La Bete et la Belle

Kader Belarbi was a great etoile of the Paris Opera Ballet so it is not surprising that he would put together a great ballet company of his own and become a notable choreographer. This is the second disc from the Ballet du Capitole that has become available(the first was Le Corsaire). His style is somewhat similar to that of Jean Christophe Maillot of the Monte Carlo Ballet. It is ballet's version of French Impressionism, where scenes are both literal and suggestive. Expression goes only so far and leaves the rest to your imagination. This applies to the story aspect, of course, not the pure expression of movement. As far as movement goes, Belarbi's style is pure classical ballet. Aside from the usual character movements, there are the familiar and impressive steps of the classical ballet lexicon. there are plenty of solos, pas de deux, and group dances of the corps. All the women(and a handful of men!) dance on pointe except for Belle and the women dancing the roles of the hunting hounds. Near the end of the ballet, all the women take off their pointe shoes and join the men in a final group dance.(This balance of dancing on pointe and in slippers also is reminiscent of Maillot's style.) The story itself is loosely based on the traditional story of Beauty and the Beast with very imaginative costumes but very little in the way of scenery. The music is magnificent and a wonderful blend of most every conceivable style, from the baroque to the atonal modern, all from famous composers. This is a great ballet that should appeal to those who like modern works but also long for lots of classical ballet variations.

In the world of Art there are people for everything that comes out of the mind of others who believe themselves artists ( see critic above). To me modern dance is more gymnastics than ballet, it is grotesque ,untasteful and very dangerous to the human body (dancers) Sometimes someone like Uwe Scholz comes out with something beautiful like her Siebte Sinfonie with music by Beethoven. It might have been the music, but she created a beautiful modern interpretation with finesse like classical bellet. I recommend anyone who is a lover of dance not to waste money in this horrible thrash whatever self made psychologists say about it.

This is the first time I give only one star on any of my reviews.But really this ballet looks like a bunch of schoolboys at recess ! I found absolutely no beauty in it.The music is not great either.I really prefer Kader Belarbi as a dancer ( see Signes on dvd ).

Very boring ballet with hard to follow story line but some good dancing...not what I expected...not a Sleeping Beauty

I bought this for a dear friends birthday and she loves it!!! She loves the ballet and she was thrilled to get this one!!!

I only discovered the work of Toulouse-based French choreographer Kader Belarbi in the past year. He is one of the best-kept secrets in the worlds of both ballet and modern dance. He works in both forms of expression, often mixing them, and this piece is an example of the modern dance side of his brain. This whole dance is a wonder, with the pas de deux between Beauty and Beast that conclude Acts 1 and 2 being particularly fine. It's not hard to recommend purchase of this work. But for an even greater bargain, note that three of Belarbi's evening-length dances, La Bete et la Belle, La Reine Morte, and La Corsaire, are available together in one set for a song. You can buy all three of them packaged together, in either Blu-Ray or DVD, on this site, for roughly the price of any one of the titles purchased individually. American Ballet Theater and New York City Ballet should give him a ring. He's a major talent. Let's bring him to America. We need him.

Sorry I didn’t understand your version I didn’t like the music. I didn’t like at all

I have over 70 ballet discs and they are a mixture of classical and contemporary. This is the only one that I will never watch again. It is without doubt the weirdest most bizarre load of rubbish that I have ever watched. This goes way beyond modern ballet. I just don't have the words to describe this mess. For anyone who is tempted to buy this I can only say you have been warned.

After seeing the very enjoyable, remarkable production of Le Corsaire by the Ballet du Capitole from Toulouse, France, this interpretation of the well known tale left me nonplussed, if not confused. The internationally little known Ballet du Capitole is actually of international class in quality of style and performance, but not in the size of the cast , in Le Corsaire, which includes many well chosen musical excerpts which are not from Adam. In La Bete et la Belle (note the inversion) we have large cast, from which.i little is demanded. A disappointment for me, who failed to understand this interpretation, but maybe not for others.,some innovations in the sets lack in good taste.

Die ersten 45 Min tanzt "La Belle" mit Stofftieren und Traumfiguren aus dem Kleiderschrank. Eine davon "La Bête" ein leicht gestörter junger Mann ist dann bis zum Finale, bei dem er wieder im Kleiderschrank verschwindet, ihr Tanzpartner. Man muss nicht alles auf DVD brennen.

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