"Actor: Aurélie Dupont"

• Sleeping Beauty | DVD | (07/11/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  When Rudolf Nureyev created a new version of The Sleeping Beauty for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1989, Tchaikovsky's richest, most gem-studded score was about to celebrate its 100th birthday. He made some modifications to the original score and stagings, but basically took Marius Petipa's choreography and polished it with the greatest of respect for what he dubbed "the ballet of ballets". Ten years later, the Opera Bastille adopted his version in a sumptuous new production, and what a sensory experience it turns out to be. For one thing, the brilliance of the classical sets and costumes fills the huge stage of the Opera Bastille with extravagant glamour. For another, the quality of the dancing is superb at every level. Aurélie Dupont as Princess Aurore and Manuel Legris as her Prince Désiré trigger sublime romance in their ultimate pas de deux. Other highlights include Nathalie Aubin's sinuously evil Carabosse, finally managing to deliver the fateful needle in a bunch of flowers before meeting her match in the Lilac Fairy, and the parade of fairy-tale characters in Act III. This is a connoisseur's production, true. It celebrates one of the greatest classical ballets and the genius of one of the greatest dancers. But it is also a superb entertainment, certain to generate a festive thrill in the chilliest of hearts. On the DVD: Excellent sound quality (Dolby Digital 2.0) and the 16:9 picture format do proper justice to the sweeping, theatrical scale of the production. The disc also includes printable articles on Petipa's and Nureyev's choreography and a link to NVC Arts' Web site. The comprehensive booklet includes explanations of Nureyev's alterations, a brief history of the ballet and a plot synopsis. --Piers Ford

• Balanchine - Jewels (Ballet of the Opera National De Paris) | Blu Ray | (01/09/2008) from £16.17   |  Saving you £15.08 (101.14%)   |  RRP £29.99

  George Balanchine's Jewels performed by Opera national de Paris and directed by Gerard Mortier.

• Rudolf Nureyev's Don Quichotte | DVD | (03/03/2003) from £9.98   |  Saving you £15.01 (150.40%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Don Quichotte, composed by Ludwig Minkus for the Bolshoi in 1869, was relatively unknown in the West until Nureyev's new choreography--which naturally gave him centre stage as Basile--was introduced at the Vienna State Opera in 1966. A later production in 1981 forms the basis for this 2002 success by the Paris Opera. Don Quichotte is in some ways a misnomer for the ballet. Rather than being the dominant character, here the beloved hero of Cervantes' original novel and tilter at windmills is a catalyst for the troublesome events which beset the love story of Basile and Kitri. The dream in which the knight encounters the queen of the dryads becomes a glittering fault in the narrative. But there is no doubting the fluid delights of the pas de deux between Basile (Manual Legris) and Kitri (the enchanting Aurélie Dupont), always literally several steps ahead of their would-be romance spoilers, which rather overshadow the pathos of Jean-Marie Didière's Quichotte. Nureyev's triumph, though, remains the teeming ensemble dances that reaffirm the close marriage between Minkus's score and the unfolding drama, here immeasurably enhanced by Alexandre Beliaev's Goya-esque designs. Ermanno Florio's musical direction keeps the pace light and busy. On the DVD: Don Quichotte is presented in 16:9 video aspect ratio with a choice of stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS (by far the best) soundtracks: the quality is all you'd expect of a standard modern television broadcast, although the subtleties of the theatrical lighting don't always shine through. Extras are limited to previews of other TDK releases. --Piers Ford

• La Sylphide | DVD | (30/05/2005) from £22.89   |  Saving you £2.10 (9.17%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The original choreography by Philippe Taglioni had changed ballet forever. It introduced constitutional features of Romantic Ballet as we know it. These include dance en pointe and the tutu which most certainly owe their omnipresence in ballet to the success of the 1832 staging of La Sylphide in Paris. Everything about the event combined to transform the ballet into a magical spectacle: the libretto inspired by romantic literature the bucolic exoticism of the village wedding festivities the dramatic realism of the Sylvan forest the eerie halo of the gas lights the aerial flights of the dancers the long diaphanous tulle costumes and the ballerina's variations en pointes. Through this work ballet master Philippe Taglioni managed to achieve a magical fusion between mime and artistic dance in a light and flowing style that gave birth to the first white act in the history of ballet.

• Sylvia - Delibes And Neumeier | DVD | (03/01/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A performance by the Paris National Opera Company choreographed by John Neumeier. Recorded at the Opera National De Paris in March 2005.

• Shaolin Collection | DVD | (23/01/2006) from £40.48   |  Saving you £-15.49 (-62.00%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Shaolin Collection 8 Box Set