Choreographers & Companies
The Red Shoes (1948)
Marius Petipa (1822 – 1910) and the Imperial Ballet
Marius Petipa was the influential Ballet Master of St Petersburg’s Imperial Russian Ballet (known as the Mariinsky Ballet and then the Kirov) between 1871-1903, and choreographer of the best known classical ballets including Giselle, Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, Raymonda, The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, Don Quixote, Harlequinade, and The Sleeping Beauty. Dancers for the Kirov include: Anna Pavlova, Theodore Kosloff, Tamara Karsavina, Mikhail Fokine, Olga Spessivtsaya, Vaslav Nijinsky, Galina Ulanova, Konstantin Sergeyev, Natalia Makarova, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov.
The Dance of the Moods
UK 1926 Spectrum Films
26 secs
35mm + DVD B&W, silent
Two women wearing sarong-type costumes with large veils, and flowers in their hair, perform a dance consisting of very slow movements, mainly the raising of their arms and legs. Performed on a black set so that only the two performers (Lydia Kyasht, Henry Cooper) are visible. Lydia Kyasht joined the Mariisnky Theatre soon after graduating from the Imperial Ballet School in 1902. She claimed to be the first to dance Fokine's Dying Swan in 1905. In 1908 she travelled to London to perform as prima ballerina at the Empire Theatre (as part of the Edwardian music hall ballet tradition), where she stayed until 1913. She danced with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1912 and 1919, returning to Russia between 1914 and 1917 to dance concert performances, then founding her own ballet school and touring company in London.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Spessivtseva
UK 1932
4 mins
16mm B&W
Olga Spessivtseva makes a celebrated appearance dancing the part of Giselle in London (choreography Marius Petipa), partnered by Anton Dolin as Albrecht. Extracts from Act 1; the pas de deux with Albrecht and Giselle solo by Spessivtseva.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Coppélia
UK 1957 Dir Margaret Dale
50 mins
Digibeta + DVD (Reference copy only) B&W
Live studio performance of the ballet first choreographed by Petipa in 1885, performed by dancers with the Royal Ballet Robert Helpmann, Nadia Nerina, Donald Britton, Rudolph Offenbach and Alexis Chesnakov. Music by Leo Delibes.
Archive source: BFI National Archive + BFI Special Collections: Camera Script October 1957; Scenario; Pen & Ink sketch of the set by Guy Sheppard; Photographs.
The Nutcracker
UK 1958 Dir Margaret Dale
59 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) B&W
Live studio production of the Tchaikovsky ballet. Directed and produced by Margaret Dale, designer Guy Sheppard, script by Marius Petipa, choreography by Lev Ivanov, revised choreography by Peter Wright. With Margot Fonteyn, Michael Somes.
Archive source: BFI National Archive + BFI Special Collections: Camera Script December 1958
The Stone Flower (Alterative title: The Leningrad State Kirov Ballet in the Stone Flower Act 1)
UK 1961 Dir Margaret Dale
45 mins
Digibeta + DVD (Reference copy only) B&W
The first part of the ballet danced by the Leningrad State Kirov ballet, presented for Television by Margaret Dale.
Archive source: BFI National Archive + BFI Special Collections: Camera Script July 1961; Photographs
The Sleeping Ballerina
UK 1963 Dir Ludovic Kennedy
27 mins
16mm B&W
Documentary about the life of ballet dancer Olga Spessivtzeva.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The Mania of Giselle
Russia 1995 Dir Alexei Utchitel
94 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Biography of Russian ballerina Olga Spessivtseva, trained at the Imperial Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg and was a soloist and ballerina at the Mariinsky Theatre from 1916 - 24, where she took the leading roles in Giselle and Swan Lake. She toured with the Ballets Russes in 1916 - 23, dancing with Nijinsky in Le Spectre de la Rose, Les Sylphides and The Sleeping Beauty. She left Russia to become prima ballerina at the Paris Opera Ballet from 1924 - 32, while continuing to tour with the Ballets Russes and other companies. Renowned as a romantic dancer with perfect technique, and famous for her interpretation of Giselle in the 1920s, she appeared in London in Diaghilev’s The Sleeping Princess in 1921 and in Giselle in 1932, partnered with Anton Dolin. The film charts her rise to fame and ultimate deterioration in an American mental institution as well the vicissitudes of her private life.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Gala Performance[02/01/76]
UK 1976 Dir Patricia Foy
51 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Classical music and dance acts, introduced from Sadler's Wells Theatre by Joseph Cooper. Includes Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov dancing together for the first time in Britain. They dance the pas de deux from Act III of Don Quixote, choreography Marius Petipa, and the pas de deux from Act II of Giselle (concert version without corps de ballet).
