Documentary Recomendations

Because of a delivery mix-up, I ended up coming home on Sunday to find two documentaries from Netflix. The first one I watched was called Discovering the Real World of Harry Potter and honestly, the reason for getting it was because Hugh Laurie narrated it. But it ended up being quite fascinating. Hugh was pretty funny, in his sardonic way, and the back-stories about apothecaries, witches, J.K. Rowling’s childhood home with a cupboard under the stairs and boarding schools were really interesting. It took the fiction and magic and mystery of Harry Potter and tied it back to real legends, folktales and facts. Hogwarts is very similar to a boarding school up in Scotland, which includes a sorting ceremony (but not with a hat like in the book). There were discussions about the stories regarding the history of witches, their potions, owls, wands and brooms. Plus, these two guys were interview. They were pretty amazing. Interestingly, at one point, they compare Harry, Ron and Hermione to Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere and wonder about how that triangle will turn out. Clearly this was produced before the last few books… It was a very simple DVD (and the production looked like something from the 90’s) but quite interesting and if you’re a Harry Potter fan, a Hugh Laurie fan or a legends, myths and folktales fan, I’d recommend it.

Plus these two guys were interviewed... the first guy is an apothecary and the other guys is a White Witch. For realz...

The other one was called Bringing Balanchine Back and a famous actor (Kevin Kline) also narrated this one. I absolutely love the New York City Ballet (and still have memories of going to see the Nutcracker and Coppelia at the State Theatre with Grandma and Roni) and know all about their ballets as well as the famous Balanchine ballerinas like Suzanne Farrell, Tanaquil LeClerq, Maria Tallchief, Merrill Ashley, Patricia McBride, Darci Kistler, Kay Mazzo, Karin Von Aroldingen, Allegra Kent as well as the men, like Jacques and Christopher d’Amboise, Peter Martins, Ib Andersen, Edward Villella, Joe and Danny Duell, Bart Cook, and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. I read so many books about the NYCB in high school and got to the point where I could recognize ballet dancers in the pictures. So when I saw this movie on Netflix, clearly I was interested.

I didn’t know many of the dancers in this DVD though because it focused on the company in 2003, following them through their tour to the Maryinsky Theatre, which was where George Balanchine got his start. The 2003 tour was 20 years after Balanchine’s death an 10 years after his birth. I did recognize Wendy Whelan and Jock Soto, along with Darci Kistler, who is still a principal dancer, despite being a Balanchine ballerina (and Benjamin Miliepied, also known as Natalie Portman’s co-star in Black Swan and now husband). Peter Martins, now Ballet-Master-In-Chief was also a familiar face, along with Rosemary Dunleavy, who is still Ballet-Mistress. The documentary followed their rehearsals before the tour as well as their trip over and their experiences on tour. There were interview with the dancers on the trip and some of them got emotional because many of them were thinking about how Mr. B would have been reacting to the experience. One thing that Darci mentioned was that many of the dancers in the company right now weren’t even alive when Balanchine was alive and yet they are dancing his works many even better than when he was alive, which really puts things into perspective.

There was also, interspersed with tour footage, was a history of George Balanchine, his life, his choreography, his contribution to the City Ballet and to the dance/entertainment world as a whole. And his impact is truly massive. As a child at the Maryinsky Theatre, he was around people who performed ballets that are part of the typical repertoire. They also discussed the first time that Balanchine went to Russia (at that time it was the Soviet Union) and how the performance changed the Soviet opinion of him.

It was interesting to see the complications of an international tour- hanging all of the scenery in a theatre already occupied by a company, rehearsing a foreign orchestra in only a few days, etc. Also on the opening night, the conductor and the orchestra disappeared while they were setting up for Symphony in Three Movements after Serenade, causing obviously a delay and of course, much confusion.

One of my favorite things about many Balanchine ballets is the simplicity of the costumes and sets so that you focus only on the music and the choreography. Obviously ballets like the Nutcracker, Coppelia, Stars and Stripes, Union Jack and Seven Deadly Sins are exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, the focus is on the must and the dancers, without the frills and trappings of costumes and scenery. The one exception on this tour was Western Symphony, also a spoof on the American West (music by Hershey Kay), Balanchine’s homage to his adopted home. With a set looking like the front of an old saloon and the costumes reminiscent of the old West, I’m sure it was something never seen or expected by the Russians. I personally loved it.

I also loved that they performed some of Jerome Robbins’ work because he is such a huge part of the NYCB. Obviously known for West Side Story, he also choreographed many works for NYCB including Dances at a Gathering, Baiser de la Fee, Four Seasons and Fancy Free. He and Balanchine worked side by side and even though the Maryinsky was not part of his heritage, to see him featured as well as an homage to the cross-cultural nature of the NYCB was wonderful. It also was the first time that many Russians were seeing Robbins’ work, which I’m sure heightened the experience.

As a Balanchine, NYCB, classical music, ballet fan, I absolutely loved this movie. It reminded me of books like “Mozartiana” and “A Very Young Dancer” that show you the behind the scenes nature of the ballet world. It also gave me the opportunity for the first time (just like the Russian audiences) to see Peter Martin’s choreography. I really enjoyed Hallelujah Junction and would be interested in seeing more of his work. Additionally, during the credits (which, weirdly, I enjoy watching…), there are so many familiar names- Victor Castelli, Sean Lavery, Richard Moredock, Gordon Boelzner, people who have been with the company for literally decades. I’d highly recommend if it any of these things interest you.