Esmeralda (2011)

La Fille Mal Gardée (The Royal Ballet)

Frederick Ashton's La Fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter) is one of the choreographer's most joyous and colourful creations. Inspired by his love for the Suffolk countryside, the ballet is set on a farm and tells a story of love between Lise, the daughter of Widow Simone, and Colas, a young farmer. It contains some of Ashton's most stunning choreography, most strikingly in the series of energetic pas de deux that express the youthful passion of the young lovers, performed here by Natalia Osipova and Steven McRae. The ballet is laced with exuberant good humour, and elements of national folk dance, from dancing chickens and a maypole dance to a Lancashire clog dance for Widow Simone, performed by Philip Mosley.

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

The classic Mariinsky (Kirov) production of the greatest of all ballets. Filmed in the imperial splendor of the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg. Starring Ulyana Lopatkina, Danila Korsuntsev and the breathtaking Mariinsky corps de ballet. Conducted by the great Russian maestro Valery Gergiev.

Billy Elliot

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

The Phantom of the Opera

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

Save the Last Dance

After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her brother Derek, who helps her with her dancing skills.

The Sleeping Beauty (Royal Ballet)

The wicked fairy Carabosse is furious she wasn’t invited to Princess Aurora’s christening. She gives the baby a spindle, saying that one day the Princess will prick her finger on it and die. The Lilac Fairy makes her own christening gift a softening of Carabosse’s curse: Aurora will not die, but will fall into a deep sleep, which only a prince’s kiss will break. The masterful 19th-century choreography of Marius Petipa is combined with sections created for The Royal Ballet by Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell and Christopher Wheeldon. Recorded live as part of the Royal Opera House Live Cinema Season 2019/20 with encore screenings broadcast online during the #OurHousetoYourHouse programme.

Bolshoi Ballet: A Hero of Our Time

Pechorin, a young officer, embarks on a journey across the majestic mountains of the Caucasus, on a path set by his passionate encounters. Disillusioned and careless, he inflicts pain upon himself and the women around him… The story, based on the larger-than-life hero Pechorin, is adapted from Mikhail Lermontov’s literary masterpiece in three separate stories recounting his heartbreaking betrayals. Is Pechorin a real hero? Or is he a man like any other? This brand new production by choreographer Yuri Possokhov is a tragic poetic journey that can only be seen at the Bolshoi. Filmed live on April 9th 2017.

The Bolshoi Ballet: A Contemporary Evening

For one evening, the Bolshoi takes on a new challenge with audacity in The Cage by Jerome Robbins, Harald Lander’s Études and Alexei Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons.

Woolf Works

The first revival of Wayne McGregor’s critically acclaimed ballet triptych to music by Max Richter, inspired by the works of Virginia Woolf.

The Sleeping Beauty

The Sleeping Beauty holds a special place in The Royal Ballet’s repertory. It was the ballet with which the Company reopened the Royal Opera House in 1946 after World War II, its first production at its new home in Covent Garden. Margot Fonteyn danced the role of the beautiful Princess Aurora in the first performance, with Robert Helpmann as Prince Florimund. Sixty years later, in 2006, the original 1946 staging was revived by then Director of The Royal Ballet Monica Mason and Christopher Newton, returning Oliver Messel’s wonderful designs and glittering costumes to the stage.

The ROH Live: Jewels

Now celebrating its 50th year, George Balanchine’s sparkling ballet still shines with all the brilliance of the gemstones that inspired it.

Matthew Bourne's Romeo + Juliet

Matthew Bourne's Romeo and Juliet is a passionate and contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare's classic love story. Bursting with youth, vitality and Matthew Bourne's trademark storytelling.

Aria

Ten short pieces directed by ten different directors, including Ken Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, and Nicolas Roeg. Each short uses an aria as soundtrack/sound, and is an interpretation of the particular aria.

Giselle: Ballet in Cinema

The ultimate romantic ballet, performed by former Bolshoi Ballet principals Olga Smirnova and Jacopo Tissi, who fled Russia and joined the Dutch National Ballet, where this production is filmed. The young peasant girl Giselle falls in love with Albrecht, a nobleman already betrothed who hides his true identity from her. When she learns the truth, she becomes mad and dies. Against her own will, Giselle joins the Wilis: vengeful spirits of jilted brides who condemn Albrecht to dance until he dies of exhaustion.

Hans Christian Andersen

A small-town shoemaker with a knack for spinning yarns, Hans encounters happiness and heartbreak on his road to becoming a full-fledged writer.