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Don Quixote
UK 1976 Dir Robert Helpmann, Rudolf Nureyev
110 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Adaptation of Marius Petipa's nineteenth century Russian ballet with Robert Helpmann and Rudolf Nureyev.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
La Bayardère
USSR 1979 Dir Helena Macheret
135 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
The Soviet production of the three-act ballet by Marius Petipa from the Kirov Theatre, Leningrad, with music by Ludwig Minkus.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Swan Lake
UK 1980 Dir John Michael Phillips
135 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Performance of Tchaikovsky’s ballet from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Choreography by Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa, with additional choreography by Frederick Ashton, Rudolf Nureyev. With dancers Natalia Makarova, Anthony Dowell.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Gala Evening at the Kirov Ballet
USSR 1980 Dir Yuri Bogatyryov
140 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Performance of Raymonda, a ballet by Marius Petipa to the music of Alexander Glazunov, performed by the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad. With Irina Kolpakova, Sergei Berezhnoi, Gennadi Selyutski.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Gala Night at the Kirov
USSR/UK 1981 Dir Helena Macheret
100 mins
Beta SP + DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Special gala performance from the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, with extracts from La Vivandiere, Esmerelda, Diana and Actaeon, Pas-de-Quatre, Carnival in Venice, Pasquita.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Swan Lake
UK 1980 Dir John Michael Phillips and Norman Morrice
134 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Royal Ballet performance of the Tchaikovsky ballet from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, based on the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, adapted by Frederick Ashton.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Dancing for Dollars: The Kirov in Petersburg (Dancing for Dollars)
Angus MacQueen
UK 1997
124 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
The second part of Dancing for Dollars takes a look at the difficulties faced by the Kirov Ballet under the leadership of chief choreographer Oleg Vinogradov, set against a rich artistic history. As communism gives way to capitalism, artistic integrity faces new problems. Combines personal accounts with archive footage of notable performers, including Mikhail Barishnikov and Rudolf Nureyev. Those reminiscing include backstage workers, the ticket collector who started as a dancer but whose ambitions were thwarted when he contracted scarlet fever, and wardrobe mistress Antonia Arefyeva who came temporarily during the war but is still there. With Archive footage of Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The South Bank Show: Fighting for Fokine
UK 1997 Dir Gerald Fox
53 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
In 1995 Isabelle Fokine, the granddaughter of the great Russian choreographer, Michel Fokine, collaborated with a member of the Kirov Ballet to recreate two of her grandfather's revolutionary ballets. However, on opening night at the Coliseum, as a result of stylistic differences and a lack of rehearsal time, the Kirov performed their own versions of the ballet rather than Fokine's.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Serge Diaghilev (1872 - 1929) and the Ballets Russes
Sergei Diaghilev founded the Ballets Russes in Russia in 1909 and managed the company until his death, taking residence in different countries outside Russia. The company included the celebrated dancers Anna Pavlova, Alfed Dolin, Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina and many others, many of whom had danced with the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg; and Diaghilev nurtured the talent of choreographer Mikhail Fokine, who had also been with the Imperial Ballet. After Diaghilev’s death the company continued as the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo under Wassily de Basil.
Diaghilev discovered and nurtured five major choreographers, premiering works by Marius Petipa and Mikhail Fokine as well as commissioning new works from Vaslav Nijinsky, Leonide Massine, Bronislava Nijinska and the young George Balanchine. He commissioned new ballet scores from contemporary composers including Igor Stravinsky and Erik Satie, which have left their mark on twentieth-century music, and worked with a range of contemporary artists as designers, including Leon Bakst, Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, Picasso, Matisse, de Chirico and Rouault, and the designer Leon Bakst.
Dancing Grace - Studies of Madame Lopokova
UK 1922
86 feet
35mm B&W, silent
A study of Lydia Lopokova dancing in a crinoline dress is followed by a repeat in slow motion and finally in double exposure within a picture frame.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The Rite of Spring
UK 1962
47 mins
16mm B&W
The Royal Ballet rehearses the entire ballet. Includes an appendix with some repeated sections filmed more closely.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Houseparty
UK 1964 Dir Margaret Dale
30 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) B&W
TV special. An experimental ballet created especially for television and inspired by Poulenc's score for Les Biches (a ballet commissioned by Diaghilev and choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska in 1924). A group of friends meet at a weekend house party. With scenario and choreography by Peter Darrell, dance performed by Western Theatre Ballet Company.
