Tribute to Jerome Robbins

I love the "experts" who pontificate that the comic ballet on this disc is "dated" and "not funny" - it is not only funny, it is laugh-out-loud funny, and brilliantly staged. Do let me know how many comic ballets actually get laughs out loud. I'll be waiting until the twelfth of never. Everything in this tribute is great - Robbins was a genius as choreographer and director. His work can be simple, stunningly complex, romantic, heartbreaking, and yes, FUNNY. The quality of the Blu-ray is excellent as is the sound. We need more Robbins on Blu-ray - have at it.

We don't see much of Jerome Robbins in ballet discography. Perhaps he has been overshadowed by his colleague, George Balanchine, or he has been too often considered only a movie musical choreographer. But Jerome Robbins has made great contributions to serious(and comically serious!) ballet. We see three of his ballets in this recording of a live performance: one to the music of Ravel, and two to the music of Chopin. These ballets feature many solos and small groupings including pas de deux. Each ballet is wonderfully danced by Etoiles of the Paris Opera Ballet, along with dancers of lesser rank(but not lesser talent!) One interesting aspect of this performance is that we actually have Etoiles partnered by not only Premier Danseurs, but also Sujets, Coryphees, and Quadrilles. (The ranks of the Paris Opera Ballet from the highest to the lowest are: Etoile, Premier Danseur or Premiere Danseuse, Sujet, Coryphee, and Quadrille.) That is unusual for the Paris Opera Ballet, but I love to see it. There is a fourth ballet presented in this performance choreographed by Benjamin Millepied(otherwise known as Mr. Natalie Portman). He actually danced for Jerome Robbins and wanted to make this a further tribute to him. He is making quite a name for himself as a choreographer lately, and this shows why: his ballet is fantastic! All of these ballets basically have a story element behind the choreography, but do not actually engage in any type of story narrative. This is very common in modern ballet miniatures. It is somewhat abstract ballet, but not quite.Unfortunately, there are no special features. The packaging is very nice. It is basically a small hard covered book with a DVD case in the back of the book. The book gives a brief biography of Jerome Robbins and a description and history of each ballet.Finally, this review is for the DVD version, which has no regional coding, so is viewable in all regions. There is also a similar Blu-Ray version, also with no regional coding. As of this writing, there are some problems with availability. You might want to check with Amazon.co.uk, the UK version of Amazon, whose link you should find at the bottom of this page. They have had both the DVD and Blu-Ray versions available, and it is very easy to order from them in US dollars, using your normal credit card. Happy hunting and viewing!

Robbins danced with a French flair. As wonderful as all the dancing is, the presentation of the DVD is one you'll want in your collection.The DVD comes in a book that is full of history and photos. By itself, it would be worth the price. The DVD is sort of the icing on the cake.Not to be missed if you're a fan of the Paris Opera Ballet and Jerome Robbins.

As someone who attended many wonderful evening performances at the NYCB, I was privileged to see Mr Robbins Ballets at their best. This DVD as danced by the Paris Opera Ballet, is in my opinion, very good, and it is so nice that I can ""attend"" an evening of Jerome Robbins works whenever I choose.

I just loved it and was so glad to see that it was here for me to see as I just love Jerome Robbins work and went to see all of them when they were put on in New York. Since I don't get there much now I thought it was just wonderful. Thank you.

Paris Opera Ballet really nails the Robbins style and spirit. But Millipied's "Triad" may be the best piece of all. Except for the dated comic ballet "The Concert," which isn't very funny at all and doesn't contain much real dancing, all other dances are worth watching over and over.

Well-done, non-gossipy, about a very important but difficult person. Good coverage of the works, both ballet and B'way

One is always grateful for anything of Robbins who must be the greatest choreographer produced by the United States.. Sadly, however, it would appear that the Robbins Foundation does not appear willing to have Robbins brilliance remembered or even known.. Why is practically nothing of this great man's work available on dvd? Here we have "The Concert", but even this, as a performance for its humour cannot compare with a television transmission I saw years ago (or the live ballet as it was performed by the New York City Ballet). I am wondering if this particular (above mentioned) transmission will ever be transferred to dvd? It included all of the magnificent "Cage" and also excerpts from "Dancers at a Gathering", as well as "Afternoon of a Faun", and "Fancy Free", all these works impeccably performed and interpreted. In contrast, the currently available DVD (Tribute to Jerome Robbins), though I am grateful to have it, is a poor offeringGerard Sibbritt

Like many people, I guess, I was unaware of Robbins classical ballet background. I bought this just to see what it was like. The four pieces were moving, interesting and finally hilarious. The dancing was superb and the filming excellent. It's so difficult to find ballets without lots of unnecessary close-ups. The whole point of ballet is to see the whole dancer, and most of the time the whole stage. This was superb - and the book and box of the highest quality.

