Introductory lecture (Marian Seldes, the not overly familiar narrator) on the post-revolutionary Russian refugees who laid the foundation of modern ballet, namely the Ballet Russe and its warring spinoffs, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo vs. the Original Ballet Russe, Leonide Massine vs. Wasily de Basil (and companies). The supplementary anecdotes of ancient survivors are informative, daintily juicy, sometimes charming: "Anyone who's not bedridden could be in Rodeo," scoffs the premier danseur George Zoritch at the choreography of newcomer Agnes de Mille. Charming, too, is Zoritch's and Nathalie Krassovska's creaky re-creation in the present day of their pas-de-deux from Giselle. The video image for the talking heads has the look of an oil slick (the DVD should blot that up), and the bottom-drawer archival clips appear, through the blur, to be second- or third-generation. The snippet from a wartime Columbia musical, Tonight and Every Night, is the glorious exception. Directed by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller. (2005) — Duncan Shepherd
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