Archive source: BFI National Archive + BFI Special Collections: Scenario, Camera Script March 1964, Pressbook, Photographs
The Firebird
UK 1965 Dir Margaret Dale
40 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) B&W
Studio recording of the Royal Ballet's production of Stravinsky's The Firebird, with choreography by Fokine from 1910. Royal Ballet production revived by Serge Grigoriev and Lubov Tchernicheva. Dancers from the Royal Ballet; The Firebird: Nadia Nerina.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Diaghilev: The Years Abroad (Omnibus)
UK 1968 Prod John Drummond
53 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
First part in a two part documentary on the Russian impresario. This episode looks at Diaghilev's early life and the first seasons of his renowned Ballet Company from 1909 until the start of World War I. His story is told by friends and colleagues, with participants including Alexandre Benois, Tamara Karsavina, Lydia Sokolova, Marie Rambert, Ninette de Valois, Sacheverell Sitwell, Leonide Massine, Cecil Beaton, Anton Dolin, Alicia Markova and others.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Diaghilev: The Years in Exile (Omnibus)
UK 1968 Prod John Drummond
54 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Diaghilev’s life and work from 1914 onwards. No dance film, but stills, illustrations and theatre designs throughout. Photographs and music from Tricorne, Parade, La Boutique Fantastique, The Rite of Spring, The Sleeping Princess, Le Train Bleu, Romeo and Juliet, La Chat. Interviews with Lydia Sokolova, Leonide Massine, Ninette de Valois, Alicia Markova, Marie Rambert and others.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Diaghilev
(1872-1929)
UK 1979 Prod Peter Adam
75 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Biographical film on the great twentieth century innovator in the world of dance, Serge Diaghilev: a portrait of him built up through the eyes of eleven people who knew him and worked with him and through the recreation of some of his ballets.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The Legend of Joseph
West Germany 1979 Dir Humphrey Burton
70 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Richard Strauss's ballet, originally commissioned by Diaghilev in 1912, has been recreated by American choreographer John Neumeier.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
George Balanchine (1904 – 1983) and the New York City Ballet
Born in Russia, George Balanchine defected to Western Europe in 1924, joining Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes as a choreographer in Paris, soon becoming ballet master to the company. A key influence on the development of ballet in the United States from the 1930s onward, Balanchine pioneered contemporary ballet through a neoclassical approach, combining structure with more open and varied movement. He opened a new ballet school on his arrival in the US in 1934 and two new companies in 1935 and 1946 which led to the founding of the New York City Ballet in 1948. He worked alongside modern dance choreographers such as Martha Graham and favoured the work of Stravinsky and Kurt Weill among other composers. Dancers with Balanchine include Mikhail Baryshnikov, who went on to become Artistic Director of the American Ballet Theatre in 1980, and Paul Taylor, who founded his own company in 1954.
Dark Red Roses
UK 1929 Dir Sinclair Hill
48 mins
35mm B&W
This early British sound film tells the story of a sculptor who becomes jealous when his wife comes to admire a young cellist. Taking his inspiration from a ballet he has just seen, he plans to destroy his rival’s abilities, but eventually relents and they are reconciled. The film is incomplete, with occasional poor sound quality and some picture loss at the edge of frames on occasion. Recorded under British Talking Pictures Phonofilm process. Music to the ballet The Persian Dance by Modest Mussorgsky; Russian Ballet specially arranged by George Balanchine. With Stewart Rome, Frances Doble, George Balanchine, Lydia Lopokova, Anton Dolin. The film has been reconstructed from material held in the BFI National Archive and material discovered in Ireland during the making of a US television programme on George Balanchine. Note: Jack Clayton, acting with his real sister Jill, is the future feature film director of Room at the Top, The Innocents etc. The ballet credited as The Persian Dance in the film is a Tartar ballet entitled Jealousy danced to music from Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina and choreographed by Balanchine.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Toumanova
UK 1933 Dir Walter Duff
16mm
46ft Silent
Tamara Toumanova dancing a solo, wearing practice clothes, on the stage of the Ballet Club (founded by Marie Rambert in 1930). She performs extracts from Mozartiana, choreographed by George Balanchine, and Les Sylphides, choreographed by Mikhail Fokine.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Balanchine and Stravinsky: Apollon Musagète
West Germany 1966 Dir Jamila Patten
55 mins
Beta SP B&W
Complete recording of George Balanchine's landmark ballet Apollo. The ballet is preceded by documentary material showing preparations for the performance, including orchestra rehearsals directed by Igor Stravinsky and George Balanchine choreographing cast members including Jacques D'Amboise, Suzanne Farrell, Gloria Govrin, Patricia Neary and Karin von Aroldingen.
