by Tchaikovsky. It features a very large corps de ballet, and Balanchine admitted that it was a tribute to Petipa. Agnes Letetsu and Jean-Guillame Bart dance the lead roles. And this might be sacriligeous to admit, but Diamonds is my least favorite section of "Jewels." The music sounds a bit dirge-like, and the pas de deux choreography consists of a lot of walking that can seem like marching. This always surprised me, because Balanchine was known as a choreographer who constantly pushed the limits of pointe-work, especially for Suzanne Farrell. Agnes Letetsu and Jean-Guillame Bart dance the lead roles. Letetsu and Bart are both tall, stately dancers, with a natural dignity and even hautier that suits their roles very well. However, they inadvertently added to the dirge-like feel of the choreography by taking everything at an extremely slow, deliberate pace. It isn't until the allegro finale of Diamonds that I warmed up to the choreography. And Letetsu finally warmed up and danced with more energy. The final image of Diamonds, with dancers flooding the stage in a sea of white glittering tutus, and with its lead couple at the center, truly evokes the sweep and grandeur of a Petipa ballet. And the Paris Opera Ballet corps, so soft and ephemeral in Emeralds, are supremely regal in Diamonds. They inject the performance with a much-needed energy and "wow" factor.

The sets and costumes by Christian Lacroix are gorgeous, except for Rubies. The red strapless dresses IMO dont give enough, uh, support to the dancers. There is a documentary that accompanies the dvd, and it interviews many of the dancers featured in the performance. Overall I am delighted to have Balanchine's masterpiece on dvd, despite some quibbles with the dancing. But I realize that although I might criticize some aspects of the performance, a ballet as rich and complex as Jewels will probably never get a perfect performance, anywhere, in any company. Balanchine never made it easy for his dancers. And the Paris Opera Ballet does as good of a job as anyone, so to them, I say, "Merci!"

3.0 out of 5 stars frosty perfection, May 26, 2011

By 

M. Paley "library cormorant" (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jewels [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

The Paris Opera Ballet is a great company, but there is something missing from their performance of Balanchine's ballet. They perform "Emeralds" and "Diamonds" with frosty perfection; only "Rubies" comes to life.