This all-time ballet favourite, in which young Clara is swept into a fantasy adventure when one of her Christmas presents comes to life, is at its most enchanting in Peter Wright's glorious production.
Bolshoi Ballet: The Golden Age (2016)
In the 1920’s, The Golden Age cabaret is a favorite nightly haunt. The young fisherman Boris falls in love with Rita. He follows her to the cabaret and realizes that she is the beautiful dancer “Mademoiselle Margot,” but also the love interest of the local gangster Yashka. With its jazzy score by Dmitri Shostakovich and its music-hall atmosphere featuring beautiful tangos, The Golden Age is a refreshing and colorful dive into the roaring 20’s. A historic ballet that can be seen only at the Bolshoi! Captured live on Oct 16, 2016.
La Bayadere (2020)
The purity of classical dance meets the opulant exoticism of the Maharajas' India in this 150-year-old ballet, glorified by Nacho Duato for the Mikhailovsky Ballet.
There Once Was a Singing Blackbird (1974)
Gia is a carefree young percussionist who works at a theater in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. He lives in a small apartment with his mother. Gia spends his days flitting from friend to friend, lover to lover, avoiding any responsibility, and never staying still for five minutes. However, he always manages to arrive at the theater just in time to play the drums at the end of the ballet.
The Butterflies of Love (NaN)
Two musical stars from the golden age of Hollywood get a second chance at rekindling their love in the modern world.
Honegger’s “Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher” with Alan Gilbert and Marion Cotillard (2024)
On June 8, 2024, Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard joined the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for a performance of Arthur Honegger’s oratorio Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher (Joan of Arc at the Stake), conducted by Alan Gilbert, performed at the Berliner Philharmonie in Berlin, Germany and broadcast live on Digital Concert Hall, the online concert hall of the Berliner Philharmonie. In the oratorio, Joan of Arc looks back on her life, her visions, and her successes during a show trial in which she is sentenced to be burned at the stake.
The Winter's Tale (The Royal Ballet) (2014)
The story follows the destruction of a marriage through consuming jealousy, the abandonment of a child and a seemingly hopeless love. Yet, through remorse and regret – and after a statue comes miraculously to life – the ending is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. Wheeldon continues his highly successful collaboration with designer Bob Crowley and composer Joby Talbot, the team behind Alice, in one of the highlights of The Royal Ballet Season.
Stravinsky: The Firebird and Les Noces (2002)
London's Royal Ballet performs two of Igor Stravinsky's classic works in this pair of performances choreographed by dance legend Nijinska. Zenaida Yanowsky and David Pickering star in "Les Noces," the stark, percussion-centric tale of a Russian peasant wedding that incorporates traditional folk music into its score. "The Firebird" stars Leanne Benjamin as the mythical creature who brings both a blessing and a curse upon her captors.
The ROH Live: The Dream / Symphonic Variations / Marguerite and Armand (2017)
The Dream: Frederick Ashton’s delightful interpretation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a classic of The Royal Ballet’s repertory. Symphonic Variations: Ashton was inspired to create a ballet on the four seasons – but as he began to choreograph he refined and purified until the ballet shook off its original meaning, emerging as an abstract celebration of movement and physicality. Marguerite and Armand: Marguerite, a Parisian courtesan, lies on her deathbed. She recalls her tragic love affair with Armand in a series of feverish flashbacks.
Edward Scissorhands (2024)
In a castle high on a hill lives Edward; a boy created by an eccentric inventor. When his creator dies he is left alone and unfinished with only scissors for hands until a kindly townswoman invites him to live with her suburban family. Can Edward find his place in the well-meaning community which struggles to see past his curious appearance to the innocence and gentleness within?
Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes: The Firebird / The Rite of Spring (2009)
Starvinsky's ballets The Firebird and The Rite of Spring in the restored original choresography by Michel Fokine (Firebird) and Vaslav Nijinsky (Rite of Spring).
Concerto / Enigma Variations / Raymonda Act III (Royal Ballet) (2019)
From The Royal Ballet’s classical origins in the works of Petipa, to the home-grown choreographers who put British ballet on the world stage, this mixed programme highlights the versatility of the Company. Petipa’s Raymonda Act III is Russian classical ballet summarized in one act, full of sparkle and precise technique, while Ashton’s Enigma Variations is quintessentially British in every way – from its score by Elgar and period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, to Ashton’s signature style, the essence of British ballet. Concerto, MacMillan’s fusion of classical technique with a contemporary mind, completes a programme that shows the breadth of the Company’s heritage.
Giselle (2016)
The peasant girl Giselle discovers the true identity of her lover Albrecht – and that he is promised to another. Giselle kills herself. Her soul enters the ranks of the Wilis – shades of young women who died before their wedding day. All men that come across their path are compelled to dance themselves to death, and Albrecht falls into their trap. Giselle’s intercession saves Albrecht and releases her soul from the Wilis’ power.
The Nutcracker (2016)
The young Clara creeps downstairs on Christmas Eve to play with her favourite present – a Nutcracker. But the mysterious magician Drosselmeyer is waiting to sweep her off on a magical adventure. After defeating the Mouse King, the Nutcracker and Clara travel through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets, where the Sugar Plum Fairy treats them to a wonderful display of dances. Back home, Clara thinks she must have been dreaming – but doesn’t she recognize Drosselmeyer’s nephew?
Off to the Races (2021)
Part music video and part documentary, Off to the Races is a new arrangement of the classic Erhu song, Horse Race. The film is a collaboration between the Calgary Chinese Orchestra, filmmaker Vicki Van Chau, and music producer Warren Tse. Through an open call process, the film features 72 participants from the global music community playing with the members of the Calgary Chinese Orchestra, in celebration of the Lunar New Year.
The Hollywood Bowl (1950)
Tom is conducting a symphony at the Hollywood Bowl when Jerry comes out to co-conduct.
Ghost Light by John Neumeier (2021)
The Hamburg Ballet was one of the first ballet companies internationally to return to its studios after the first lockdown. The ballet Ghost Light by John Neumeier deals with isolation and the feelings and fantasies an empty stage may evoke. Developed in fragments using small groups of dancers and under the constraints imposed by Covid-19, the choreography reflects situations, fears, relationships, memories, and emotions experienced during the pandemic.