Ballets: The Flames of Paris

[jimpickles]

I've just looked - the pas de deux from The Flames of Paris is on the widely available DVD/tape "Glory of the Bolshoi" (NVC Arts; Warner Music Group) (track 15) - danced by Musa Gottlieb and Vakhtang Chaboukiani (a Georgian, trained in Leningrad) in 1953.

 

Jim.

[dmdance]

I know that I am bringing up an old topic, but I have a question about the pdd: the one that is so popular at galas, etc... At what point in the plot does it occur. I am essentially familiar with the plot, but am not certain where this pdd fits in. I don't think that it is the one at the banquet. Or am I wrong?

[marya]

Hi,

I bought the VHS version of "Stars of the Russian Ballet" several years ago at the closing of a bookstore. You can purchase a DVD version at www.Kultur.com

Here's the official description of the DVD:

 

The first part of this film features Galina Ulanova in excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Utilizing dazzling special effects, this production takes full advantage of the artistic qualities of the cinema, rather than merely recording the event. This is truly an historical film document, for it is the only extant tape of Ulanova as Odette.

 

The second part of this three-part ballet film contains a most unusual event, a one-of-a kind sequence in which two of the world’s greatest ballerinas, Galina Ulanova and Maya Plisetskaya, dance together in a memorable performance of B.V. Asafiev’s ballet, The Fountain Of Bakhchisarai. This is the only filmed record of these two great dancers performing together and it provides a unique opportunity to compare their different styles.

 

The great Russian dancer Vakhtang Chabukiani, is featured in the third part of this film in a performance of B.V. Asafiev’s The Flames Of Paris, which is a colorful homage to the French Revolution. This film also features the soloists and ballet troupe of the Bolshoi Theatre, and soloists, ballet troupe, choir and orchestra of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theatre.

 

Swan Lake

Odette...Galina Ulanova

Odile...Natalia Dudinskaya

Prince...Konstantine Sergeyev

 

The Fountain Of Bakhchisarai

Maris...Galina Ulanova

Zarema...Maya Plisetskaya

Girzi...Peter Gussiev

Vaclav...Yuri Zhdanov

 

The Flames Of Paris

Philippe...Vakhtang Chabukiani

Jeanne...M. Gottlieb

 

The film was made in 1953 and distributed by Kultur. Ulanova and Plisetskaya have an amazingly modern look but The Flames Of Paris and The Fountain Of Bakhchisarai are definitely somewhat dated. I thought Fountain Of Bakhchisarai was a little too violent for me.

 

Overall, the DVD contains a lot of rare footage of these famous dancers and it's a really special DVD to have.

 

Mary A.

[Clara 76]

Wow!! Thank you, Mary A, and Welcome to Ballet Talk for Dancers!!!!!!