Sylphide

I'm in love with Aurelie Dupont's Sylphide.
I'm in love with Aurelie Dupont's Sylphide. She is so exquisitely lovely and so elusive. She enchants, she's now coy, now a vamp, when you reach out to grasp her, she disappears. She is that ideal of love never obtained, of art never fulfilled. Ms. Dupont captures all of this in every gesture of her body, every expression on her face, every nod of her head, every finger. She is the sublime practitioner of superb dancer and supreme mime.
Sylphide, the ballet has had a curious history. It was pieced together by the great dance-master Filippo Taglioni out of tales of that exotic (then) land, Scotland and a bucolic wedding of a local farmer who has romantic dreams of other worldly sprites. The combination was put together with a wistful musical score by Jean-Madelene Schneitzhoeffer, a contract composer. But the secret ingredient was the ballet-masters daughter, Maria Taglioni. She transfored the world of ballet in many ways. She danced en pointe to effect a sylph-like flight. (She...

DuPont is special
While. DuPont stars in many lead roles, La Sylphede seems to have been especially written for her. She has the right mix of the ethereal and the coquette. While ably supported by an excellent group of dancers, she stands above them in this truly memorable performance.

Excellent ballet very well danced
Pickings are slim for good classical full-length ballets on DVD. Rarely will you find excellent quality. This is about as good as it gets for anything more than just a couple years old. Matthieu Ganio is not my favorite James, but he is very good. The costumes and set are lovely, adding to the ballet without distracting. Aurelie Dupont is a stunningly beautiful Sylphide whose lingering arabesques will make you hold your breath, and whose leaps are so graceful they appear to be playing in slow motion. Her death is heart-wrenchingly sad and beautiful as she practically melts into the ground before her sisters bear her away. If you appreciate graceful French arms, you'll love these sylphides. They are quite lovely! And the witch is a treat! From hair and makeup and costume that will delight, to excellent acting and wonderful pantomime skills that dance along that narrow path that is neither so subtle as to be difficult to follow, nor so over-done as to border on melodrama.

Click to Editorial Reviews