Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky - Sleeping Beauty / De Ligniere, Gouda, Cullberg Ballet (Mats Ek)

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

 

 

mats ek again takes a classical music score to a ballet and retells the narrative in a new unforgettable manner.it would be more than enough to just see these amazing dancers move, but added to it his take on romanticism, racism, humor and love,make for a total artistic triumph. further, he manages to have the clearest definition of deconstruction in a video ever. understand, please, that i have been a professional modern dancer for more than 38 years,and my sensibility is very critical, yet this video moved me in ways that i find profound and deep. buy this, look at it three times, and you will never see ballet in the same way again

This delightful ballet is superbly choreographed, ably danced, and beautifully shot. Above all, it is incredibly funny; this is the Monty Python of dance. Here we see the evil "fairy" as an obstretrician, menacingly spraying drugs from his hyperdermic into the air before being knocked down like a keystone cop. Later, a set manager bursts forth from his booth, scowls at the cameraman, a repeatedly shoots the same fairy character, while shouting "murderer" at the character he's killing. The dance is perfectly attuned to the music, simultaneously graceful and reminicent of a Python "funny walk."

It seems that none of the other reviewers quite get it! Hearing Tchaikovsky, they figure it must be romantic and serious. It's like concluding that because a music drama is about the knights of the roundtable, it must be Wagner. What then do you make of Spamelot? Thomas, the professional, calls it "gut-wrenchingly emotive;" "gut-bursting" would be more apt. Kirven writes "this entire project is completly over my head;" 'orang_books' can't understand why there's Tchiakovsky mixed with screaming. 'Mansardroof' calls it "profound and deep." Well, Terris says that the really great thing about having this as a DVD is that you don't have to feel embarrassed when you burst out into laughter in the middle of the ballet. Yes, it's insightful, as are major works of humor.

Eks' Sleeping Beauty is part superb and remarkably innovative dance, beautifully attuned in its own special way to Tchaikovsky's music, but it

It really takes talent to make one forget the traditional "accepted" versions of this classic ballet. I am a dance purist and appreciate a sense a tradition along with innovation with the classics. This version "blew me away." One can read so much into this interpretation, which is less of a fairy tale and more of a serious drama and contemporary commmentary - an intellectually adult retelling of the story. I can be a ballet/dance snob, but one must appreciate the sheer talent involved in this absolutely original and amazing work! WOW!

hmmmm, it's difficult to encapsulate my experience watching this dvd... i'm a modern/postmodern choreographer with an mfa in dance from ucla, so i've seen some very complicated and challenging work; however, this entire project was completely over my head (not in the "oh-wow-that-was-too-smart-for-me" way, but rather in the "why-did-they-bother-with-this?" way). it seems the only reason they would choose this title is because of the music -- the narrative has nothing to do with the familiar tale; however, i suppose one could read the daughter's sexual maturation as the process of "waking up" out of some kind of innocuous innocence... one could say that, but one would be working very hard to prove it. the actual dancing is technically proficient, and the movment invention is interesting, but the story-telling is laborious and the relevance is lost in my opinion. I was particulalry confounded by the random shouting coming from one of the camera men -- was he supposed to be the girl's conscience? was he the voice of insecure masculinity? did he simply need medication? who knows... it's in swedish and who can tell if the translation is worth the time it takes to read??? so yes, i can encapsulate my experience of this dvd: confused disappointment.

The dancing is creative and excellent. However, I can help but wondering why they can't find an equally creative musician to write the new music for it? Why they reuse Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty? The heart-breaking and ear-jarring screams uttered by the lady giving birth to an egg and the scene of handgun firing on the stage are not even remotely associated with beauty.

Am I biased because I watched the classic ballet Sleeping Beauty before? No. I only heard the music on CD. When watching this dancing, I feel as if I was watching "Terminate 2" with all figures spoke Shakespeare's language...

The one star is for all the dancers. Other than that, I could not find any other thing to praise. Perhaps those who want to taste raw fish slices with A1 sauce wrapped in tortillas, and eating with a can of New Coke, might like it.