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40 of 41 persons found the following review helpful.
Lots of treasures
By Ivy Lin
Jacque d’Amboise, the American ballet dancer, had a very long and illustrious career, much of it expended at the New York City Ballet. He was one of George Balanchine’s favored dancers, and this wondrous new release is a must-have for balletomanes.
Perhaps the most worthful share of this dvd is a performance of Apollo, filmed in 1960, with Jiliana, Francia Russell, and Diana Adams as the three muses. Apollo was Balanchine’s firstborn “hit”, choreographed in 1928 for the Ballet Russes. It has been a staple not just of the New York City Ballet but of ballet companies international for closely 80 years. This filmed Apollo is priceless because in later years, Balanchine abridged Apollo slightly. He erased the birthing scene, and then also erased the final effigy of Apollo ascending the steps to Olympus, rather ending with the three muses lifting their legs into a “sun-dial.” I prefer the original ending, largely because I feel the cut Apollo erases a great deal of of Igor Stravinsky’s best music.
It is interesting to see this Apollo, because in later years the work became strongly affiliated with Peter Martins, the tall blonde Danish dancer, and Suzanne Farrell (who danced Terpsichore, the muse of dance), Balanchine’s last and perchance most celebrated “muse.” The Terpsichore/Apollo duet monopolized the ballet. d’Amboise is neither blond nor peculiarly handsome, and the ballet is more of a character/narrative piece. He looks a lot more like Serge Lifar, the initial creator of Apollo. Also, while the Terpsichore/Apollo duet is still the spotlight of the ballet, it seems more integrated into the rest of the ballet. This is hard to describe except to say that lately the duet is taken at a much slower pace, with a lot more still posing, while Diana Adams and d’Amboise take the duet at a comparatively fast clip. This is kind of akin to the Odette/Siegfried pas de deux in Swan Lake. Nowadays it is taken at an exceedingly slow pace, with a lot more still posing, whereas old videos show that a brisker pace was the norm. Still, the dancing in this Apollo is magnificent all over the boards, peculiarly the long-limbed and glamorous Adams as Terpsichore.
Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun is also valuable because it has rare footage of Tanaquil LeClercq, the ultra-glamorous ballerina (and Balanchine’s fifth wife) whose career was tragically cut short by polio. LeClercq, with her long legs and striking features, is marvelously sultry in this langorous, dreamy duet. The lately deceased Melissa Hayden joins d’Amboise in the irrepresible finale to Balanchine’s “Stars and Stripes”, as well as the duet to Todd Bolender’s “The Still Point.” The Stars and Stripes finale could be cheesy but it’s also one of the most charming pieces of Balanchine choreography. I had never heard of “The Still Point” but the duet, set to music by Debussy, is very beautiful. d’Amboise dances more conventional fare, the “Black Swan pas de deux” of Swan Lake, with Lupe Serrano. It’s actually not one thing special, except to see footage of Serrano, who wasn’t filmed very often.
Two segments are rather strange: one is d’Amboise’s own choreography to the “Snow” music of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. It’s a duet with Melissa Hayden, except they dance in an fantastically cheesy-looking “snow-covered street,” and it’s genuinely more of a curiosity than anything. Ballet meets “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The other is “The Filling Station,” a ballet set at, well, a gas station, with music by Virgil Thomson and choreography by Lew Christensen. It’s not a masterpiece, or even a good ballet, but it does demonstrate d’Amboise’s range as a dancer, as the dancing is more Gene Kelly than ballet. To round out the dvd there’s a 50 minute consultation with d’Amboise as he recalls how he started dancing, working with Balanchine, and his projects today.
A must-get.
18 of 19 persons found the following review helpful.
Great record of terrifi Dancing…MORE!!!!
By Ballet Boy
Finally, a great deal of wondrous films have been freed from Radio Canada. There are some films of the New York City Ballet that were done in Canada and until now, they wouldn’t even let you look at them at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. Although these are ordinarily seriously filmed and poor quality like the film of Divertimento #15, they are still worth cleaning up and seeing as this quality of dancer does not subsist anymore. I was thrilled to see how well Apollo looked. I have a copy of this peculiar tape myself but this one has been cleaned and made to look like new. It is likewise wondrous to see the outstanding Tanaquil LeClercq in Afternoon of a Faun. I would have thought that the Robbins Trust would do everything possible to block this from being seen. They hold the Robbins films, of which there are vast numbers, tighter than a drum. For a good deal of reason the NYCB has always felt that everything that is on film is meant to be locked away for eternity. Sadly, they are blocking people from seeing a lot of of the greatest dancers America ever devised dancing fantasti ballet they way they must be danced.
Filing Station is an interesting bore but the Snow Pas is gorgeous with lovely choreography by Jaques. It is the best choreography I have ever seen to this beauteous music and Melissa is wonderful. Stars, even though truncated, is marvelous! I want to see more!!!!
Jacques is a funny and very gifted man. When I was instructing at Broadway Dance Center years ago, he walked in to take the class wearing some kind of amusive looking sneakers. I was very amazed and yet thrilled. I declared to the class that we had one of America’s great dancers in class. He got a kick out of that. Afterwards, he told me that it was a outstanding class. A very nice guy. He must have been made conductor of the NYCB rather of Peter Martins who was a cold but very good dancer. Sadly, he is a terrible conductor who has destroyed the Balanchine esthetic and turned NYCB into a kiddy company. They may have technique but undertake to find one Hayden, Ashley, Kent, Verdy, D’Amboise, Villella or any other dancer artistically comparable to these. Never mind the repertoire…Diamond Project, UGH! What a waste of money…better expended on hungry children.
5 of 6 humans found the following review helpful.
Jacques d’Amboise, a outstanding american danser
By M. Dussault
It is a very interesting document specialy those from Radio-Canada’s archives of 1955 and 1960. As I was in the studio when this Apollon-Musagette was recorded (Pierre Mercure and François Bernier, réalisateurs, beeing personnal friends, who invited me to portion with them this recording of a great danser(I was recording a piano concert in another studio)) I looked at this document with particular interest and touching reminiscence! The consultation is exceedingly touching and interesting, specialy knowing how energicaly and courageously his “french canadian” mother looked upon her sons and daughter. Thanks so much for those marvelous moments of pure art!!!
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