Archive Source: BFI National Archive
Balanchine and the New York City Ballet
US 1979 Dir Merrill Brockway
60 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Documentary on the New York City Ballet and their director George Balanchine who choreographed for Diaghilev's Ballet Russes. With performances of Tzigane, Divertimento No. 15 and The Four Temperaments.
Archive Source: BFI National Archive
Balanchine: Dance From America (Dance International)
UK 1987 Dir Merrill Brockway
124 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Re-edited version of the two-part profile of George Balanchine, founder of the New York City Ballet, transmitted as part of the Dance International series 1985/06/20 and 1985/06/27. (Introduction is different but content of programme is the same). Includes interviews with Dame Ninette de Valois, Balanchine dancing and rehearsing, sequences with Stravinsky and excerpts from his most famous ballets including Apollo, Serenade, Agon, Four Temperaments, Chaconne, Stravinsky Violin Concerto. With on-screen participants Mikhail Baryshnikov and others.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Mikhail Baryshnikov
US 1988 Dir Thomas Grimm
55 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
The American Ballet Theatre perform two works by major American choreographers: Duets by Merce Cunningham and La Sonnambula by George Balanchine. Presented by Mikhail Baryshnikov, artistic director of the Company.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Ninette de Valois (1898 – 2001) and the Royal Ballet
Dancer and choreographer, Ninette de Valois worked with Diaghilev at the Ballets Russes in 1923 - 6 to learn how a major dance company was run, dancing a number of roles in Nijinska’s Les Biches and other ballets, and frequently standing in for Nijinska when the ballet was being choreographed. Collaborating with Lillian Baylis in London in the late 1920s, she founded the Vic-Wells Company with Baylis in 1931, laying the foundation for the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet company and the Royal Ballet company which opened in 1946 Covent Garden.Many of the films made by director-producer Margaret Dale at the BBC in the 1950s and 60s were based on productions created for the Royal Ballet, the first company to introduce to Britain the classical repertoire from Russian ballet, aided by the notations made by Nicholas Sergeyev at the Mariinsky Ballet.
Foyer de Danse
UK 1932 Dir Walter Duff
17 mins
16mm B&W + DVD (Reference copy only)
Amateur film showing Alicia Markova, Frederick Ashton, Elizabeth Schooling, and Walter Gore dancing in the ballet Foyer de Danse.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
As You Like It
UK 1937Dir Paul Czinner
92 mins
35mm B&W
Featuring the best of British talent from the 1930s, the film is noteworthy for two reasons: it was the first feature-length British sound Shakespeare film, and it contains the earliest of Laurence Olivier's Shakespeare performances to be recorded for posterity. Czinner directed his wife, Elisabeth Bergner, as a tomboyish Rosalind, alongside heavyweights of British theatre Leon Quartermaine as Jacques and Henry Ainley as the Duke. The magical Forest of Arden, created by renowned art director Lazare Meerson, is a fantasy world where wit and romantic repartee sparkle against William Walton’s elegant score. David Lean worked as editor (brilliantly) and Jack Cardiff as cameraman.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Steps of the Ballet
UK 1948 Dir Muir Mathieson
25 mins
16mm + 35mm B&W
The basic positions and movements of ballet dancing, with Robert Helpmann and dancers of the Covent Garden and Sadlers Wells ballet. Presented by Robert Helpmann. Production company is the Crown Film Unit.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The Red Shoes
UK 1948 Dir Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
35mm
Fantasy of a young woman who achieves fame in a ballet company dancing in the story of Hans Andersen's Red Shoes. Torn between love for a composer and artistic devotion to the ballet master, she dances to her death. With Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, Leonide Massine, Ludmilla Tcherina. Madame Rambert as herself. The Ballet of the Red Shoes: choreography by Robert Helpmann, part of the shoemaker created and danced by Leonide Massine.
Archive source: BFI National Archive + BFI Distribution
Stars of the Ballet
UK 1959 Dir Naomi Capon
25 mins
Beta SP B&W + DVD (Reference copy only)
Ballet performances, introduced by Peggy van Praagh, with Carla Fracci and John Gilpin. Includes Cha cha cha (choreography Paddy Stone), Polka (choreography John Cranko) and La Spectre de la Rose (choreography Fokine).
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Cinderella (aka The Royal Ballet in Cinderella)
UK 1960
105 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy)
Devised and produced by Frederick Ashton. Presented by John Vernon.
