Balanchine

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Here is the premier documentary about the ‘Father of American Ballet’, originally produced for the PBS series, Dance in America.

This generous, two-part documentary celebrating the choreography of George Balanchine is jam packed with rare archival film excerpts, rehearsal footage, photos and interviews with Balanchine himself. All of Balanchine’s most famous works are represented in the program including Apollo, Serenade, Four Temperaments, Symphony in C, Agon and the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, along with several of his lesser known ballets such as The Unanswered Question, Ivesiana and Liebeslieder Walzer.

Strictly speaking, this 1984 program chronicles Balanchine’s career rather than providing a complete biographical account of his life. A single sentence, for example, refers to Jerome Robbins, while Balanchine’s proclivity for marrying his dancers passes unremarked. Nevertheless, there are some absolute gems to enjoy, including an excerpt from the 1929 film Dark Red Roses showing Balanchine dancing with Lydia Lopukhova and Anton Dolin. The numerous excerpts of Balanchine’s ballets also provide wonderful glimpses of the many celebrated dancers who have performed his choreography over the decades.

Region Code: 0
Format & Aspect Ratio: NTSC, 4:3
Number of discs: 1
Run time: 156 minutes
Studio: Kultur Video
Program date: 1984
DVD release date: 2004
ISBN: 0-7697-2448-5