On August 26, Opus Arte presents Sleeping Beauty performed by The Royal Ballet and conducted by Valeriy Ovsyanikov. This performance of Tchaikovsky’s second ballet, filmed in December of 2006 to mark the 75th anniversary of The Royal Ballet Company, is a revival of the original full-length 1946 production of Sleeping Beauty. As a fitting tribute to The Royal Ballet’s unique style and lush designs, the original designs by Oliver Messels and choreography by famed Marius Petipa are used for this commemorative occasion. Dancers Alina Cojocaru, Federico Bonelli, Christopher Saunders, Genesia Rosato, and Marianela Nuñez lead the viewer through this wonderfully whimsical fairy tale.
Based at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, The Royal Ballet is Great Britain’s most prestigious ballet company. The 95-strong troupe is acknowledged to be reaching a new artistic and technical peak with talented dancers at all levels in its ranks. The Company’s wide-ranging repertory showcases the great classical ballets including The Royal Ballets own heritage, alongside new works by the foremost international choreographers of today and choreographers from within the Company’s own ranks. This range embraces all the celebrated three-act classical ballets, together with works by Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton and Principal Choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, ballets by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon and works by Ashley Page and rising British talents amongst those regularly performed.

Following a series of fascinating new choreographies filmed at the Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris, Naxos of America releases Giselle (TDK DVWW-BLGISP) on June 24. Commonly regarded as the apotheosis of the Romantic ballet, the music for Giselle was scored by French composer Adolphe Adam, who wrote more than 80 stage works, some of which, like Giselle and Le corsaire, obtained considerable and lasting success. This production is marked by an all-star cast including Laëtitia Pujol, who dances her first title role after producing surprise successes when she stepped in for the two prima ballerinas Aurélie Dupont and Clairemarie Osta at very short notice. Nicolas Le Riche, one of international ballet’s most respected stars, creates her male counterpart, Albrecht, whose faithlessness drives her insane. Le Riche has been a member of the company since 1988 and is famous all over the world for his elegant strength, the beauty of his expression and the musicality of his movements. Marie-Agnès Gillot creates Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis and Wilfried Romoli is the young man Hilarion who truly loves Giselle.

The work premiered in the Salle de la rue Le Peletier at the Paris Opéra in 1841 and is considered the first major plot-based ballet to have survived to the modern day with its original choreography almost intact. In the course of the past century and a half, Giselle has undergone only a few changes, most notably by Marius Petipa, who revised the work for his 1887 production at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. This 2006 performance is adapted from the version performed at the Paris Opéra in 1991 (which was based on the Petipa version) and is choreographed by Patrice Bart and Eugène Polyakov, two out-and-out Petipa specialists. The scenery is the work of Alexandre Benois from 1924; originally designed for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, it heralded the re-emergence on Western programs of the long absent Giselle and to this day it remains the benchmark for traditionalist stagings of this ballet.

Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris was begun in 1681 as an all-male ballet troupe that provided entertainment during the interludes of opera performances. Little by little, starting in the early nineteenth century, ballet was freed from the opera and created its own repertoire with the advent of the romantic ballet. It was then that the traditional philosopher’s stones were created, such as La Sylphide (1832), Giselle (1841), Paquita (1846), the Corsair (1865) or Coppélia (1870). Today, Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris is regarded as one of the best companies in the world. The average age of its dancers is 25 years, making it also one of the youngest dance troups existing today. The repertory of the Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris is vast, ranging from great romantic and traditional ballets to creations of contemporary choreographers. The Ballet gives 180 performances per season in Paris and abroad.