Prima Ballerina (2006/First Run Features DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: C     Shorts: C+

 

 

Occasionally, discs about the behind-the-scenes world of ballet turn up along with more actual performance event releases (including many now on Blu-ray, covered on this site) and Prima Ballerina is the latest.  It actually consists of two older half-hour shows from Russia featuring Ulyana Lopatkina (The Soul Of The Dance) and Svetlana Zakharova (Tsarina Of The Dance) that will make fans of the art form happy.

 

The problem many such programs (including as extras on those Blu-ray and DVD releases of full shows) is people just talking about the process in a boring way flatly with footage of the performer being much more exciting than the talking.  That does not happen here much and only the footage holding back the presentation of the performances hurts watching this.  Otherwise, they are worth a look.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image is a little softer than recent productions ought to be, but they are made on low def digital video and even have some noise.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is barely stereo and flatter than it should be.  Extras include a section of other related First Run DVDs, including trailers to some.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo