 Classical Music in the Forties: Steps of the Ballet.
Published: 2005 This compilation of mostly classical music films includes a fascinating ballet curiosity, the 1948 film Steps of the Ballet. A suave Robert Helpmann gives a brief introductory talk on classical ballet technique illustrated by dancers from the Sadler's Wells companies; this is followed by a rehearsal and performance of a new ballet choreographed by Andrée Howard with principal dancers Gerd Larsen and Alexander Grant. Among those appearing in the twenty-five minute film are Howard herself, the composer Arthur Benjamin, and dancers including Jeanne Artois, Michael Bayston, Michael Bolton, Elaine Fifield, Gordon Hamilton, and Peter Wright. The remainder of the DVD is all of non-dance items and includes Sir Malcolm Sargent conducting and narrating Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Dennis Brain introducing and playing Beethoven's Horn Sonata, and Myra Hess in excerpts from her National Gallery war time concerts. [Uncoded, playable world-wide on PAL compatible equipment.] |
