Backstage at the Kirov

'Backstage at the Kirov' was one of the first ballet documentaries I ever saw and, like many ballet film collectors, I have long prized my ailing, ancient VHS recording of this classic program. I was delighted to see it made available on DVD, but also cautious - after all, not every transfer of an old film to DVD is a success. So, what's the verdict?Well, the good news is that this transfer isn't too bad. If you're looking to replace a tired and battered video then don't hesitate to snap up this release. There are just a couple of things worth noting. My main criticism is that the DVD version looks a lot darker than my video copy and I had to adjust the backlighting, contrast and brightness on my TV quite substantially to avoid missing much of the detail in the dimmer scenes.The overall sharpness of the picture is nevertheless much better than video (as you'd expect!), and the film looks pretty much as it always did. No one has interfered with the voiceovers. The English subtitles are new but look to be unchanged from the original version - although I note the ballet mistress now berates the corps by saying "This is lousy" instead of "That was lousy". I don't know which is the better translation and am assuming someone just retyped the text without noticing the difference.There is a gitch (black blur and flash of green) about midway through - nothing to worry about though, especially if your old video was as sparkly as mine! The only other minor disappointment was to find that some of the panning shots now seem to 'ripple' on the DVD. This doesn't affect shots of the dancing much, but was noticeable where the camera panned across staff gathered at a meeting early on in the film. Movement blur/rippling doesn't bother everyone to the same extent, of course.So all in all, I was pleased to purchase this DVD as a replacement for video. It's just a little annoying that the TV's picture settings will need to be adjusted each time to see the film properly.

This film was shot in 1981 and shows what life is like for the professional dancers(and some of the students) at the Kirov Ballet. It is the only documentary that shows us both Konstatin Zaklinsky and his wife, Altynai Asylmuratova, rehearsing together and separately for the principal parts of Swan Lake. Other dancers are also shown, such as Galina Mezentseva. Many classroom scenes are presented and they are very interesting and exciting, showing very difficult combinations and dancers getting very exhausted and laughing about it. I especially enjoyed seeing what happens to Zaklinsky practicing when he gets too tired and falls out of many of his pirouettes; he musters one last bit of energy and completes his pirouettes successfully and throws in the towel. It would be nice to see this and similar videos go to dvd, but it may not happen, so try to get this before it becomes unavailable!

I have been fortunate enough to start dancing ballet at 2 1/2 yrs old and become a principal dancer in my career. Ballet has been my life for as long as I can remember. I was really excited to watch this but I was shocked by some a lot of the things I saw. In a few shots where the camera showed the dancers feet during allegro I was shocked. More than one dancer was not getting fully over onto the platform of her shoe. Others were obviously dancing in dead shoes to make their feet look better and girls were knuckling all over the place. These type of things are called cheating in the ballet world and I'm really sure most of these girls 3/4 their shanks. Sometimes what looks good for a short period of time can lead to a injury. Recovering from an injury very hard on a dancer because not only to have to you get to the place you were at but you must surpass it because everyone in the company has been hard at work while you are taking time to heal. Dancers work the hardest, we do things with our bodies that aren't supposed to be possible, and we love it. That being said it is all cut throat and I didn't think this film depicted what is like to be in a company. I know people have complained about not seeing the final performance but that doesn't seem the point of the film to me. In my opinion, the process is the most interesting because that is where discovery takes place. Thank you

I rented it and watched it several times. I am now going to make the purchase. This beautiful film carries us away to the difficult life of these amazing athletes who have the greatest passion for what they do, which shows so much when they step on stage.

The one good thing here is that you get to see Mezentseva dancing at moments, and you see a young Asylmuratova. But for the most part other documentaries show a lot more about a dancer's experience. I think this is okay and maybe a must for Mariinsky fanatics, but the average person will probably not find this so great.

For lovers of classical ballet for whom the style andstandard of Russian dance training was a mystery forso long, the explanation lies here. Traditions,tutoringand sustainablity of regular, quality National Balletcompanies and schools are all covered here.Fascinating viewing.

I was SO excited to watch this documentary... I love the beauty and the struggle that comes with the art of ballet and I was so, so disappointed with this film. Granted, it's quite old now but it just NEVER got going. It didn't delve deeply at ALL into the world of ballet, instead most of the film is showing the actual performance of Swam Lake. I wanted to learn about the dancers, see into their lives, watch their struggles, see their pain and triumph but they were so GUARDED and BORING. They had VERY little to say during the entire film. Very, very little. What little they did say was very generic, 'I don't really like class' or 'I was nervous, but I was excited'. Truly, this is as in-depth as it got. I'd be SO interested if someone re-made something like this that really explored further.

I love this movie! I really enjoy seeing some of the "children" from the theater street documentary grown and dancing as corp members. For any lover of Russian ballet, this video is a "must-have" for your library!

21歳のアスィルムラートワがメゼンツェワ主役の｢白鳥の湖｣のコールドとして出演していて、次に主役として舞台に立つまでのドキュメンタリーでした。両方ともパートナーはザクリンスキーでした。アスィルムラートワの普段の練習風景や、楽屋での顔も見れます。このドキュメンタリーの当時にすでに「her husband」とザクリンスキーを説明していたので、このときおふたりはすでにご夫婦だったようです。ザクリンスキーとアスィルムラートワが、バレエ団の練習場に通っている映像がありました。彼の腕に彼女が手をかけていたり、彼女の肩に彼が腕をまわしていたり・・仲良さそうな微笑ましい映像でした。舞台ではいつも正面からしか、ダンサーを見ることが出来ませんが、カメラワークが背後や横手からもあって新鮮です。主役を横から写してその向こうに舞台袖で待機している人が見えたりもします。緞帳が上がる直前まで、身体をほぐしているダンサーも見れます。まるで、自分がコールドの一人になったような映像で、楽しめました。メゼンツェワの｢白鳥の湖」のビデオで、もしかしたらアスィルムラートワールドにいるかもしれないので、早速調べてみたいと思います。舞台では美しく舞う彼らも、多くの練習を重ねているとくこともよく分かりました。それと、一つの舞台には、照明係や装置係、会場の掃除をするおばさんや、椅子の上に埃よけに(？)かぶせてある布をくるくる巻いて片付けるおばさんなど、多くの人たちの力が合わさっているんだということも認識させられました。ロシア語で話しているところに、英語字幕が入ったり、ロシア語訛りの英語音声がかぶっています。約８０分でした。値段が安いので購入してみたのですが、買ってよかったです。