The Royal Ballet Company in Frederick Ashton's production of Sergei Prokofiev's Cinderella, the title role danced by Antoinette Sibley, the prince by Anthony Dowell, Cinderella’s step-sisters by Frederick Ashton, Robert Helpmann.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The Rake's Progress
UK 1961 Dir Margaret Dale
40 mins
Beta SP B&W + DVD (Reference copy only)
Inspired by William Hogarth's paintings, Ninette de Valois' ballet charts the path to the madhouse trodden by an eighteenth century profligate. Music by Gavin Gordon, with Donald Britton in the title role.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The Royal Ballet in Rehearsal: The Rite of Spring
UK 1962 Dir Sidney Nolan
47 mins
16mm B&W
The Royal Ballet rehearses the entire ballet. Includes an appendix with some repeated sections filmed more closely. Décor and costumes Sidney Nolan, music Igor Stravinsky, choreography Kenneth MacMillan. With Monica Mason as the Chosen Maiden.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Postscript to the Ballet
UK 1964 Dir Pamela Lonsdale
22 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) B&W
Dance programme specially written by Peter Brinson as a tribute to Dame Ninette de Valois and the Royal Ballet.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Enigma Variations
UK 1970 Dir James Archibald
35 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Film of the ballet by Sir Frederick Ashton based on Sir Edward Elgar's music, Enigma Variations. Performed by the Royal Ballet.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Tales of Beatrix Potter
UK 1971 Dir Reginald Mills
90 mins
DVD Col
Five of Beatrix Potter's stories for children provide the narrative thread for this filmed ballet, which includes guest appearances by some of her other animal characters and a short wordless interlude in which the young Beatrix is shown drawing her pet mouse. Adapted for the screen by Richard Goodwin, Christine Edzard. Music by John Lanchbery, performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Choreography by Frederick Ashton. Made at Elstree Studios.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Festival 40: Ballet Class
UK 1976
50 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
The leading dancers from the Royal Ballet take class in a studio at the Television Centre.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Thank You Madam (Dance Month)
UK 1978 Dir Bob Lockyer
65 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
TV programme on the story of the Royal Ballet. An 80th birthday tribute to Dame Ninette de Valois including a repeat of Checkmate (originally tx 31/7/63).
Dame Ninette de Valois, founder of the Royal Ballet discusses the history of the famous company. This is followed by a Royal Ballet performance of Checkmate as a tribute to her life and work.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Swan Lake
UK 1980 Dir John Michael Phillips, Norman Morrice
134 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Royal Ballet performance of the Tchaikovsky ballet from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, based on the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, adapted by Frederick Ashton. [See notes under Performers: Natalia Makarova.]
Archive source: BFI National Archive
A Lot of Happiness: Kenneth MacMillan Creates
UK 1981 Dir Jack Gold
64 mins
Beta SP + DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Documentary which follows the creation of three ballet pieces by choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, from rehearsal to final recording, with dancers Birgit Keil and Vladimir Klos and accompanist Philip Gammon.
Archive Source: BFI National Archive
Comrade Lady
UK 1987 Dir Nobby Clark
10 mins
B&W
Dance film about a woman and her memories, performed by Marguerite Porter, principal ballerina at The Royal Ballet. Music composed and performed by saxophonist John Harle.
Archive Source: BFI Distribution
Out of Line
UK 1990 Dir Derek Bailey
65 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
A tribute to Sir Kenneth MacMillan, principal choreographer of the Royal Ballet, who celebrated his 60th birthday in December 1989. The film gives a portrait of the man, following his progress from a classical ballet dancer to a choreographer who flouted convention, and includes extracts from some of his ballets and rehearsals for his latest work 'The Prince and the Pagoda'.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The Prince of the Pagodas
UK 1990 Dir Derek Bailey
130 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Performance of Kenneth MacMillan's ballet for the Royal Ballet, recorded at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, set to music by Benjamin Britten. With Darcey Bussell, Jonathan Cope.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The Judas Tree
UK 1998 Dir Ross MacGibbon
38 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
A production of Sir Kenneth MacMillan's last ballet, recorded by the Royal Ballet in March 1997, set to a score by Brian Elias. With dancers Irek Mukhamedov, Leanne Benjamin.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Call Me Madam
UK 1998 Dir Ross MacGibbon
Documentary celebrating the 100th birthday of Dame Ninette de Valois. The programme includes archive footage and interviews with friends, colleagues, and former pupils. The archive footage includes Dame Ninette in interview, teaching at the Royal Ballet School and rehearsing two of her best known ballets The Rake's Progress and Checkmate. The tribute also includes Darcey Bussell, Sarah Wildor and Joseph Cipolla rehearsing roles from her ballets The Gods Go A-begging and The Prospect Before Us.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Marie Rambert (1882 – 1982) and the Ballet Rambert
Inspired by Isadora Duncan and engaged by Serge Diaghilev as assistant to choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky, the dancer, teacher and choreographer Marie Rambert founded the first ballet company in Britain in the form of a dance troupe in 1926, which became the Ballet Club in 1930, soon becoming known as the Ballet Rambert. She aimed to produce classical and contemporary work, and in 1987 the company was renamed the Rambert Dance Company, with a new focus on contemporary dance. The work of the company has continued under the directorship of Artistic Directors Robert North, Christopher Bruce and Richard Alston.