The dancing is terrific. Unfortunately, a major part of the "Tribute" isn't one of Jerry Robbins' works. If only more of Robbins were available! I can recall seeing "Graduation Ball" and "Fancy Free" as a youngster and "Age of Anxeity" when I was at university. Does no company perform them?And the Broadway shows as filmed are parodies of what Robbins created. But I expect this is as good as we'll get.

Die DVD zeigt die verschiedenen Darstellungsmöglichkeiten von Ballett. Professionell in wunderbarer Perfektion. Bei einem Theater Besuch würde man niemals die Details wahrnehmen können, wie zum Beispiel die Augen oder diverse Gesichtsausdrücke. Somit ist auch die Verfilmung vom Stück perfekt.

Du grand chorégraphe Jerome Robbins, on ne trouvait en DVD (en dehors de l'inévitable « West Side Story ») que le court ballet « NY Export : Opus Jazz ». C'est dire si le présent spectacle, enregistré au Palais Garnier en 2008, vient combler un énorme vide ! En plus d'une magnifique qualité d'image, la réalisation de Vincent Bataillon mérite d'être applaudie des deux mains (tant il devient rare que la danse ne soit pas filmée comme un clip vidéo). Ici, tout est parfait ! (Par exemple, « In the Night » est filmé avec une seule caméra, en un seul long plan-séquence. Quatre œuvres sont au programme :« En Sol », sur la musique du premier concerto de Ravel, n'est pas le chef-d'œuvre de Robbins, mais c'est une chorégraphie solide et agréable. Marie-Agnès Gillot, très grande danseuse dans toutes les acceptions du terme, a souvent de par son physique hors-norme un peu de mal à trouver des partenaires. Ici, Florian Magnenet, s'il n'est pas tout à fait au niveau de la danseuse, est du moins à sa taille, et lui fournit un soutien solide ! Dans les deux mouvements rapides, le duo est épaulé par six autres couples. Le mouvement lent est un long adage pour les deux solistes, un peu trop long sans doute pour maintenir au plus haut degré son inspiration.« Triade », création de Benjamin Millepied, ne me semble pas, malgré une inspiration riche, très mémorable. Les pas inventifs forment des fragments de discours qui peinent à s'organiser de manière cohérente. Le chorégraphe n'est vraiment pas aidé par l'assommante musique de Nico Muhly, long staccato fortissimo pour piano et deux trombones, qui est tout le contraire d'une invitation à la danse. On admire d'autant plus les étoiles (Gillot encore, et Laëtitia Pujol) et les deux jeunes danseurs moins gradés qui défendent cette création avec talent et conviction.La fin du programme est placée sous le haut patronage de Chopin, musicien autrement inspirant pour un chorégraphe, et qui a inspiré à Robbins deux œuvres fameuses. L'interprétation des danseurs est ici difficilement égalable, et procure un plaisir sans mélange que plusieurs visions ne suffiront pas à épuiser.Dans « In the Night », trois couples dansent successivement sur des Nocturnes, avant de se retrouver dans un quatrième mouvement. Il n'y aucune monotonie dans ces trois pas de deux, chorégraphiés avec une logique absolue. Le premier couple (Clairemarie Osta, Benjamin Pech, tout en finesse l'un comme l'autre) montre plutôt l'amour naissant, la fraîcheur d'une rencontre. Le deuxième couple (avec Agnès Letestu sublime d'élégance) danse l'amour apaisé. Le troisième couple, passionné et déchiré, permet à Nicolas Le Riche et Delphine Moussin d'étinceler d'expressivité et de virtuosité.Enfin, le célèbre « The Concert » est un des ballets les plus drôles qui soient, moquant à la fois le public des concerts et les travers des danseurs dans des séquences de plus en plus délirantes. Tous les interprètes font merveille, distillant le comique à petite dose, sans jamais tomber dans la facilité. Et la merveilleuse Dorothée Gilbert montre un réel talent clownesque avec son personnage de ballerine hystérique.

Consistently first rate. Enjoyed while watching it for the first time, and continue to enjoy it over and over