Sylphides / Giselle

Stunning Sylphides, awful Giselle
10 stars for the Sylphides, minus stars for the Giselle -- but get this DVD for the wonderful and well photographed dancing in Les Sylphides. Never mind that the film is fuzzy at times -- you see the whole dancer (with a few closeups of what counts, the FEET and the footwork) and the shape of the scene. And you see a younger Alicia Markova than in any other ballet film I know of -- as the Joan Aconcella New Yorker review that made me buy the DVD points out.

Markova is an icon of balance and expressivity, some of us think the pinnacle. But the other ballerinas in the Sylphides scenes are almost on the same level. The dancing is pure condensed, balance, artistry, and impeccable technique, with the added pleasure of breathtaking co-ordination among the corps de ballet. Marvelous antidote to the modern "6 0'clock" 180 degree extensions and "I can do it so I will" distortions that take so much away from recent productions. The music even seems more balanced to the ballet, even...

Ballet Classics
Anyone who has the slightest interest in classical ballet should purchase this. The filiming is crude by today's standards it doesn't matter.
The dancers are spellbinding. Classic dancing at its best.



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