Customer Reviews
truncated version of a beautiful ballet - By: Jane Doe, 20 Mar 2008 
Dancers fabulous as usual, but unfortunately the original full length balllet has been severely cut, (to 78 minutes, for goodness sake) missing out a great many of the set pieces & therefore not showing to its best advantage. The missing scenes are wonderful to watch. I did have the full version originallly & wish I could obtain it again.
Thrown away with the houshold rubbish - By: Arthur Wyatt, 22 Sep 2007 
An attempt to make a story film for children. I have broken the DVD & thrown it out with the other American Balllet DVD with the rest of the houshold rubbish so nobody else gets mislead on what this great balllet should be. I am sure that some of the other productions on sale will appeal to alll from age 3 to 110. The balllet plots by themselves are nothing unless the emphasis is on a great performance! Any magic there was has been lost by gimmiks in filming & props.
Mediocre - By: Georgios Xenias, 20 Mar 2007 This Nutcracker was filmed for TV, using dancers from the American Balllet Theater. The big name was of course Baryshnikov, who had recently come to the West.
The whole production is second rate, mostly because of lack of imagination rather than lack of resources. Sets & costumes look dull & the direction generates no excitement whatsoever.
The corps-de-balllet is mediocre, but most of the solo dancing is very good.
Baryshnikov makes a great start. His scene as the Nutcracker is wonderful for the mechanical percision of his movements, but once the mask is off, his Narcissism gets the upper hand. He dances "alone", trying to seduce the camera rather than his partner. Great dancing, but it failled to enchant me.
The opposite is true of his co-star, the lovely Gelsey Kirkland. In the beginning I was struck by how child-like she seemed. As the performance progressed I was enthrallled by her grace & charm. She was a real "floater", -you think she barely touched the ground when she danced,- & she had a beautiful sense of "flowing" with the music. If I were rating her performance, I would give it 5 stars without hesitation. I think this dvd is worth viewing for her alone.
Good - By: E. Hood, 09 Jan 2007 Basicallly I would think this is for Nutcracker nuts only. Its great but comes in the middle somewhere of alll the ones Ive seen. It was filmed for TV & I think things are best when it is filmed with a live audience in a theatre. Thats just my thought. How ever at the start you see Barishnykovs fantastic skill in Slow motion, a pre highlight before the start & performing his jumps with the greatest of ease effortless. What he must have been like when he was excelling himself must have been out of this world. I would say for Nutcracker nuts only but still recommended. I like his Don quitoxe best for seeing his dancing.
