Ballets Russes

The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo production of Rouge et Noir.

Herald rating: * * * * *

You don't have to be a ballet fan to be moved and fascinated by this often riveting documentary about the development of dance.

Geller and Goldfine were invited to record a 2000 reunion in New Orleans of some of the great dancers of the century, and they used the footage and interviews they gathered as a starting point for an affectionate history of the Ballets Russes.

The plural is significant: the Ballets Russes company was founded in the first decade of the century by artist and impresario Sergei Diaghilev; it brought legendary names like Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky to world notice and used scenery and costumes painted by the likes of Dali and Matisse.

When Diaghilev died in Venice in 1929, his baton was picked up by a Frenchman, Rene Blum, and a former Russian cavalry officer named Colonel de Basil. Together they created the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Later, when their ballet master George Balanchine came into conflict with rival choreographer Leonide Massine, Blum and de Basil fell out, the company split and Basil founded the Original Ballet Russe.

The film-makers turn it into a fascinating story of huge egos and desperate scheming, interleaving archival footage and stills with new interview material, including the famous "Baby Ballerinas" - the three pre-teen dancers engaged by Balanchine who charmed audiences across Europe and made ballet into an entertainment sensation.

The film is a testament to ballet's potential as an elixir of youth. The dancers interviewed, now in their 80s and 90s, are as fit as people half their age and their memories are as undimmed as they are moving. When two of them take to the floor to recreate a dance they last performed seven decades earlier, the years slip away. Magic.

Cast: Alicia Markova, Nathalie Krassovska, Tania Riabouchinskaya, Irina Baronov, George Zoritch
Directors: Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine.
Running time: 118 minutes
Rating: G
Screening: Lido
Verdict: Riveting doco about a slice of 20th century cultural history is a must, even if you don't much like ballet.