For those who want a full ballet and dance experience that is not available on local stage, DVDs are still one of the best ways to discover the fantastic variety on offer all over the world. Production values have improved enormously, with the camera often taking you in closer than possible at a live performance, and many DVDs have added features such as interviews. Caitlyn Lehmann offers her 10 favourites for you to sample – or to treat someone with for Christmas!
Three Ballets by Wayne McGregor (Opus Arte, OA 1048D)
Strange to say, this is a terrific DVD for those who find Wayne McGregor’s ballets difficult. Why? Well, by his own admission, McGregor intends his ballets to be multilayered affairs, and that makes them notoriously hard to digest in one-off encounters. Many people walk away with impressions of hypnotically busy choreography and joint-busting hyper-extensions. This DVD is a chance to explore his visions more closely. It features three of McGregor’s works created on and danced by the Royal Ballet’s finest.
Chroma has real immediacy and is widely regarded as McGregor’s best work. Think 23 minutes of high octane dancing set off by bold, monochromatic designs. The introspective Infra hints at themes of urban alienation. Limen (Latin for “threshold”) is perhaps the most ambiguous of the three, and includes a quietly breathtaking pas de deux by Eric Underwood and Sarah Lamb. McGregor himself introduces each work and, as a further bonus, Australians Leanne Benjamin and Steven McRae are in the casts. So if you haven’t fancied McGregor before, here’s your chance to really build familiarity with his choreography. It might just prove a revelation.
See the current issue of Dance Australia (December 12/January 13) for Caitlyn’s other nine choices. OUT NOW!