Dancer's Dream: The Great Ballets of Rudolf Nureyev--Sleeping Beauty

The Ballet of the Paris Opera was not only languishing but also rarely performed classical ballet in 1983, when Rudolf Nureyev took over as artistic director and began to choreograph and produce works from the classic repertoire. One of his last productions was the masterpiece, Sleeping Beauty, in which the wicked fairy Carabosse casts a spell upon Princess Aurora, who is awakened after 100 years by the kiss of Prince Desiré. This splendid addition to the Dancer's Dream documentary series is a step up from the previously reviewed title Romeo & Juliet (see VL-1/04), as it provides detailed background on the original 19th century production and its creators, Marius Petipa and Peter Tchaikovsky, lavishly illustrated with fine archival materials, which helps viewers better appreciate the material on Nureyev and his successors. The performance in progress highlighted here is overseen by Nureyev's former partner, Patricia Ruanne, who has reunited the original principals, Elisabeth Platel and Manuel Legris. We follow their progress through beautifully juxtaposed rehearsal and performance scenes that provide insights into how a ballet is created, complete with interactions between the ballet mistress, the orchestra, and the costume and set designers--as well as some gorgeous dancing. The result is this magnificent homage to Nureyev, presented in LCPM stereo, that is highly recommended for both dance collections and general viewers. [Note: also newly available in the series is Dancer's Dream series is La Bayadère. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Reed)