Customer Reviews

New York City Ballet: Bringing Balanchine Back

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found this DVD to be a fascinating viewing experience. George Balanchine was born in St. Petersburg in 1904. His parents were Georgian and his father was a well known composer and his mother was devoted to the arts. At nine he enrolled at the Imperial Ballet, which was disbanded after the Soviets took over. He made his living playing the piano anywhere he could earn some money. He eventually returned to formal study of both music and dance. After his graduation he began his professional work in dance. He joined Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1924 and continued to develop his art. Balanchine came to America in 1934 and formed the American Ballet in 1935. After various other companies and incarnations the New York City Ballet emerged in 1948. He returned to St. Petersburg in 1962 (and I believe also in 1972 - but I am not sure). The great choreographer died in 1983. He was often married and divorced and had passionate and publicized affairs with many dancers. Yet, he had no children. But he left behind a rich legacy of glorious ballets and this film is a great presentation of those dancers who care to keep that legacy alive and part of our living artistic traditions and I bless them for it.

Peter Martins became the artistic leader of the New York City Ballet after his own career as a dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and the company he now leads. He now choreographs new ballets, teaches dancers, and does all it takes to keep the company alive and performing at a very high level. I love his pride in the legacy he both inherited and helped create with Balanchine, Robbins, and others. He notes that the present company dances as well or even better than when the dances were first created.

This movie shows the companies return to St. Petersburg in 2003. We see this as a part of the company rather than as the audience. The dancers work hard, struggle to get the dances right, have physical and emotional problems, and end up dancing gloriously. I enjoyed the views from the wings where we see what the dancers are doing in preparing their entrances. We even hear the sound of the dancers on the stage, which is very different than what the audience hears. The sounds of the footsteps, the rustling of the costumes, the breathing caused by the tremendous exertion (and yet controlled), and everything else are all familiar to anyone who has performed on stage.

We also get to hear the thoughts, concerns, and see the work of the other professional artists who help the dancers prepare and get ready for their performances. And, of course, we get interviews with many of the principle dancers and even hear some from the company. I also enjoyed hearing from the Russian dancers. Independently, they all seemed to admire the American dancers' leg movements, but thought their arm positions were somewhat less than theirs. They also commented on how fast the Americans danced in rehearsals and classes. The audiences who were interviewed loved the American dancing. All the Russians commented on how wonderfully surprised they were at the quality of the dancing by the New York City Ballet.

We get to see some works by Balanchine and a work each by Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins. This is not a film of complete performances. You get to see big pieces of the numbers, but you also get to see the other things I noted: what goes on in the wings, in the lobbies, and in the dressing rooms. We also get to see a performance by the wonderful conductor Valery Gergiev and hear his comments about performing with the NYC Ballet. All fascinating stuff.

Martins wisely notes that no one gets rich or famous from ballet. What you do get is bunions, a bad back, and joint problems. You have to love it and have a passion for it to do the art well and this film shows us a group of people who have that love and passion and I am so glad that it was captured on film to share with us.

Treat yourself to this DVD.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

It has been decades since I faithfully attended NYCB performances, and the company seems to have gotten a lot bigger. There were a few names I recognized from the stage: Jock Soto and Darcy Kistler, but as large as this company has gotten, the quality of the dancer's technique and the dancing itself is as high or higher than it ever was. And I remember McBride, Martins, Ashley and Farrell in their prime.

It's hard to believe that this company's dancers are so young (average age, we learn, is only 21) and so good. Many of them were not born when the revered "Mr. B." passed away, but under the able stewardship of Peter Martins, this company has more than kept Balanchine's legacy vibrant.

This is a documentary about the return to Russia, to the Maryinsky theatre where Balanchine danced his first steps, as well as Pavlova, Nijinsky, and Baryshnikov. The return commemorates Balanchine and the tour will take place during the "White Nights" festival (so called because at that time of the year, the sun sets after midnight and rises soon afterwards).