A small collection of Ballet Rambert films were produced by the company in the 1930s, all silent 16mm.
Lord Burleigh
UK c. 1931 Prod Ballet Rambert
37ft
16mm silent
With Diana Gould, Alicia Markova, William Chappell, Frederick Ashton and Rollo Gamble rehearsing for the Ballet Lord Burleigh.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Markova and Ashton
UK c. 1931 or 1936 Prod Ballet Rambert
170ft
16mm sil
Alicia Markova and Frederick Ashton perform a pas de deux from Swan Lake, followed by a solo from Markova.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Andrée Howard - Pompette (1931)
UK 1931
2 mins
16mm B&W, silent
A solo ballet dance by Andrée Howard, produced for Ballet Rambert.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Television Demonstration Film
Dallas Bower
UK 1937
Publicity film for manufacturers and retailers of television equipment. With excerpts from performances of Boy David and Façade, with Margot Fonteyn, Frederick Ashton, Robert Helpmann. On-screen participants Ballet Rambert and many others.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Masque
UK post-1945 Ballet Rambert
1 min, 16mm B&W + DVD (Reference copy only)
Robert Helpmann, Sally Gilmour and Marie Rambert at rehearsals for the ballet Les Masques.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Giselle
Walter Gore
UK 1948
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Act I of 'Giselle' danced by the Ballet Rambert on their Australian tour of c. 1948.
Ballet Rambert in China
China 1957
8 mins
DVD (Reference copy only only) + Beta SP B&W
Ballet Rambert dance extracts from Les Sylphides and Gala Performance on a visit to China in 1957.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Two Brothers
UK 1959 Dir Christian Simpson
27 mins
Beta SP B&W + DVD (Reference copy only)
Ballet Rambert performance, with Gillian Martlew, John Chesworth and Norman Morrice. Choreography by Norman Morrice.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Monitor: Marie Rambert
UK 1960 Dir Ken Russell
22 mins
Beta SP B&W + DVD (Reference copy only)
Huw Wheldon talks to Marie Rambert about her legendary dance company and her work with existing and future ballet legends, including many of her own discoveries. Includes extracts from Foyer de Danse with Alicia Markova and performances by Frederick Ashton and others.
Archive Source: BFI National Archive
2nd House[16/11/74] : 2nd House (aka
First Performance)
UK 1974
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
90 mins
The artistic directors of two of London's contemporary dance companies create new works for television. Cohan, of the London Contemporary Dance Theatre, explores the human body, after taking inspiration from a poem by William Blake. Chesworth, of the Ballet Rambert, uses noises from sporting events to explore the relationship between man and woman (fantasy and reality). Both ballet companies are shown working in their studios. This segment also includes rare footage of the "high priestess of modern dance" Martha Graham.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Imprint
UK 1974 Dir Clive Myer and John Chesworth
46 mins
DVD Col
An experimental dance film, featuring members of the Ballet Rambert performing to music by Gavin Bryars.
Archive source: Arts Council of England
Dancers
UK 1978 Dir John Chesworth and Yutaka Yamazaki
29 mins
DVD Col
Experimental film of members of the Ballet Rambert in rehearsal, in performance, in class and at home. Includes an extract from Cruel Garden (1977). Choreographer Christopher Bruce. Rehearsal room: dancer pixillated, and otherwise non-linear footage intercut with credits. Dancer continues.
Archive source: Arts Council of England
Ballet Rambert and Lindsay Kemp (Tonight
in Town)
UK 1979 Prod Tom Gutteridge
43 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Inserts of Ballet Rambert (performing La Paloma'; Rick Wakeman interviewed (two versions) and Dudley Moore playing Summertime on piano.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Richard Alston (Dancemakers) [tx 13/7/1986]
UK 1986
44 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Richard Alston, newly appointed artistic director of the Ballet Rambert talks about his ideas, his career and his ballet Wildlife, performed by the Ballet Rambert.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Pulcinella [tx 22/10/1988]
UK 1988 Dir Bob Lockyer
44 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Performance of Richard Alston's Pulcinella, to Stravinsky's score,by the Rambert Dance Company.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Sergeant Early's Dream
UK 1990 Dir Thomas Grimm
46 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
The Ballet Rambert perform a suite of dances to British, Irish and American folk music, to choreography by Christopher Bruce.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Maurice Béjart (1927 - 2007)
Bejart was a French/Swiss choreographer, who worked closely with the Persian Ballet repertoire in the 1960s and 70s and founded several dance schools. His work includes a revised version of The Nutcracker (2000) which used Tchaikovsky’s score but rewrites the plot and characters (one of whom is Marius Petipa).
