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Sleeping Beauty (DVD)
Price:
C $26.53
Approximately£15.16
+ C $13.80 postage
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This is the best "Sleeping Beauty" of my collection of six. It is produced under the direction of Sir Peter Wright, who has a fabulous knowledge of ballet and was once a Danseure himself. The principle dancer in this production is the beautiful and capable Sofiane Sylve and her partner is Gael Lambiotte. The Lilac Fairy is also a very beautiful Sarah Fontaine, and even Enrichetta Cavallotti as Carabosse is beautiful if you like green make-up. Carabosse is as mean looking as they come, as are her evil minions, and being a woman she plays a much better role as an evil Fairy than a man playing the part. The Russians like to use men as Carabosse, but they seem to ham up the part too much. This ballet is 135 minutes plus 45 minutes of extra features subtitled in English, since this is a Dutch production. Sir Peter Wright and Sofiane Sylve speak English in their individual interviews. These are very informative bonus extras, so if you do not know what is happening on stage, or if this is to be viewed by children, please watch the bonus features first. Being 135 minutes in length assures you of a complete ballet with no dances cut out. It is in the 16:9 wide-screen format, and will play on a HD DVD player if it is NTSC format, which mine is. If you buy from China make sure it is NTSC and not PAL. The sets and costumes are absolutely stunning, depicting the Louis XIV era. The lighting is also very good and there are no dark scenes at all. Sylve is convincing in the role of a sixteen year old and she is also a very good actress, which shows in her finger-pricking scene. She is very strong in her dynamic jumping and fast turns. Her dancing in the Rose Adagio is magnificent, with just a slight wobble in one hand exchange. Magnificent is an inadequate superlative for her final PDD in the last act. There is an extra dance in this ballet not seen in any other version I have, which occurs just after the awakening kiss. It is to a tune from Balanchine's movie version of The Nutcracker during Marie's (Clara) dream. I don't know where the melody is actually from, however. Another thing happens in this version of "Beauty" not seen in any of the other six versions. Aurora is NOT taken off stage to begin her 100 years sleep. The producers should realize that the viewer is solely concerned with what happens to Aurora. Who is to prepare her for her sleep, Etc? Everyone in the palace, including her attendants and her Mother and Father, have also been put to sleep by the Lilac Fairy. It makes more sense for Aurora to be left on stage to begin her 100 years sleep along with everyone else, and to awaken her in exactly the same place and in exactly the same clothes, Etc. That's how it is done in this version, and just one of the reasons I think this is the best. This is not an inexpensive DVD but well worth the investment. There are two discs and a very informative booklet included if purchased from a U.S. dealer, but the booklet probably won't be included if purchased out of China, and if it is you may not be able to read Chinese (I can't), but the DVDs I have purchased from the Chinese are as good as any. But, lots of them are in the PAL format and may not work on all USA DVD players.Read full review
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