An Evening with the Royal Ballet (1963)

Directors:

Anthony Asquith
Anthony Havelock-Allan

Release Date:

1 December 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

And The Artists Of The Royal Ballet In An Enchanting TECHNICOLOR Motion Picture

Plot:

Documentary about the Royal Ballet. Includes selections from Les Sylphides and The Sleeping Beauty. |

Plot Keywords:

Ballet | Dance

Cast

Margot Fonteyn	...	Herself
Rudolf Nureyev	...	Himself
David Blair	...	Himself
Antoinette Sibley	...	Herself
Graham Usher	...	Himself
Merle Park	...	Herself

Directed by
Anthony Asquith
Anthony Havelock-Allan

Cinematography by
Christopher Challis		(segment "Les Sylphides")
Geoffrey Unsworth		(segments "La Valse", "Les Corsaire" and "Aurora's Wedding")

Makeup Department
George Claff	....	director of makeup

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Birkett	....	assistant director
Jack Causey	....	assistant director
René Dupont	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Stephen Dalby	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Eric Besche	....	camera operator
Gerry Fisher	....	camera operator
Bob Kindred	....	camera operator
Jeff Seaholme	....	camera operator
Tony White	....	camera operator

Other crew
Shirley Barnes	....	continuity
Muirne Van Wyk	....	continuity

Production Companies

• British Home Entertainment
• Rank Organisation, The

Distributors

• Sigma III Corp. (1965) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kultur Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• National Screen Service  titles (as N.S.S. Limited)
• Samuelson Film Service  cameras (as Samuelsons)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S

Company:

British Home Entertainment

Soundtrack:

Le Corsaire

Beautiful Recording!

What a treasure to have these ballet performances from 1963 recorded! This movie features excerpts from "Le Corsaire", "La Valse", "Les Sylphides", "The Sleeping Beauty". The quality of the video is surprisingly good: very clear, lots of detail and beautiful colors. The audio is wonderful, too. The dances chosen have a range of emotions and nicely showcase Britain's Royal Ballet and especially Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev and David Blair. The choreography by Frederick Ashton, Michel Fokine, Rudolf Nureyev, and Marius Petipa is stunning. Nureyev's "Le Corsaire" is worth the price alone; he and Margot Fonteyn are absolutely amazing in their athletic abilities. "Les Syphides" and "La Valse" are reminiscent of the great Busby Berkeley musicals from the 1930s and 1940s in that every person on stage is meticulously placed and posed throughout every scene. The scenery provides beautiful, yet non-distracting, backdrops for the various ballets. And finally, the costumes. To quote my seven-year old daughter "Their costumes are *glorious*!" I heartily agree (specially during "La Valse" and "The Sleeping Beauty") they truly are lovely.