Béjart
BE 1961 Dir François Weyergans
18 mins
35mm B&W
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Belgium (Them and Us)
UK 1975 Prod Peter Adam
90 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Archive source: BFI National Archive
A Proper Job (Dancer)
UK 1984 Dir Derek Bailey
51 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Archive source: BFI National Archive
New Moves (Dancer)
UK 1984 Dir Derek Bailey
51 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Peter Schaufuss (Dancer)
UK 1984 Dir Derek Bailey
50 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The Chairs (Dancemakers)
UK 1988 Dir José Montez-Baquer
65 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Twyla Tharp (1941 - ) and the American Ballet Theatre
Mikhail Baryshnikov became Artistic Director of the American Ballet Theatre in 1980, promoting modern dance and working with choreographers including Twyla Tharp and others. Twyla Tharp danced with the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 1963 before forming her own company in 1965. Known for creating cross-over ballets that use both modern dance and classical ballet techniques, and for working with classical music, jazz and contemporary popular music, Twyla Tharp Dance merged with the American Ballet Theatre in 1985. She has choreographed works for many other ballet companies including the The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and Martha Graham Dance Company.
Mikhail Baryshnikov
US 1988 Dir Thomas Grimm
55 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
The American Ballet Theatre perform two works by major American choreographers: Duets by Merce Cunningham and La Sonnambula by George Balanchine. Presented by Mikhail Baryshnikov, artistic director of the Company.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The South Bank Show: Mark Morris - The Hidden Soul of Harmony
UK 1990 Dir Nigel Wattis
52 mins
DVD Col
Follows the famous American choreographer Mark Morris at work currently in Brussels with his company. It looks at his work and career over the past ten years and includes scenes at rehearsals with Mikhail Baryshnikov, with whom he went on to establish The White Oak Dance Project.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Metro [28/03/92]
UK 1992 Prod Frances Dickenson
124 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
This edition looks at Baryshnikov's new company, the White Oak Dance Project (and at Theatresports, an archaic form of improvisation theatre.)
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Nederlands Dans Theatre
The Anatomy Lesson
UK 1968 Dir Margaret Dale
45 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
A ballet by Glen Tetley from the repertoire of the Nederlands Dans Theater Holland. Producer Margaret Dale. Introduced by comments from Tetley and members of the company. Tetley explains how he came to do a ballet in which the central character is a corpse - which lies dissected in Rembrandt's painting The Anatomy Lesson. The ballet is performed by members of the Nederlands Dans Theater to Marcel Landowsky's Symphony no. 1.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
BFI Special Collections: Margaret Dale: Camera Script 1968, Video recording order February 1968, Photographs.
Symphony of Psalms
Netherlands 1980 Dir Fred Bosman
30 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
The Netherlands Dance Theatre perform Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms. Choreography by Jiri Kylian.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The Netherlands Dance Theatre; Road to the Stamping Ground (Dance on Four)
NL 1984 Dir Hans Heulscher
65 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Presentation of the Stamping Ground, choreographed by Jiri Kylian, danced by the Netherlands Dance Theatre with Nora Kimball, Glen Ebby, Mary Knoben, James Vincent, Helene Perback and Nacho Duato.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Watermark (4dance)
UK 2002 Dir Margaret Williams
23 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Contemporary dance film shot on location around The Hague, combining the talents of choreographer Jiri Kylian, performers NDT3 and film-maker Margaret Williams.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
William Forsythe (1949 - ) and the Ballet Frankfurt
American dancer and choreographer William Forsythe danced with the Joffrey Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet before becoming director of the Ballet Frankfurt in 1984 and the Forsythe Company in 2004. His early dance works are acknowledged for re-orienting the practice of ballet from its identification with classical repertoire to a dynamic twenty-first-century art form, and he has also developed new approaches to dance documentation, research and education.
William Forsythe (Just Dancing Around?)
