Balanchine: New York City Ballet in Montreal: Volume 2

Black and White footage from TV broadcast shows Balanchine's genius as a choreographer. Also included is an introduction to Agon from Balanchine himself (in French).

This video is an absolute treasure of vintage Balanchine. The most priceless item on the video is probably "Concerto Barocco" with Tanny LeClercq and Diana Adams. LeClerq's career was tragically cut short by polio so clips of her dancing are few and far between. This "Concerto Barocco" has 6 corps women instead of the standard eight (probably because of the tiny studio) and they are wearing black leotards instead of the white dresses. But other than that, this is recognizably the same beloved ballet. LeClercq is absolutely beautiful and she and Diana Adams make a great contrast. They are similar in height and build but LeClercq's style is graceful and soft while Adams is severe and geometrical. Adams is also featured in "Agon." Balanchine famously designed the central pas de deux for Arthur Mitchell and Diana Adams because he wanted to contrast their skin tones. This idea might seem offensive today but in the 1950's to design a sexy, provocative duet between an African American man and a white woman was considered very shocking and avante garde. But this early video of Agon shows how this ballet has changed over the years. The central pdd between Adams and Mitchell is much more impersonal here -- over the years, it's become more intimate and tender. Here it seems like a rather cold mating ritual, which was what Balanchine said was the original conception. The Pas de Dix with Maria Tallchief has been previously available. Tallchief, who is broad-shouldered and square-torsoed doesn't fit the stereotype of the Balanchine ballerina. But you can see in her a regal, stern quality that few of Balanchine's later muses had. As he aged, he seemed to like his girls thinner, more feminine. The choreography is heavily based on the Petipa Raymonda. Finally, the Nutcracker pas de deux with Diana Adams and Nicholas Magallanes is the only video document we have of Balanchine's choreography for the Cavalier variation. He cut it in later versions. Adams is also rather regal and cool as the SPF, but it's interesting to see Balanchine's first thoughts on the pas de deux. In general this version is familiar to anyone who's seen the final thoughts, although the sliding contraption is not there. These videos are really a wonderful resource for anyone interested in NYCB's first generation of dancers. They worked with Mr. B in his most productive years and yet they are often forgotten.

This was a big surprise. Nothing in the advertising that I recall told me that these are vintage recordings. Obviously, these works were digitized from the original videotapes and the grainy quality could not be brought up to today's visual standards. At first this disappointed me; but then I realized that these are actually valuable records of the early performances of these classic works. Diana Adams and even Tanaquil LeClercq are actually hefty compared with the later muses of Balanchine's genius. The performance levels of the dancers are more rough-hewn than long-time followers of Balanchine might recall. The stiletto precision of today's performers is not present in these vintage works. It makes me wonder if Balanchine's original genius was more inspired by particular, breathing people than by idealized mannequins. I think that this tape would be a big disappointment to a general audience fan expecting to see the crisp abstraction of Balanchine's later performance versions. But dance students and historians will enjoy this archival record. It makes one think about the ephemeral nature of ideals.

I loved watching this DVD except throughout I was irritated by the blurriness of the image. I realize the technology was not up to par in those days, but if someone could figure out how to clarify the gorgeous dancing, I would bump my rating up to five stars in a heartbeat.

This is well filmed, despite its age and like the others in this series, you can sense the direction of Balanchine in the most effective use of the cameras during the filming of each ballet. Concerto Barocco is a fantastic ballet on a level with that Serenade (In Volume 1) and Agon displays some imaginative movements that display good musicality to the music of Stravinsky. Diana Adams displays good dancing technique throughout but I would have like to have seen Maria Tallchief dance in the Nutcracker rather than her, but this is only a very small point in a DVD that, like the others is a welcome release of these ballets under the direct supervision of Balanchine. The interview with him now seems very dated but it is very interesting about his reason for his use of the music of Stravinsky shown particularly in Agon. .