Blu-Ray
Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller (Kids of Survival) have created an instant modern classic in this feature length documentary.
Unearthing a treasure trove of archival footage, Goldfine and Geller map the company's Diaghilev-era beginnings in turn-of-the-century Paris when artists such as Nijinsky, Balanchine, Picasso, Miro, Matisse and Stravinsky united in an unparalleled collaboration - to its halcyon days of the 1930s and 40s, when the Ballets Russes toured America, astonishing audiences with never-before-seen artistry.
Rare performances, home movies, letters and diaries are intercut with intimate anecdotal interviews with former BALLETS RUSSES stars which bring to life the extraordinary journey of the company and the inidviduals who danced in it.
BALLETS RUSSES dazzled audiences, whose only prior experience with dance had been vaudeville, to the twilight years of the 1950s and early 60s when - despite sold-out houses - rising touring expenses, competition from new rivals and internal mismanagement brought the BALLETS RUSSES to a close.
The film culminates with the first and only BALLETS RUSSES Reunion Celebration, which was held in 2000 in New Orleans, bringing together nearly 100 surviving dancers, most of whom had not seen each other in more than fifty years.
Release date: 21-Apr-2006
Director:
Daniel Geller
Dayna Goldfine
Cast:
Irina Baronova, Yvonne Chouteau, Yvonne Craig, Frederic Franklin, Alan Howard
Certificate: PG
Genre:
Documentary
Film
