AFTER A FEW DECADES ABT AT THE MET IS STILL A GEM, February 17, 2008

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.

As denoted, this is a mixed bag of dances from the library of the American Ballet Theater, performed at their home, the Metropolitan Opera House, in Lincoln Center, NYC. The performance, at the Met in the mid-80's, was directed for television by Brian Large, who is one of THE directors in the business. Three ballets and a sparkling final set piece, comprise the contents, all performed with technical versatility and panache. All but one are clearly derived from the Classical school, with Triad, choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan, providing a more modernized and, to me, more interesting approach. (I do not say "better" approach given the quality and entertainment value of all that was done, simply a personal preference). In it, MacMillan contorts, with abrupt and flowing lines, dynamic interactions among two groups of male dancers, and between the paired males and a female. The composer is Prokofiev, with whose music the dance patterns weave, leap and surge. This appears the only place...