Genre:

Ballet

Release Date:

Nov 2014

Subtitles:

N/A

Sound Format:

2.0LPCM + 5.0 DTS

Catalog Number:

OA1149D

Darcey Bussell: Darcey's Ballerina Heroines / A Ballerina's Life

As courtesans, fashion icons, political pawns and international celebrities, the great ballerinas have played a multitude of roles both on and off the stage. They have moved from the courts of kings to stages around the globe, from the highs of public adoration to the lows of injury and scandal. But few people know the full story.

British Prima Ballerina Darcey Bussell spent two decades at the top, performing all the great roles in the classical repertoire and becoming one of ballet’s most famous faces. In the first of these documentaries, Darcey’s Ballerina Heroines, the changing role of the ballerina is explored: journeying from 18th-century France to 50s America, we encounter the challenges that Darcey’s predecessors experienced; discover the women who broke the rules; and learn what it takes to be one of the greats. The following documentary A Ballerina’s Life shifts the focus to Bussell herself; with accompanying clips detailing some of her greatest performances, she talks about life at the top and reflects on her career from its earliest days.

Reviews

"I don’t know my arabesque from my pas de chat, but thoroughly enjoyed Darcey’s Ballerina Heroines, a brief but informative history of ballet and its female stars, presented by Darcey Bussell. While ballet fans were well catered for, the programme wasn’t all about tutus, dying swans and elegance – it included some juicy titbits of horrible history as well. For instance, there was the Russian star who released live chickens on to the stage to disrupt the performance of a rival. And the fact that the Paris ballet in the 1830s was a glorified brothel, with the ballerinas’ mothers pimping them out to gentlemen admirers in the audience." (The Stage)