Ballet Movies And Steam Punk Movies

I love ballet movies. The abundance of movies available now is of great interest to me, and I'm sure it is for most dancers.

It is not possible to get around the world, see all the dance festivals, or travel to catch all the ballet touring companies every year. Yet, while collecting ballet movies, I feel like I just lucked out.

I bought a "deal" package of 4 ballet movies recently. Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. I only bought it because The Nutcracker is Maurice Bejart's production, which I had not seen. The others...well I can always watch another one, whoever.

The "Swan Lake" was special because Evelyn Hart danced Odette/Odile. I had not seen her in that role, so it was a nice surprise for me.

Secondly, I watched "Romeo and Juliet", choreography by Angelin Preljocaj, with the Opera National De Lyon, filmed in 1992. Cool. That's a company that has not graced my neighborhood. I knew it was a neoclassical style.

Steam punk movies? I may have seen three before - "Dune" designed by Tony Masters and Carlo Rimbaldi; City of Lost Children" designed by set designer Jean Rabasse and artistic director Caro (and coincidentally both scores were by Angelo Badalamenti); and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" with set designer Andy Thomson - all steam punky designers...

Well, this "Romeo and Juliet" has the flavor of steam punk movies and it is moody and powerful. It is not designed with Victorian alternate-reality machines and housing, or costumes, it is sparser. But it has all the typical steam punk social control and dark suppressed emotionality, at least as is presented in the steam punk movies I've seen.

None of the lush velveted, pearl and gold-laden Italian wealth of the Renaissance power families is there to rescue us. No colorful market place or town square, except for brief showings of persons outside of the Montague and Capulet families/street thugs.

I did not think I would like the modern choreography - having been partial to John Cranko's - yet with the Prokofiev score, it was captivating. Preljocaj's choreography demands a strong classical technique which the dancers deliver with ease.

I did not assimilate what I was looking at immediately. This production re-invents some of the characterization, trimming down the cast and events. The Montague characters are garbed in loose suits, and the Capulets appear with the demeanor of highly strung Dobermans, in tight black outfits that are padded like body armor.

When I realized I was watching a Steam Punk Movie I sat back and enjoyed it. The wall guards with the German Shepherd were a chilling touch.

If you love ballet movies and steam punk movies you will really enjoy this one.

Dianne M. Buxton trained at The National Ballet School of Canada, The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and Toronto Dance Theater. She was led by her career teaching and directing professional ballet dancers, to study ballet/sports/fitness, nutrition, and the mind/body connection. She writes about ballet pointe shoes and ballet parents tips to help you with your ballet classes, and those of your dancing daughters and sons.

Original article