Giselle is breathtaking. The absolute most beautiful ballet with Nureyev great but Fonteyn the most beautiful I've ever seen.
Gisselle is the absolute best. i wish I could have seen it live. Fonteyn floats. you'd swear she never touches the floor. Her arms float like the branches of a willow in the wind. She is absolutely the most exquiite dancer ever in this performance. Nureyev is always good but Fonteyn is magical.
Notable for early Giselle pairing of Fonteyn & Nureyev
Though this DVD mainly features ballerina Nadia Nerina in two Sadlers Wells/Royal Ballet 1950s productions, its highlight is the rare 1962 footage of Margot Fonteyn and her recently defected, new (and historic) partner the young Rudolf Nureyev, in Act II from Giselle. This June 1962 Giselle was filmed only four months after their 2/62 debut Giselle performance, which stirred the world's passions for this remarkable pair. Though a brief clip from Act II, it is beautifully danced, Fonteyn with her usual sure-footed, elegant grace partnered by an agile, coltish young Nureyev, whose pure talent is very evident in his leaping solo variations filled with perfect entrechats, rond de jambes, backward arches, spins and fabulous quick footwork. Fonteyn keeps time with him admirably, and at the very end we get closeups of her expressive face acting as the ultimate broken-hearted Giselle, blessing her love Albrecht back to life before lamentably leaving for the spirit world. The Nadia Nerina...
Of historical interest for better and worse
Production values mar both Les Sylphides and Coppelia. Rather than show them on stage or at least allowing us to see the dancing unimpeded, we get to watch through foliage and windows and from behind the cast. This is so counter-productive as to be infuriating when it isn't risible. At several moments in Sylphides, I was convinced the BBC had borrowed Brussels' Mannekin Pis for the occasion. This is every bit as bad as those videos of Maya who was allowed to dance in and out of camera range in Bolshoi productions of roughly the same period. We are also not allowed to watch dancing in favor of reaction shots, a lamentable trend which persists to this day. Coppelia even featured non-ballet dancers in favor of ethnic dancers. In Giselle, the Wilis are notable for their absence and this is inexcusable because it robs the dancing of its context. This is only for serious balletomanes not the general audience, as there are far better versions available.
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