not sure how rare this is, but fyi:
buy-it-now on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Kirov-Ballet-in-Lo...id=p3286.c0.m14

here's how the NYPL catalogues its copy:
The Kirov Ballet in London [videorecording] c1988.
(124 min.) : sd., col.
Notes :Recorded in performance in London in summer 1988. A BBC production in association with the Entertainment Corporation. Producer: Julia Matheson. Director: John Michael Phillips.
:SUMMARY: Compilation of ballet excerpts performed by members of the Kirov Ballet (artistic director: Oleg Vinogradov), accompanied by the Wren Orchestra of London, conducted by Viktor Fedotov.
:CONTENTS: La bayadère: Kingdom of the shades. Choreography: Petipa. Music: Minkus. Perf. by Olga Chenchikova, Konstantin Zaklinsky, Margarita Kullik, Irina Sitnikova, Olga Likhovskaya, and ensemble. -- La Esmeralda: pas de six. Choreography: Petipa after Perrot. Music: Pugni. Perf. by Yelena Yevteyeva, Eldar Aliyev, and others. -- La vivandière: pas de six. Choreography: Saint-Léon. Music: Pugni. Perf. by Yelena Pankova, Sergei Vikharyev, and others. -- Le papillon: pas de deux. Choreography: Pierre Lacotte after Marie Taglioni. Music: Offenbach. Perf. by Irina Kolpakova and Sergei Berezhnoi. -- Swan lake: Act II pas de deux. Choreography: Konstantin Sergeyev after Ivanov. Music: Tchaikovsky. Perf. by Natalia Makarova and Zaklinsky. -- Don Quixote pas de deux. Choreography: Petipa. Music: Drigo. Perf. by Tatyana Terekhova and Makar Vaziev. -- Le corsaire: Le jardin animé. Choreography: Petipa after Perrot. Music: Drigo. Perf. by Yulia Makhalina; Lyubov Kunakova; Altynai Asylmuratova and Farukh Ruzimatov (pas de deux); Veronica Ivanova, Irina Chistyakova, and Zhanna Ayupova (pas de trois); and others.

Music by Delibes, surely..?

Minkus in this case. I'm guessing the info on the VHS cover and/or the Ebay lister don't have a clue.

This info is from the NYPL catalog, not from the info on Ebay. So blame the cataloger at NYPL!


Going back to the performance itself, I recently was able to watch a friend's copy of this performance. It's a real mixed bag , some stuff I really liked and others that I didn't. But a unique moment is the camera catching Makar Vaziev realizing that his slipper was coming off in the middle of the Don Quixote pdd.
He rips it the rest of the way off and tosses it to the side of the stage.

Those magic moments that make up live performance

This one is worth having just to see Pankova in La Vivandière - a stunning performance.

I was thinking the same thing. Today not so much is actually shown on tv live, much more is done after a delay. And the warts are edited out. But I guess that's a real consideration as the filming is now often destined to be a DVD "product" .


I do get a kick out of how resourceful most performers are, I guess it is part of their professionalism to be ready for the unexpected and to deal with it.

re: the data, i suspect the NYPL took what the package listed, and likely the packaging took the info from the credits given in the telecast.
what makes this perf. somewhat special/historic is that Makarova was dancing w/ her once-home company for the first time since she defected in 1970, in London. (the emotion-filled bows reflect all this.)
though these credits aren't especially accurate, they are a step up from those that for years auromatically noted Adam for any CORSAIRE excerpt.

I heard Makarova interviewed about this performance. She said that she wasn't happy with the tempo that the Kirov was then dancing the WS pas, so before the performance, she went to ask the conductor to take it twice as fast. However, she was very nervous and instead requested "twice as slow." And it is, but it is still gorgeous.

Makarova was the rare dancer who could take it at that extreme tempo and still keep the melodic line.

For me, this is worth having because of a beautifully radiant Asylmuratova in the pas de deux from Le Corsaire.

This is one of the program's highlights for me too, along with the entrance of the Shades from Bayadere.

also it's one of the few? only? vids w/the Kingdom of the Shades as a self-contained presentation, vs. part of a multi-act LA BAYADERE.

For that reason I would always fast forward Makarova's contribution on that tape. For me it's excruciating.

Yeah, since you mentioned it first, I was sort of surprised at how chaotic her performance was. The comments about the tempo misunderstanding helped explain it, but it sure isn't one of her finer moments. And I admire her greatly.