For most of the company, it is about dancing. But for some older company personnel who had visited Russia during prior NYCB visits, there seems to be an anxiety about presenting Balanchine's work in the country of his birth in a way that will both honor Balanchine, and not ruffle too many Russian feathers. (Some Russians interviewed in sound bites sound a little skeptical of American dancers' ability to perform the work of a native Russian as it should be performed, and a couple of Russian ballet students make little digs at this or that about the Americans' technique, but I guess it is awkward in a way to go back to perform the work of someone who left Russia to form this company. But awkward or not, the Maryinsky audience definitely knows its ballet. And most of the audience members interviewed are quite gracious in their comments. (Sometimes it's hard to tell, since the subtitles are in a drab color, and they don't stand out well, they're not up for long enough to read them, and they are miniscule to boot.)

With the exception of a local conductor who inconsiderately disappears at intermission for 20 minutes, leaving the dancers to involuntarily literally 'cool' their heels (and other muscles) behind a closed curtain just before a performance, the performances go off well.

I was hoping that I would see the full "Serenade," one of the loveliest of Balanchine's works. But we do see the first part in performance, and it is absolutely beautiful. Other parts of ballets were shown as well, and the sequences were extended enough not to be frustrating, but I wish I could have seen the entire ballets. There are generous slices of NYCB classics like "Symphony in C," "Agon," "Symphony in Three Movements," and "Western Symphony" as well as newer, non-Balanchine ballets like "Hallelujah Junction," set to the piano music of (I believe) John Adams. Unfortunately we never see "Dances at a Gathering" (Robbins to Chopin) or "Other Dances" (ditto) though I believe they were performed.

This is a lively and entertaining documentary. I recommend it.

One more word: the editing was very clever. Editing can make or break a ballet video, and they did a great job here in the performance sequences, especially in the cuts from a dancer leaping offstage to his suddenly seeming to leap right at you as if you'd been in the wings instead of in the audience. I enjoyed this little trick very much.

This DVD is an insight into a world class ballet company, NYCB, preparing to perform in the Marinsky Theatre, St Petersburg. There is a buzz of excitement as the dancers rehearse and travel to Russia. The interviews with dancers and staff members is illuminating....and of course the dancing if superb! The comments from audience members is a nice touch.

I recommend this DVD for any ballet enthusiast especially those who love Balanchine. I just wish the DVD had been a bit longer!

The 'special features' is a series of short interviews, it is a bit repetitive but still a nice extra touch.

This documentary proved more enjoyable than I hoped it would be as it wisely offers film of the performances of the various ballets and varied they are. I was not disappointed. From Balanchine's earlist ballet to Tchaicovky's Serenade to Bizet's Symphony in C to Stravinsky's Symphony in 3 Movements to Phillip Glass Pieces choreographed by Jerome Robbins and Peter Martin's choreography to music by John Adams to Balanchine's cowboy froth A Western Symphony to music by Hershey Kay and almost the entire pas de deux from Stravinsky's Agon. That's quite a feast and what a revelation all these modern pieces must have been for the Russians but the audiences were warmly receptive to everything. Just enough documentary to be called one and plenty of dancing. Highly recommended.

I haven't seen the NYCB perform in years (I moved away from NY in 1995). But I've seen multiple articles in the last several years about how the company has gone downhill. Sadly, this documentary more than proves that. Although Balanchine's ballets are often highly dependent upon geometric lines, the corps apparently doesn't know what lines are -- they were all over the place in these dances. And a recently appointed principal can't learn her debut piece and ends up being taken out of it (in the old days, dancers killed themselves to learn roles in much less time than she was given). The portion of Western Symphony that is shown is far inferior to any performance of it I've ever seen -- the dancers seem to be walking though it. It's just pathetic.

When you watch the Russian audiences applaud, they are obviously underwhelmed (many aren't even clapping). And when a Russian dancer is asked if she'd like to take class with the NYCB, she is politely noncommittal. I am sad that this documentary was ever released. And I wonder what is wrong with Peter Martins for letting it be released (or for letting the company slide this far down). If I were Mr. B, I'd be turning over in my grave.

