Ballerina, Ballerina!; Ballet For Children And Adults; Be a Ballerina

"It's pink! It's for girls! It's a BALLERINA video! Little boys have their construction videos and now there's a videotape just for girls!" says the press release for Ballerina, Ballerina, and while I'm sure we all agree that the underlying assumptions here are extremely sexist and psychologically damaging to young male buckaroos, I kinda agree: this is a chick flick. Non-narrated, the nicely photographed segments follow a pair of professional ballerinas as they dress, practice at the bar (or "barre," if you want to use French) and on the floor, teach students, dance with a partner, and perform in a ballet. Each segment includes background music from various classical compositions, such as the 19th century Italian composer Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hour" (which he clearly lifted from a famous Alan Sherman song--the one that goes "hello muddah, hello faddah, here I am at Camp Grenada..."). A good program for ages 3-8. Recommended.Those who want to actually boogie out on the ballet floor and pliè down, so to speak, would be well served by Ballet for Children and Adults, an excellent program taught by former Boston Ballet dancer Kathryn Anderson. Following a brief introduction in which she talks about slippers, leotards, and why ballet dancers wear their hair back, Anderson conducts a class with a group of children and adolescents. Viewers will learn the 5 basic arm and leg positions as well as the standard classical ballet moves on the bar before moving out to center stage. Good camerawork (many of the steps are performed with both front and back views), and solid instruction by Anderson make this a winner, and the concluding segment aimed at parents which covers choosing ballet schools and teachers is a great practical bonus. An excellent introduction, suitable for ages 6 and up. Highly recommended.Be a Ballerina, on the other hand, is a poorly designed low-budget instructional video presented by former American Ballet ballerina Fern Gladstone, and a half-dozen young ballerina students. Initially, the students perform warm-up stretches and bar exercises which are likely to confuse young viewers, since the students vary considerably in ability and the camera is pointed at them not Gladstone. In the second half, the students sing songs completely unrelated to the subject of ballet as near as I can tell, and are shown in a brief ballet performance before an audience of, one hopes, parents. For ages 3-8. Not recommended. (R. Pitman)