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker is Mikhail Baryshnikov's breathtaking and critcally acclaimed Emmy nominated production. The thisspectacular performance is danced by the magnificent team of Baryshnikov, one of the greatest classical dancers of the century, and Gelsey Kirkland, both chowcased at the peak of the their careers, with members of the American Ballet Theatre.

Ghost Light by John Neumeier

The Hamburg Ballet was one of the first ballet companies internationally to return to its studios after the first lockdown. The ballet Ghost Light by John Neumeier deals with isolation and the feelings and fantasies an empty stage may evoke. Developed in fragments using small groups of dancers and under the constraints imposed by Covid-19, the choreography reflects situations, fears, relationships, memories, and emotions experienced during the pandemic.

The Nutcracker

This all-time ballet favourite, in which young Clara is swept into a fantasy adventure when one of her Christmas presents comes to life, is at its most enchanting in Peter Wright's glorious production.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker (Valery Gergiev)

During a Christmas Eve party and a young girl, Clara, being given a nutcracker doll by her godfather, Drosselmeyer. Later in the evening when Clara sleeps, she finds herself in the midst of the Nutcracker’s battle against the Mouse King and his army of mice. Coming to Clara’s aid, the Nutcracker is transformed into a Prince and journeys with her to an enchanted island where spectacular celebrations are held in their honor. Pre-recorded at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in December 2011, Wassili Vainonen’s version of the beloved holiday ballet is for the first time in 3-D in select theaters.

Bolshoi Ballet: Coppélia

Swanhilda notices her fiancee Franz is infatuated with the beautiful Coppélia who sits reading on her balcony each day. Nearly breaking up the two sweethearts, Coppélia is not what she seems and Swanhilda decides to teach Franz a lesson… The Bolshoi’s unique version of Coppélia exhibits a fascinating reconstruction of the original 19th century choreography of this ebullient comedy involving a feisty heroine, a boyish fiancee with a wandering eye, and an old dollmaker. The company’s stunning corps de ballet shines in the divertissements and famous “dance of the hours,” and its principals abound in youthful energy and irresistible humor in this effervescent production.

Center Stage

A group of 12 teenagers from various backgrounds enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York to make it as ballet dancers and each one deals with the problems and stress of training and getting ahead in the world of dance.

Sleeping Beauty

The childless royal couple expected a child for many years. They have got a real monster after the birth of their daughter. The young princess made life in the castle unbearable. The bullying of the governess, who turned out to be an evil sorceress, turned into a curse for the whole family. Fortunately, the kind fairy turned the curse into a test of strength and gave the young princess a groom and eternal love.

Swan Lake

Matthew Bourne choreographs this performance of Tchaikovsky's ballet, filmed live in London. The show, the longest running ballet on both Broadway and the West End, follows the story of Prince Siegfried, who promises his love to swan maiden Odette, only to be tricked by magician Von Rothbart. The stars include Richard Winsor, Dominic North, Nina Goldman, Madelaine Brennan, Steve Kirkham and Joseph Vaughan.

Concerto / Enigma Variations / Raymonda Act III (Royal Ballet)

From The Royal Ballet’s classical origins in the works of Petipa, to the home-grown choreographers who put British ballet on the world stage, this mixed programme highlights the versatility of the Company. Petipa’s Raymonda Act III is Russian classical ballet summarized in one act, full of sparkle and precise technique, while Ashton’s Enigma Variations is quintessentially British in every way – from its score by Elgar and period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, to Ashton’s signature style, the essence of British ballet. Concerto, MacMillan’s fusion of classical technique with a contemporary mind, completes a programme that shows the breadth of the Company’s heritage.

Tales of Beatrix Potter

The Royal Ballet Company brings Squirrel Nutkin, Tom Thumb, Hunca Munca, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Jeremy Fisher, Pigling Bland, and Pigwig to the screen doing pirouettes and pas de deux in this filmed ballet production directed by Reginald Mills. The film more properly belongs, however, to choreographer Frederick Ashmore, composer John Lanchbery, and costume designer Rostislav Douboujinsky. This literal adaptation concerns the shy Beatrix Potter and how, when all of the toy animals in her room come to life, she emerges from her shell and begins to enjoy life. Sequences include a rowdy dance with Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca destroying a collection of plaster food, a midnight pas de deux between Pigling Bland and Pigwig, and a corps de ballet of dancing mice.

