Donna Cerio's Ballet Technique with a Broadway Flare

Anyone who dreams of becoming a member of the chorus line in a Broadway show—or even appearing in a local mounting—might benefit from this instructional program, but the primary audience will be ballet students looking for exercises set to more popular pieces rather than the usual classical compositions. Choreographer Donna Cerio and two young performers demonstrate how all the traditional techniques ordinarily executed at the barre—pliés, tendus, degagés, rond de jambes, développés, frappés, and grand battements—can be practiced to show tunes simply using a chair for balance. In each case, the exercise is presented first in slow motion, with Cerio describing each required movement, after which the two dancers perform the routine to a selection from a Broadway show, with tunes here drawn from Sweet Charity, Kiss Me Kate, Spamalot, Pippin, and Wicked. Technically, the production is spartan: taped in the empty auditorium of a California school, with a static camera stationed at the back of the stage while Cerio and her colleagues, in plain black exercise outfits, perform upstage (and the audio isn't entirely successful in coping with the hall's resonance). But the presentation's simplicity reflects the functionalism of the entire project, which offers a refreshing alternative to traditional dance instruction videos. Recommended. Aud: P. (F. Swietek)