Amelia

The dance is everything in Canadian choreographer Édouard Lock's beautifully crafted film of his 2002 ballet Amelia, shot here on a sleekly tapered wooden set. The title seems arbitrary, since on the audio commentary (one of the first disc's bonus features), Lock claims that he resolutely avoided any sense of narrative: in fact, the ballet itself consists of 14 seamlessly joined scenes featuring men and women from the La La La Human Steps dance troupe—costumed in black and white—dancing rather frantically in various combinations to chamber music composed by David Lang with lyrics from Lou Reed circa the ‘60s Velvet Underground period. Perhaps the intent is to convey different attitudes in which the sexes confront one another, but that's never made clear; still, one has to admire the agility of the dancers (and cinematographer), even if the ballet seems little more than an admittedly impressive exercise in style. The excellent anamorphic transfer and superb sound (in DTS 5.1 and PCM stereo) are supplemented by an interactive option that allows the viewer to switch to behind-the-scenes footage for the various segments of the ballet, providing a sort of fragmented “making-of” featurette. The brief second disc includes information on nine of Lock's works, accompanied by audio and video excerpts and photos, as well as printed biographies of the creators and performers, and the DVD package features an accompanying booklet. Recommended, especially for larger music and dance libraries. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)