Gil Isoart, Paris Opera Ballet teacher, offers a beautiful and informative on-line class
Ballet Class with Gil Isoart
Insights
Divertissement from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
In 1964, George Balanchine extended Mendelssohn's suite A Midsummer Night's Dream with additional Mendelssohn compositions to create his evening-length ballet based on Shakespeare's play. The first act is a plot-driven dance narration of the major themes of the play. The second act's nuptial scene becomes the setting for a love-themed divertissement in the language of…
The Children of Theatre Street
The Children of Theatre Street profiles three students studying at the Vaganova Choreographic Institute in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in 1977. This film inspired me as a student, and it still fascinates me today. Grace Kelly narrates. George Balanchine was a product of this school (then called the Imperial Ballet School), and he eventually founded the…
Degas at the Opera
The Degas exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay explores the artist's work and inspiration from the Paris Opera.
Alexandra Danilova
Alexandra Danilova, prima ballerina of the Ballets Russes, rehearses a variation from Le Pavillon d'Armide for the annual (graduation) SAB workshop performance. I recognize Mme. Danilova's own Russian Imperial style in the student's port de bras and epaulement. Mme. Danilova, always bejeweled and perfumed, wore these kinds of long floral chiffon skirts, color coordinated with…
Ballets Russes
"Ballets Russes" is a magnificent documentary exploring not only the story of the Ballets Russes and its artists, but also a human story of aging and loss. The dancers, in their 70's and 80's, recollect this extraordinary period of artistic revolution in ballet through interviews and period footage. With charismatic personalities and humor intact, they…
Moiseyev
The legendary troupe of firebrands and charismatic dancing
Carmen Amaya
Eyes cast downwards, as if dancing on the rim of an erupting volcano, Carmen Amaya embodies – in defiance – confidence.
Nacho Duato
Nacho Duato's work roots deeply into Western historical precedent, and yet is entirely of our time. His dance vocabulary and line, unquestionably contemporary, nevertheless draw directly from classical ballet. Born in Spain, trained in England, mentored by Jiri Kylian in the Netherlands, Nacho Duato creates work reflecting today's globalization in ballet, while maintaining a distinctive…
grand jete – Nikolai Tsiskaridze
Tsiskaridze's grand jete exploits his natural physical assets with powerful, long legs, and an unusually supple spine and hip flexors for a male dancer. His muscular push into the floor with an a high upward grand battement to the front launches him into a projectile arc. He coordinates this masculine athleticism with an eloquence in his port de…