A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Movie Reviews of A Midsummer Night's Dream
Movie Review: Enchanting video of Balanchine's wonderful ballet
Summary: 5 Stars
Balanchine's Midsummer's Night Dream (using Mendelssohn's famous incidental music, plus some other Mendelssohn pieces) has always been one of his most popular ballets -- it seems to meld magic, comedy, and romance better than most productions of Shaksepeare's play! In 1967 he even made a filmof his ballet, with an all-star cast of Suzanne Farrell, Edward Villella, Patricia McBride, Allegra Kent, and Arthur Mitchell. Sadly the rights to this film and tied up and there doesnt look to be any commercial release in the near future. Meanwhile, fans of this ballet can console themselves with Pacific Northwest Ballet's video.
The PNB seems to understand the Balanchine "style" remarkably well -- the sharp quick attacks, the lightning fast penchee arabesques, the mixture of pure athleticism and classical balletic grace. Care was obviously put into this production. The costumes are beautiful, the sets lavish. The cast is uniformly fine, but Patricia Barker deserves honorable mention as Titania. Tall and graceful, she's really enchanting as the Queen of the Fairies. The famous pas de deux with Titania and Bottom is both funny and extremely tender. Louise Nadeau is also enchanting as the second act soloist. She has the most exquisite leg placement, and is a wonderful adagio dancer -- she knows how to infuse each step with meaning. I'm in love with Ms. Nadeau. The adorable children who play the elves are also remarkably together and disciplined.
This ballet makes a lot of use of mime and too often in ballet productions the dancers seem to think of mime as simply waving the hands around and pointing in one direction. But the four lovers, Puck, and Oberon all remind us of how funny and expressive well-done mime can be in a ballet. At its best, mime does not simply explain the story, it enhances it. Puck (Seth Belliston's) confusion at identifying the four lovers is priceless.
The second act of Balanchine's MND is a dance extravaganza (at the Athenian court) and I hate to say this but after the exhilarating first act I always find the second act a bit of a letdown. Nevertheless there is a very well-choreographed divertissment. The pas de deux between the two soloists has one of the most beautiful final poses I've ever seen in any ballet. Louise Nadeau is particularly beautiful and lyrical as the soloist in this divertissment.
The ABT has recently come out with a dvd of Frederick Ashton's "The Dream", a one-act ballet. It stars Alessandra Ferri, Ethan Stiefel, and Herman Cornejo. The different ways Ashton and Balanchine use Mendelssohn's score and choreograph Shakespeare's play provides an interesting contrast. For instance, Balanchine uses the Adagio music from the Mendelssohn score as a pas de deux between Bottom and Titania, while Ashton uses the same music for the reconciliation duet between Titania and Oberon.
Movie Review: BBC hosts PNB at Sadlers Wells
Summary: 5 Stars
A business trip from my home in Seattle to London allowed me the pleasure of witnessing the recording of this production by BBC and Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Patricia Barker has been a major attraction for my season tickets through the years. Returning to Seattle and following a subsequent performance at Seattle's McCaw Hall I expressed my appreciation to Francia Russell and Kent StowellA Midsummer Night's Dream [HD DVD]. A quarter century of their devoted talent grew into a great ballet company.
Happy to have been there from the beginning and especially to have this superb recording for the memories. Edward Nixon
Movie Review: wow!
Summary: 5 Stars
The choreography is wonderful (of course it's Balanchine!), the dancing is superb (the third act pas de deux is about the most beautiful ballet one is likely to see), the costumes are beautiful, the cast is excellent (Patricia Barker's legs and feet are astounding) well worth having in your library. One strange note to this happy tale... The first dvd I received (one side is European PalSecam, the other regular since it was recorded in England) did not play at all so I sent it back and got another one which was mislabeled (the European side was in reality the American version) so I thought I had another dud, but the opposite side plays just fine.Movie Review: Extraordinarily Enchanting Ballet
Summary: 5 Stars
Patricia Barker is one of the best dancers of our time and she is extraordinary in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Balachine's choreography is wonderful and the story itself is enchanting. The costumes and scenery are so incredibly beautiful. Any small ballet company wishes they could have a budget like that. Everything about this ballet is absolutely beautiful.Movie Review: A Great Ballet
Summary: 5 Stars
I had ordered this dvd a year ago from amazon and it is my one of my favorite ballet dvds. (The other beig PNB's Nutcracker the Show. also featuring Patricia Barker.) The Ballet is entertaining and the performance was wonderful. It is well worth seeing.