Customer Reviews

Video Dictionary of Classical Ballet [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I think this DVD is GREAT! There are many ballet dictionaries available but to SEE how the steps are done is more useful and clear than mere words could describe.

Unlike some other reviewers, I found the DVD quality to be fine.

This DVD is an invaluable reference for any ballet student. Although I have been learning ballet for only 2 1/2 years as an ADULT ballet student with no ballet background at all, I now take 8-14 classes a week (with teenage students!) and have managed to reach Level 5 and even do Pointe work so I can say with the conviction of a serious ballet student that - This DVD is an EXCELLENT reference for anyone interested in learning ballet.

I would recommend the DVD version instead of the VHS because it makes for easier and quicker selection of topics (imagine having to rewind and forward on VHS!).

If you're thinking of getting this DVD, go for it!

I am under the impression that many people buy this DVD to learn ballet. That is not the point. You can look up moves, positions, etc., but this is not a step-by-step to teach you something you haven't learned in class. It's basically a summary of how steps are done. If I'm trying to remember how move X is started, I'll pull out the DVD and already know what to look for. But it will not teach me step X. You will be disappointed if you buy expecting a class replacement, but will be happy if your intention is to use this DVD solely as a reference and as a supplement to proper classes.

It's not an overly-pretty DVD. There aren't fancy costumes, and the dancers are wearing classwear. Music in the background is to keep tempo, so don't expect to pop in the DVD and hear a beautiful orchestra and watch full dances. You will see the word, hear it pronounced in French, then see the move performed a couple times in a class setting (without onlookers). This is all. You can easily skip from scene to scene to find what you want. This is what you get.

The idea of demonstrating classical ballet positions and movements on video is a worthy one, and the professional dancers perform ballet with an authority I cannot question.

Putting 800 examples on two tapes presents the problem of locating specific sections. This would be much better served on DVD (or perhaps CD-ROM) where chapters could be more easily accessed. I own the tapes but would find a DVD version much more useful.

This DVD is very easy to use--well set up. The exercises are clearly labeled, and, since it is on DVD, you can just rewind to repeat the moves on the opposite leg. This is a great workout, and I feel more confident in my ballet practice in that each exercise is specifically labeled and explained. The only drawback is that each exercise is explained and practiced quickly without many reps--so, I did have to rewind each section a couple of times (which I really do not mind). OVERALL--VERY GOOD!

This is an excellent reference work for the ballet student or professional. It is useful for beginners as well as professional dancers. Thank goodness it has come out on dvd. It was very difficult to use on vhs but now it is quite easy and useful. The steps and positions are demonstrated by famous first rate dancers. It is fantastically complete, but keep in mind that ballet terminology is not set in stone and is not always keeping up with modern inovations in ballet(yes, even "classical" ballet is evolving). After a while in this business you realize that a complete standard terminology is not going to happen. What we have here is everthing that you should ever need in the way of terminology and after learning most of what is shown in this dvd, you might figure out how to express something not covered here.

I was very fond on classic dance all my life long, always I wanted to know the name of the pirouettes or the positions the dancers do. I have read some books, but nothing is enough clear than looking a dancer doing them. The dancer are women and men, the voice in French name the positions, and the details are told in a very clear English language.
They are two CDs plenty of informations and examples.

This 2 CD set is the perfect aid for those who want to learn the basic vocabulary of classical ballet. There is no better way to learn than to see the positions, barre, center work, combinations, etc. expertly demonstrated then deconstructed and explained. Each section is numbered for reference and is indexed to the insert that is included with the CD set. I myself am not a dancer but, because of a book I'm writing in which one of the main characters is a dancer, I need to learn the basic language of dance. There are many published glossaries of dance terms, but nothing written could ever come close to depicting what classical ballet is composed of: for that purpose the medium has to be visual.

Others who better know ballet can decide if this is the definitive work on the subject. To me it seems so.

A note about the technical quality: some reviewers complained about sound quality. In my opinion, that's being really nitpicky. The visuals are spectacular. Let's leave it at that.

Viewing this DVD, I wanted to give it an evaluation such as they give in the Olympic Games -- Artistic merit and Technical merit. The dancers are excellent, the voice-over is good, with slow motion and close-up shots being frequent, and (a nice touch) most of the names of the dance movements are read aloud by a native French speaker from the French words written on the screen.
So far, so good. If the technical part of the DVD matched, this set would get a 5-star rating from me. As my purpose in buying this DVD was to obtain material for my sculptural work (I am now learning how to sculpt realistic figures and doing ballet dancers, particularly male ones, is my goal)the presence of an excellent male dancer was a great bonus. However the music, while of acceptable tonal quality, cuts out from time to time for short periods and a small amount of the voice-over may be missing. Also there is some problems at a few points with flickering and slight darkening of the screen (some of which seems to disappear upon replaying). I have carefully sat down and watched almost all of the DVD (almost four hours worth split up into half hour or so sessions)to see if I want to keep this DVD or not. As I received this from a third-party vendor (Digital Eyes)which promised no problems with returns and which gave me a good price for it, I am more tolerant than maybe I would be if I paid full price. For my sculptural work, there is more material here than I will probably ever completely use so I will likely keep it provided there are no serious problems with the part remaining to be viewed. Be aware that the copyright is 1983 and I doubt that it has had any "remastering" or other work done on it except for conversion to DVD format. For someone like me with my goals, this was worth buying despite its "dings," however a ballet student might have a different opinion.
I realize that this has been a rather long review but I wanted to help others with their decision about this artistically excellent but technically flowed DVD.

I think this is a video for every ballet enthusiast. It is well spoken and pronounces the French words easily. The steps are clear and put in slow motion and fast motion. I recommend that ANYONE, ages 1 to 100, should see this video.

This is exactly what I had been looking for, for ages.

It contains demonstrations by professional ballet dancers of every movement in ballet along with an audio explanation of how to perform the movement. The most difficult movements are repeated in close-up, and, most of the time, in slow motion.

I also enjoyed the examples of enchainements combining all the movements at the barre, linking steps, centre, pirouettes, adage, allegro, batterie and pointe work.

It is a must for teachers and ballet students.

Furthermore, they present the main differences between the Russian, French an Cecchetti styles.


Enjoy!