The Unfinished Dance

A young dance student accidentally cripples a teacher she doesn't like.

Billy Elliot: The Musical Live

In County Durham, England, 1984, a talented young dancer, Billy Elliot, stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor. He faces many trials and triumphs as he strives to conquer his family’s set ways, inner conflict, and standing on his toes in a musical that questions masculinity, gender norms and conformity.

The Winter's Tale (The Royal Ballet)

The story follows the destruction of a marriage through consuming jealousy, the abandonment of a child and a seemingly hopeless love. Yet, through remorse and regret – and after a statue comes miraculously to life – the ending is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. Wheeldon continues his highly successful collaboration with designer Bob Crowley and composer Joby Talbot, the team behind Alice, in one of the highlights of The Royal Ballet Season.

Nutcracker: The Motion Picture

In this Pacific Northwest Ballet performance, it is Christmas Eve and festivities are underway. Clara is excited when her godfather arrives with a bag full of gifts, one of which is an intriguing wooden nutcracker. That night, while the household sleeps, Clara visits the Christmas tree to inspect her nutcracker and soon finds herself immersed in a dream world both dark and enchanting.

Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary

A cinematic version of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's adaptation of Bram Stoker's gothic novel Dracula. Filmed in a style reminiscent of silent Expressionist cinema of the early 20th century (complete with intertitles and monochrome photography), it uses dance to tell the story of a sinister but intriguing immigrant who preys upon young English women.

Manon (The Royal Ballet)

Manon’s brother Lescaut is offering her to the highest bidder when she meets Des Grieux and falls in love. They elope to Paris, but when Monsieur G.M. offers Manon a life of luxury as his mistress she can’t resist.

Swan Lake

The Royal Ballet performs Tchaikovsky's classic ballet, choreographed by Liam Scarlett and starring Marianela Nunez as Odette/Odile and Vadim Muntagirov as Prince Siegfried.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

One sunny afternoon, during a garden party, young Alice sees with surprise how the writer Lewis Carroll, a friend of her parents, unusually turns into a white rabbit, and immediately feels the irrepressible desire to follow him into a magical rabbit hole.

Romeo and Juliet

Two young lovers, offspring of the feuding Montague and Capulet families, value feelings above the past, pitting love and forgiveness against hatred and revenge.

The Blu-ray Experience II: Opera, Ballet & theatre

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Don Quixote (Kirov Ballet)

The story of Don Quixote tells of the old knight who dreams of chivalry and his comic squire, Sancho Panza. This performance by the Kirov has been hailed as one of the greatest large cast ballet productions ever recorded on film. The tremendous resources of the Kirov Ballet flash and dash through the four acts of joyous Petipa and Gorsky choreography making Don Quixote a thrilling visual treat. This delightful spectacle features the great Soviet dancers Tatyana Terekhova and Farouk Ruzimatov as the lovers Kitri and Basilio. Don Quixote is performed by Kirov star Vladimir Ponomaryov. Filmed live at the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad.

The Champion

Eikichi Yamashiro, who is a former contender for the boxing title, works as a manager at a Club Champion owned by his fiancé Natsuko’s father. He lost a title match five years ago as he was besotted by Natsuko, but Eikichi actually cannot give up the dream of the championship. One day, he meets Shuntaro Fuma, who is a punk kid but a promising boxer, and realizes the dream that he himself could never fulfill. Then, they together start to train with the aim of the title. Mari Shiraki is an up-and-coming ballerina under the patronage of Eikichi as well. Eikichi forbids Shuntaro and Mari to be romantically involved with someone during their training, however, they start to go on a date. (source: Nikkatsu International)

Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes: The Firebird / The Rite of Spring

Starvinsky's ballets The Firebird and The Rite of Spring in the restored original choresography by Michel Fokine (Firebird) and Vaslav Nijinsky (Rite of Spring).

Paris Opera Ballet: Tribute to Jerome Robbins 2

Jerome Robbins considered the Paris Opera Ballet as his second home after the New York City Ballet. This production in his honour brings together works displaying the infinite diversity of his sources of inspiration and his genius on stage. Be it in the energy of the large-scale Glass Pieces or the intimate sweetness of Afternoon of a Faun and A Suite of Dances, there emerges that rare capacity to make bodies follow the flow in a living comprehension of music. As the celebrated ballet Fancy Free, a veritable theatrical portrait of an era, enters the repertoire, Robbins reveals another facet of his talent.