This ballet is a 1987 BBC production, but it looks so good, you'd think it was created today. The dancers are dancing with balletic movements the paintings of W.S. Lowry, who painted the industrial landscape of northern England, accentuating the bigness of the factories and the smallness of the people. The costuming and facial makeup are perfectly in accord with Lowry's paintings. Although there are some film techniques that allow the dancers to be superimposed onto a painting occasionally, this is not over-done, it remains a filmed ballet.
Christopher Gable, who dances the role of Lowry, had been with the Royal Ballet in London in the 1960s, but left following a badly thought out decision to give his opening nights in America to Rudolf Nureyev. Gable became an actor and built a successful career, you can see him in a number of Fellini movies. The whole debacle of putting Nureyev and Fonteyn into the new Romeo & Juliet roles that were created for Gable and Lynn Seymour damaged their reputations within the ballet world as they were seen to be greedy, grabbinh the plums for themselves. Watching this ballet, it's obvious what a good actor Christopher Gable is, and the combination of his ballet chops and acting makes for good theater. The female lead is Moira Shearer, of "Red Shoes" fame, who plays Lowry's mother.
Interesting choreography, staging and dancing, excellent creative ideas on display here. You can't take your eyes off it, there's a lot to think about and appreciate. Albert Finney narrates an Introduction, so you find out all you need to know about Lowry before watching the ballet. A very well done pair of programs on this DVD, worth buying in my opinion.
