Allegra KentandThe New York City Ballet and the children of The School of American Ballet.Film and TV adaptations of the dream-and-reality masterpiece At the New York State Theater in Lincoln Center. presented by Columbia Pictures in association with the City Center of Music and Drama, Inc. The CastA MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM a feature-length color film version of George Balanchine ballet based on William Shakespeare's comedy with music by Felix Mendelssohn directed by Dan Eriksen produced by Richard Davis and released through Oberon Productions, Ltd. Martinson, Morton Baum, George London, Mrs. Garrison, George Segal and Candice Bergen.Among the members of the fund's board of directors who attended were Rita Allen, George T. Also at the benefit showing were Senator Jacob K. Lindsay headed the sponsors of last night's premiere at the New York State Theater. On the credit side may be placed a good soundtrack and Robert Irving's conducting.Mayor and Mrs. Balanchine would no more have created this present choreography for the film medium than he would have put Miss Zorina's "Black Magic" solo onstage.The close scrutiny of the camera is occasionally unkind to some of the acting, although the beauty of Suzanne Farrell's glowingly girlish Titania, Edward Villella's spectral force as Oberon, Arthur Mitchell's smilingly human Puck and Allegra Kent's exquisite Court Dancer, all emerge splendidly, as does the dancing.Technically the film bears few signs of the haste in which it was made, but the apparent dominance of blues and browns in the color (by Pathé) is a grave error of judgment, for it makes the coloring of the film look both dreary and monotonous. But in essence this "Midsummer Night's Dream" is a compromise, as are all ballet films based on stage ballets. You only have to remember Vera Zorina's "Black Magic" dance in "Star Spangled Rhythm" about a quarter of a century ago, to realize that Balanchine does know what he is doing in front of a camera. Both the dance and the dancers produce nothing that really approximates to the effect they create on stage, and the choreography in particular seems to undervalue itself, so that even passages that look magical on stage here occasionally look trite.Perhaps the saddest aspect is that Balanchine really is interested in the film medium, and indeed is one of the few choreographers who has had much practical experience of filmmaking. Here in this "Midsummer Night's Dream" there is a frank avowal that a film is being made, the use of closeups and panning is frequently intelligent, and there is even a little judicious use of trick photography to indicate the medium's benefits.Yet the strange thing is that the spirit of the ballet, indeed even more the actual shape and feel of the choreography, remains defiantly clusive. At least they have avoided the "stage-pretence" of such films as the Royal Ballet's "Romeo and Juliet," which even went so far as to simulate fake curtain calls. In this they have failed.The attempt has been a brave one. It appears that recreation was their aim, the synthesis of a genuine ballet film able to hold its own with the original ballet on its own terms. Balanchine who supervised the film, Richard Davis who produced, and Dan Eriksen who directed it, had more ambitious plans than that of simple record. Future screenings have not yet been scheduled.Yet I suspect that Mr. ![]() As such it will have an interest for people living outside the range of Balanchine's New York City Ballet, and in time should prove a valuable documentation of what the production was originally like.Last night's world premiere at the New York State Theater was a single showing for the benefit of the New York City Ballet Fund. ![]() But this says remarkably little.The film is presumably intended in the first place as some kind of record of Balanchine's ballet, and although it has been filmed in a studio and the stage settings have been redesigned, there have been comparatively few changes in choreography, and it does to a very large extent represent Balanchine's intentions in the ballet. ONE'S gratitude would know no bounds not to be quoted in any vulgar publicity material, but quite probably the film of Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is one of the best dance films ever made.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |