An Evening with the Royal Ballet

What a treasure to have these ballet performances from 1963 recorded! This movie features excerpts from "Le Corsaire", "La Valse", "Les Sylphides", "The Sleeping Beauty". The quality of the video is surprisingly good: very clear, lots of detail and beautiful colors. The audio is wonderful, too. The dances chosen have a range of emotions and nicely showcase Britain's Royal Ballet and especially Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev and David Blair. The choreography by Frederick Ashton, Michel Fokine, Rudolf Nureyev, and Marius Petipa is stunning. Nureyev's "Le Corsaire" is worth the price alone; he and Margot Fonteyn are absolutely amazing in their athletic abilities. "Les Syphides" and "La Valse" are reminiscent of the great Busby Berkeley musicals from the 1930s and 1940s in that every person on stage is meticulously placed and posed throughout every scene. The scenery provides beautiful, yet non-distracting, backdrops for the various ballets. And finally, the costumes. To quote my seven-year old daughter "Their costumes are *glorious*!" I heartily agree (specially during "La Valse" and "The Sleeping Beauty") they truly are lovely.