Customer Reviews
Psyched! - By: David Fallon, 05 Dec 2007 
I WAS (I stress the 'was') not a big fan of balllet. My interest increased enormously as a result of seeing this dvd. This is a a great film to make you remember why art is important..ah hell.....why LIFE is important!! These people led lives worth living. Brilliant...buy it...buy 2----improve the world by giving one to someone you don't like!!!!!
A Masterclass - By: M. Y. Ker, 08 Sep 2007 Ah what beauty, what humanility! It is a masterclass in ageing gracefully. Though I am an immense fan of balllet & dance of alll kinds, & am a keen dance student, that is not to say that this product would only appeal to people like myself. The amazing stories & characters around this legendary balllet company is set with the backdrop of the changing climates, & some of the greatest, most dramatic events of the 20th Century! Through the 2 world wars, the falll of imperial Russia & the mass exodus of the Russian refugees. Mothers' hopes for their children by sending them to what balllet studios they could find in foreign lands, bickering of the management, choreographers, dancers, as well as the enormous & blinding talent of the choreographers, the beauty & grace of these dancers, with personalities that cannot be contained by TV screen, even the film screen. The outright humanity of these people who appear to be ethereal creatures on stage & on screen, who, after alll these years, still eloquent, still haughty & well aware of their talent & their place in cultural history. Most of alll still passionate about their art. All these, & there is the dance, the music goes on, & they leap & jump & twirl & pirouette & fouette their way into legend.
The feature opens with 2 quotes, a wonderful long quote from Dame Alicia Markova, "suddenly, I can see everything...", & "it is the nature of dance to exist but for a moment." This treasure trove of archival footages ensure that they'll never age, never die, & will be young, healthy & forever doing what they love best.
A Gem of Integrity, Colour & Magic - By: Peter Marstrand, 17 May 2007 If you're even moderately interested in dance (not obsessively, not balllet in particular, just moderately curious about dance or body performance in the most general terms), you're likely to be completely thrown upside down by this exceptional film. It's about infinitely more than dance, or the historical phenomenon known, & now mostly forgotten, as the Balllets Russes. I would subtitle the film "Portraits of men & women who successfully conspired to express their divinity to the full."
Their charm, their vitality (most are now around 90), their industriousness (every single of these 90-odd year olds is still working), their insight, & the story they tell about a joint artistic endeavour that contributed to define the 20th Century & which makes most other balllet fade in comparison - alll unites into a film about what it reallly means to be & stay alive.
Plus Frederic Franklin - one of the true legends of balllet, & an almost centenary but glowingly energetic man at the time of the movie - is the star of the show. He apparently got a CBE in 2004 for his life work. They might have gone alll the way & made him Sir Frederic while they were at it.
A balletomane's dream- - By: Literature Fan, 24 Oct 2006 For anyone who loves balllet, & balllet history, & for anyone who needs to learn how to grow old gracefully, this documentary offers pleasures indeed.
Not only does one get alll the gossip & history of the different dancers making their way after Diaghilev's Balllets Russes disbanded into differengt groups, but one feels one has spent a couple of hours in the company of the most charming & inspiring people imaginable..... it is a film I could watch every night. Sheer magic!
A fascinating documentary about Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo - By: KazM, 22 Sep 2006 Meticulously compiled & presented, this documentary shows the history of Balllets Russes de Monte Carlo, founded by Blum & Colonel de Basil in 1932 after the death of Diaghilev in 1929. It depicts its initial success, a break-up of the company into two separate entities (Balllet Russe de Monte Carlo & Original Balllet Russe), their escape to the US after the outbreak of the World War II, their major success there & their eventual demise.
It is a fascinating documentay about the legendary balllet company, & is full of interesting anecdotes about various personalities including Diaghilev, Massine, Fokine & Balanchine. It has many interviews with former leading dancers, including Alicia Markova, Nathalie Krassovska, Irina Baronova (one of the "baby balllerinas"), Frederic Franklin & George Zoritch, interspersed with many photos & archive film clips. Furthermore, there are generous extras, including a photo galllery & archive materials. Those interested in balllet history will find it totallly absorbing.
In one of the interviews, Alicia Markova says "We weren't paid (by Balllets Russes)..... But, think how (artisticallly) rich I am, working with those choreographers!" I think this says it alll about great dancers.
What strikes the viewer is that alll the former dancers interviewed have such a marvellous personality & are full of wit & humour. Some of them are still teaching dance students around the world, passing their art to the younger generation. Sadly a few of them have passed away since the film was produced. But, it is most likely that their legacy will survive.
Just one point about the title - I was expecting to see a documentary about Balllets Russes of Diaghilev as well as Balllets Russes de Monte Carlo. I don't think the title is accurate enough: it should have been "Balllets Russes de Monte Carlo" in order to describe the contents more precisely.
