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Don Quixote / Baryshnikov, Harvey, American Ballet Theatre |
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Home: You are here: Don Quixote / Baryshnikov, Harvey, American Ballet Theatre |
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Don Quixote / Baryshnikov, Harvey, American Ballet Theatre  Rating: Rating:  - Duped by the 5 star reviewsCall me Gullible. I read all the 5 star reviews of this DVD and bought it. I was unprepared for the result. Let me get to the chase. This one of the worst videos I have ever seen. Let's start with the best thing I can say, the sound is decent. 'Nuff said. Getting to the video is painful. First the colors are washed out. Second, this is a copy of a VHS tape, a bad VHS tape. I wouldn't doubt it if this was a multi-generation transfer. There are processing lines and halos around all the dancers. The resolution is abominable. Everything is obscured and blurred out of existence from costume details to the dancers faces. The roses in a bouquet shown up close are smears of red in smears of green. In fact when the camera shot is pulled back to review the whole stage you won't be able to tell the dancers even have any faces or heads. Trying to enjoy or rate any performance through this gauze is virtually impossible. How anyone can review this DVD as anything above one star is beyond me. I'd rather watch the worst performance of this ballet in a clear transfer than this crap. And don't be fooled by the nice photo on the cover. The video is nothing like it. Needless to say I rate this AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Rating:  - Terrific ballet!!This particular ballet is what hooked me on ballet. I had watched Swan Lake and was so bored that I fell asleep. Swan Lake reminds me of the philosophy "the Emperor has no clothes". I was ready to swear off ballet until I rented Don Quixote from my local library. I fell in love with GOOD ballet as danced by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Cynthina Harvey. They are magnificent. Now it's true, I may have only felt this way because I had been renting some really lousy ballets like Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Giselle danced by some not so terrific ballet dancers. "Don Quixote" allows for lots of solos and duos choreographed by the world's best ballet dancer at the time. His version of Don Quixote is not one of a buffoon but a man who is mentally ill and he treats his character with great respect. I cannot find anywhere in the ballet where Mikhail show him as a buffoon. Sancho, yes, Don Quixote, no. I am in fact, right now reading the original Don Quixote. Cervantes shows Sancho as a buffoon and Don Quixote as mentally not all there. Mikhail loves to read and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that he has read Cervantes and incorporated the personality of these two characters into his "Don Quixote" ballet. If you want to see a serious ballet, then this ballet is not for you. Mikhail makes you smile if not down right laugh at times. This ballet IS Mikhail Baryshnikov. He has surrounded himself with the very talented ABT ballet dancers and choreographs dances that make you go "bravo!" He graciously brings out the very best in them and definitely gives you the impression that he enjoys dancing with them. Ludwig Minkus is one of my favorite composers as his music is light and humable not discordant and noisy. I found myself wanting to dance to it instead of turning it off. I thought his music was wonderful but if you want serious, discordant music, then "Don Quixote" is not for you. I recommend for you "Cinderella" with music by Sergei Prokofiev. That was one horrible ballet for me. My nerves were a mess by the time I finished listening to it. It was very discordsnt. To end this long review, if you like Mikhail Baryshnikov, you are going to thoroughly enjoy "Don Quixote". It's Mikhail at his most talented. It's not just his dancing which is terrific, but also his personality and artistic creation that shines. Well worth having for your ballet collection. Also please don't miss "Baryshnikov Dances Sinatra". His apache type dance with Elaine Kudo is great. It makes me laugh out loud every time I watch the DVD. This DVD also contains "Push comes to Shove". A ballet written for Mikhail that shows his feelings that dancing is suppose to be fun. Gloria Hutson Rating: - Ravishing performance!Cynthia Harvey and Mikhail Baryshnikov became a brilliant and historical artistic couple. In what concerns to their memorable and exciting role in Don Quixote, the result was simply glamorous and overwhelming. Grace and technique were bounded with steeled commitment, additionally the musical support, choreography, make-up and custom design contributed notably to make one of the most legendary and successful versions ever seen on screen. For all the lovers of this artistic discipline, this album is a must-have. Rating: - Cynthia Harvey is the STAR of this balletI have seen many other versions of this ballet, but Ms. Harvey is superb. She outshown Mikail Baryshnikov. She is wonderful. I fully enjoyed the ballet, but most especially her excellent performance! |
