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List Price: $29.99 | | Label: Kultur Video
Salesrank: 34749
Released: May 29, 2001 |
| Our Price: $14.59 |
| Used Price: $17.64 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Cinderella may be Sergei Prokofiev's most accessible ballet, both musically and visually, and in the hands of a master choreographer, it can be a thrilling experience. And so it is with this 1969 Royal Ballet performance, with then-resident genius Frederick Ashton pulling out all the stops in a staging guaranteed to please fans and win new converts. Ashton's particular ability to couch his innovative moves within a conventional framework is in evidence here.
The back cover calls this "an acclaimed historic performance," and historic it certainly is. Several Royal Ballet dancers are shown in top form, including Ashton (as one of our heroine's ugly stepsisters!), Anthony Dowell as the prince, and the wonderful Antoinette Sibley as Cinderella. The production itself is filled with colorful sets and vivid costumes, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House plays Prokofiev's enchanting music under the steady baton of John Lanchberry. The video itself is simply rendered, and the unspectacular sound does the job. --Kevin Filipski
Prokofiev - Cinderella / Sibley, Dowell, Royal Ballet Reviews:
A Good, Not Great, "Cinderella" 
2008-01-02 - In this production of "Cinderella" to music by Prokofiev, choreographed by the great Frederick Ashton for Margot Fonteyn decades ago, we have the pleasure of watching Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell at the peak of their abilities. Sibley offers up exquisite phrasing and musicality, making the most of her First Act "Broom Dance" and she delivers dutifully on the dreamy wistfulness required in the first act and the radiant wonder required in the second act. Ashton himself and the inimitable Robert Helpmann perform the roles of the wicked stepsisters in drag, roles they created in the original production with Margot Fonteyn. Messrs. Helpmann and Ashton also make the most of THEIR opportunities, which are wayyyyyy too long and go far to spoiling the enjoyment of the film - they gave themselves much too much clowning-time and really, although they are masterful stage creatures, one ends up impatiently waiting for Sibley and Dowell to dance again. Prokofiev's music is gorgeous, magically delicate in places and, appropriately, lacking in the more magisterial quality he built into his score for "Romeo and Juliet". It is a particular pleasure to watch the two young stars, already making a name for themselves as a team in 1969, go through their paces in the big Act II pas de deux. However, something about the entire experience is less than the sum of its parts. Beautiful to look at and perfectly if coolly danced, it charms the eyes but fails to penetrate the heart. Nevertheless, a nice record of Sibley and Dowell at the height of their powers in a traditional production, and of the stage qualities of two early 20th century legends, if a bit overbaked.
yawn..... 
2007-05-08 - I've got to say that my daughter and I were both excited for this to arrive in the mail. When it did, neither of us could sit through it. The dancing is alternately made up of the uninspired, the farcical and the same-old. Even the score is insipid. Sorry Prokofiev, but you've done better! If you aren't looking for Cinderella specifically, skip it, there are more interesting ways to spend your time. If you are, pull out old Brother's Grimm--at least that one has grotesque going for it.
Rare performance.... 
2007-01-10 - It's a pleasure to view this rare performance....the step-sisters at their best. I am not a fan of the music, but the choreography and the dancing is wonderful.
A Funny, Romantic Ballet With A Great Score 
2005-05-08 - This filmed version of the Royal Ballet's 1969 Cinderella is a knock out, provided you're willing to accept it on its own terms. The DVD is a filmed record of the ballet's theatrical presentation. The camera takes in the stage in full shots, with medium and close-ups at times of the featured dancers.
What it makes it valuable is that this is the only record we have of one of the famed ballets of the Twentieth Century. What makes it so watchable, if you're so inclined, is a great score by Sergei Prokofiev, clever, funny, romantic, classic choreography by Frederick Ashton, a sumptuous production and superb dancing by Antoinette Sibley as Cinderella and Anthony Dowell as the Prince. They were the Royal Ballet's most famous and accomplished dancing pair after Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev. And giving the ballet great verve and humor is Frederick Ashton and Robert Helpmann dancing the roles of the ugly sisters. Both were acclaimed premier dancers in their prime and had successful careers after, Ashton as one of Britain's great choreographers and Helpmann as an actor, choreographer and ballet manager. (You might remember Helpmann in The Red Shoes and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.) They provide the comic relief throughout the ballet. The sisters are man hungry, jealous of each other and of Cinderella and absolutely unconscious of how unattractive they are. Ashton and Helpmann are great in the roles.
The DVD is no marvel of clarity, but it's certainly watchable. It's well worth having if you like Prokofiev, if you like a classic of ballet, if you like two great comic turns...or if you like all three.
Finally a director that does not use inapropriate close-ups
2005-04-24 - This video is superbly directed: there are few head shots and few waist-and-head shots.
As anyone who loves ballet knows there is nothing more annoying than the director that focusses on the principal dancer's face while an ensemble of 40 people dances out of the frame. Especially with a choreography such as Ashton's this would have been disastrous. Fortunately the director knows his job and keeps an ideal distance from the dancers. You can still see the principals while not missing any important action that goes on in the background. It's as close to watching the actual performance as you can get.
Ashton's choreography might not be his best but it's still very good. The dancing is very good.