UK 1996 Dir Mike Figgis
51 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Mike Figgis (director of the Oscar-winning Leaviung Las Vegas) filmed for six weeks with William Forsythe and the Ballet Frankfurt to produce an intimate portrait of a rare choreographic talent whose work is both intellectually and physically challenging. Figgis's film won the first prize in the documentary category at the 1996 IMZ International Dance Screen competition in Lyon.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Dance on Four: From a Classical Position
UK 1998 Dir William Forsythe, Dana Caspersen
25 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
A specially commissioned dance piece by choreographer Bill Forsythe, performed by Forsythe himself and Dana Caspersen of the Ballet Frankfurt, with music by Thomas Willems.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook. The company is known for its productions of A Streetcar Named Desire (1986); Creole Giselle (1988).
Parade: The Dance Theatre of Harlem
UK 1974 Dir Peter Potter
33 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
The Dance Theatre of Harlem perform a selection of dances including Le Corsaire (pas de deux) and Dougla.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Royal Variety Performance
UK 1974
140 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Royal Variety Performance
UK 1976
165 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Dance Theatre of Harlem: Lively Arts -
in Performance
Merrill Brockway
US 1977
62 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Founded by New York City Ballet soloist Arthur Mitchell, the Dance Theatre of Harlem is the world's first all black classical ballet company. The programme includes documentary sequences with the Company and excerpts from five works including Dougla, Forces of Religion, Balanchine's Bugaku and Arthur Mitchell's Holberg Suite.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Dance Theatre of Harlem (The South Bank Show)
UK 2004 Dir Gerald Fox
54 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Arts documentary series. A behind-the-scenes look at one of the most extraordinary ballet companies in the USA today.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Mark Morris (1956 - )
American dancer and choreographer who formed his own dance group with friends in 1980 and established the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1990 and the Mark Morris Dance Centre in 2001. Has worked as a choreographer for many companies including the San Francisco Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre and the Paris Opera Ballet, as well as working extensively in opera. Known for the musicality of his dancing and the delicacy of his movement, key productions include Gloria 1981, Dido and Aeneas 1989, Four Saints in Three Acts 2001, Mozart Dances 2006 and Romeo & Juliet 2008.
The South Bank Show: Mark Morris - The Hidden Soul of Harmony
UK 1990 Dir Nigel Wattis
52 mins
DVD Col
Follows the famous American choreographer Mark Morris at work currently in Brussels with his company. It looks at his work and career over the past ten years and includes scenes at rehearsals with Mikhail Baryshnikov, with whom he went on to establish The White Oak Dance Project.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Dido and Aeneas: A Danced Opera
Barbara Willis Sweete
UK 1995
Choreographer Mark Morris takes a new approach to Henry Purcell's opera with a performance combining dance and opera in a production staged for television – an approach which also returns to the roots of opera and dance. Morris himself dances Dido and the Sorceress, and as choreographer for the company presents the dramatic narrative on a stage raised and lit as if for the events of classical Greek tragedy, and with movements in profile that recall Egyptian figure painting.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The South Bank Show: Mark Morris Dance Group
UK 2000
51 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Five filmmakers, including two from LWT's new production unit, The Lab, lived in close proximity to the dancers for a month. Using the latest hand-held digital cameras the Group was filmed from rehearsals in New York for their new show Four Saints in Three Acts to its world premiere in London.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Matthew Bourne (1960 - )
British classical and contemporary ballet and dance choreographer Matthew Bourne is best known for his productions with the company Adventures in Motion Pictures, including Nutcracker!, Swan Lake with an all-male cast in the 1990s (as seen in the feature film Billy Elliot), The Car Man, Cinderella and Mary Poppins. Bourne has also worked on feature films including Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands.
Drip. A Narcissistic Love Story
UK 1994 Dir Frances Dickinson
14 mins
DVD
Dance piece exploring the posturing of handsome men and women, set in a London boarding house. Choreography by Matthew Bourne.
Archive source: Arts Council of England + BFI National Archive
Mariella Frostrup's Brunch [16/11/97] (Brunch)
UK 1997 Prod Helen Swift
24 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Matthew Bourne's Adventures in Motion Pictures (The South Bank Show)
UK 1997 Dir Leo Burley
52 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Duet for the Betterment of 'A'
UK 1999 Dir Brothers Quay
19 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Pointe Blank (4 Dance)
UK 1999 Dir Rupert Edwards
23 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Tablecloth Garden (4 Dance)
UK 1999
24 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
52 mins with 13 Different Keys
Archive source: BFI National Archive
The Car Man
UK 2001
89 mins
DVD (Reference copy only) Col
Based on Bizet’s opera Carmen.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
Bourne to Dance
UK 2001 Dir Ross MacGibbon
76 mins
DVD Col (Reference copy only)
Matthew Bourne looks at a history of male dance and some of the influences on his own work as a dancer and choreographer, including Nijinsky, Nureyev and Baryshinkov, and dance in Hollywood films.
Archive source: BFI National Archive
