Ny Export - Opus Jazz [2010]

Here are a number of dances choreographed to a specifically designed jazz score by Jerome Robbins in 1958 when West Side Story was in the theatres. This is a recent performance danced in different parts of NY. It is marvellous! If you liked the dance in West Side Story you'll love this! There are two excellent documentaries - one original with Jerome rehearsing the first cast, and the other with the new cast and ballet master etc. I didn't know the composer Robert Prince, but he has a wide range of styles, and as I get to know the music I'm sure I shall find more and more in it to love.

How I love this performance. I bought it some years ago and just think it's incredible. It does the original justice and beyond, infusing the energy, rhythm, appetite for life and all that colour for a whole new generation. The story is as pertinent today as ever, and without wanting to ruin this aspect with a spoiler, I'll just say that the piece moves through peace, love, happiness, desire, greed, the macabre, tragedy, chaos, fragility... the choreography is stunning, and the casting is so spot on. The jazz music is a character in itself. It weaves through the movements and emphatically joins in with the dancers. Watch out for the older lady in the lift, a dancer from the original Opus Jazz, making a cameo! And now for the real reason I'm posting this review. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, WHOEVER IS RESPONSBILE FOR THE PUBLISHING OF THIS STUNNING BALLET, PLEASE RELEASE IT ON BLURAY!!! Caps over, sorry. I would dearly love to watch this again, but even on my meagre (for this day and age) 32" HD TV, my DVD copy of this looks awful. I really miss watching this.

Great for teaching A Level dance