I'm not a worshiper of Balanchine. Sometimes his work is magnificent, sometimes his work is uninspired, often he is the Busby Berkeley of Ballet. I bought this DVD hoping to learn more about ballet, more about Balanchine. I learned two things -- one, letting people go along with traveling ballet companies with video recorders should be outlawed; two, if you put your mind to it you can make any subject boring and irrevalent. New York City Ballet and Peter Martens, one of my favorite dancers, should never have allowed this travesty to see the light of day. Both ballet and Balanchine deserve better.

I didn't really like this DVD. It is great if you are looking for a very true documentary that chronicles the life and work of Balanchine. I was hoping for more behind the scenes look of the ballet dancers practicing Balanchine's ballets. Maybe more interviews and following the ballet dancers with their daily routines.

Since you are reading this review, I know you are interested in what goes on in the world of ballet. I purchased this DVD for the same reason. I read the reviews here on amazon and was convinced I should get it. It really tells a story, like so many of the ballets do. However, this tells the story of a "trip" to a far-off land where many of the ballets we have grown to love were born. The name of the mysterious far-off land is Russia, the city is St. Petersburg, and the name of the place is the Mariinsky Theatre. As best as I can tell, Mariinsky is pronounced (Mar-IN-skee).

Why make the trip? Balanchine cannot go "back", He's been dead over twenty years, but his only progeny can go back for a visit to his birth-place. Who is his progeny? The New York City Ballet is the only child he ever had, even though he was married several times. Which brings up an interesting coincidence. He was once married to Maria Tallchief, one of his dancers (who was exceedingly beautiful), and one of the reviewers is named H. Tallchief from Oklahoma. So, his child is a whole group of children,(many born long after he died) carrying on his legacy with the help of people like Peter Martins, former dancer , now Artistic Director and Ballet Master of NYCB. The company has nearly 100 members in it's cast and their average age is only twenty-one. Think about that.

The occasion for the "trip" was to headline the three hundredth anniversary of St. Petersburg, and to bring to a conclusion "The Festival of the White Nights", so named because the sun does not set until after mid-night, and rises again shortly after, during that season of the year in St. Petersburg.

There is some anxiety in the minds of many cast members, because they do not know exactly how the Russians will accept them. This will be the third trip to Russia since 1962, and again in 1972, during the height of the cold war, when they met with some enthusiasm and some criticism. Balanchine was born and raised in St. Petersburg, was trained at the Vaganova Ballet Academy, and when he came to America, the Soviets considered him (and anyone else who left Russia) a "traitor". But it is now 2003 and Russia is a different country. I can tell you that the NYCB was well received by the Russian public (who know their ballet), and by the professionals of the Mariinsky. You can also be proud of your own NYCB, as I am.

We have many excellent ballet companies in our great country , and for myself, I only wish I could support them better. However, I can only buy a few DVDs. Trouble is I don't see many DVDs featuring the NYCB. I wish there were more. Where are they Banshee?

Ballet lovers will feast on this disc. Will be short - this disc it worth it for including the first movement and the very end of the finale of Kay's Western Symphony. This spoof of the American west will surely make you smile and yearn for a complete performance someday on disc. (The NYCB brings the house down every time they perform it.) Very interesting to watch the ballet dancers prepare for the performance with all the back stage activity. Enjoyed excerps from the other ballets, as did the Russian audience. I'd have give my left little toe to see the expressions on the Russian audience listening to those old western tunes like Red River Valley, Good Night Irene and all the others so humourously presented.

I hereby formally request a good recording of the ballet on CD and DVD. It's been neglected too long. There was an LP of it long ago by the NYCB ballet orchestra which occupies a treasured place in my LP collection.

The NYCB put out a couple of videos in the 90s (A Balancine Celebration) with vol. 2 containing the entire finale of the Western Symphony. This will cost you up to $1500 on Amazon!!

This DVD is both a look at the wonderful New York City Ballet Company and a tour of St. Petersbug and the Marinsky Theater where Balanchine received his training and began his career.The NYCB visit marked the centennial of Balanchine's birth. It is a real treat for anyone who enjoys ballet