American Ballet Theatre at the Met - Mixed Bill (1985)

From the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, this triple bill of ballets, with an additional glittering pas de deux, is a delightful introduction to the range and excitement of American Ballet Theatre’s repertory. The first piece is Les Sylphides in which Mikhail Baryshnikov is the poet surrounded by the drifting chorus of sylphs. The Sylvia Pas de deux is a sparkling duet for Martine van Hamel and Patrick Bissell, and it is followed by Triad, one of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s most poetic and sensitive short ballets. Finally, in a blaze of brilliant dancing, the Grand Pas from Paquita shows off the technical virtuosity of ABT’s dancers in a cascade of mock-Spanish bravura choreography staged by Natalia Makarova from the original Petipa version.

AFTER A FEW DECADES ABT AT THE MET IS STILL A GEM

I bought this tape on laser disc format almost twenty years ago,and got rid of it when DVD came out. These days I still watch it once in a while and the ABT magic still dazzles me, to put it simply, it's a gem. There are four programs each one with its own mood and style. Les Sylphides is elegant and graceful, Sylvia-Pas de deux shows off Martine Van Hamel and Patrcik Bissell's dazzling technigue, Triad, with the smooth and agile movements of the dancers, and Paquita is appropriately the grand finale of the evening that offers ABT's numerous talents to the gratification of the audience. It is worth noticing that almost all the dancers in this tape are retired and as far as I know Fernando Bujones and Patrick Bissel are no longer alive. Anyway, for ballet fan this dvd is a must have. February 17, 2008

A great selection of ballet exerpts by a great ballet company

I have actually had the VHS version of this DVD for many years and was excited to buy it on DVD.

I love all the performances on this DVD, this was ABT in it's best years. I particularly love the "Les Sylphide" performance. Marianna Tcherkassky is flawless and of course Baryshnikov is brilliant as usual.

If you are a ballet fan and particularly an ABT fan, this DVD is a must have! April 30, 2007

If it's American Ballet Theatre, you can't go wrong

This eclectic program (Les Sylphides, Sylvia pas de deux, Kenneth MacMillan's Triad, and Paquita) is a beautiful slice of ABT's wide range of repertory and features sparkling performances from Baryshnikov, Cynthia Gregory, Fernando Bujones, Cynthia Harvey, Marianna Tcherkassky, Martine van Hamel, and many others. Although the taping itself is a little less engaging than I would like (ABT's 1998 tape, Variety and Virtuosity, is far superior in this aspect), this is still a wonderful addition to any ballet fan's collection. July 11, 2000

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