It turns out to be a 'lost' work, carefully reconstructed by Pierre Lacotte, and danced by the Bolshoi Ballet in 2004.

Svetlana Zakharova is the Princess Aspicia – the Pharaoh’s daughter. Serguei Filin is Taor, Aspicia’s eventual husband. Maria Aleksandrova is Ramze – Aspicia’s slave.

The ballet revolves around these three characters. Aspicia loves Taor, but must marry the King of Nubia to seal a treaty. So Aspicia and Toar run away. They are eventually caught, but Aspicia’s love eventually convinces the Pharaoh to let her marry Taor.

Zakharova, Filin, and Aleksandrova and the soloist are great. The corp are also very good – never have a I seen an entire corp execute grand jetes to the same high standard and in time to each other and to the music.

It is an excellent ballet, it is an early work of Petipa’s and the roots of his later works can be seen. Though it is hard to tell if Lacotte has been influenced by the later better known (and better preserved) works. The extra material on the DVD contains an interview with Lacotte, describing him tracking down dancers taught by dancers who had worked with Petipa (or taught by those who had); Lacotte also located collections of notes and manuscripts from people whose family members were involved with Petipa’s circle.

The story is straight forward and easy to follow, and the dancing superb.

I am not normally a fan of Woody Allen films, but this was surprising interesting and humorous. Marion Cotillard gives a wonderfully enchanting performance, and Owen wilson plays Woody Allen better than Woody Allen! If they ever make a film about Woody Allen, Wilson will play him.

In Midnight in Paris, Gil Pender, a successful, but dissatisfied Hollywood scriptwriter, experiences an epiphany while on holiday in Paris. Gil (Owen wilson) is able to escape the cloying mundane company of his fiancee (Rachel McAdams) and her parents, in the present, to Paris in the 20′s. There/where/when he meets all sorts personalities, including: Cole Porter, F Scott Fitzgerald (and Zelda), Earnest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Dali, and Adriana.

Gil strikes up a relationship with Hemingway, Stein and Adriana. Who restore his flagging ambition to be a writer – Hemingway: “You must be fearless”. Adriana (Marion Cotillard) is beautiful and enchanting – a muse and object of desire for the early impressionists – in Paris to study with Coco Chanel.

Gil achieves , via a yellow Peugeot Landaulet 184, that goes drives through Paris at midnight – shades of the ‘Ghost Bus’ from Harry Potter. Gil and Adriana even manage a visit to the Moulin Rouge and Maxims in the 1890′s.

In the end, Gil chooses to stay in the Paris of today to write, but must also choose which women to stay with.

I am going to see this again.

The film is probably one massive piece of computer generated imagery – either from scratch, or a partial ‘degrading’ of real world imagery. In some sequences, the actors arms and bodies can be seen.

I found the nearly-real – ‘degraded’ – visual affect irritating. I prefer real world imagery (even if it is all computer generated) or a pure cartoon style.

The two characters I liked the most were: Snowy (Tintin’s dog) and Sakharine (the baddy). Snowy is the most intelligent and sensible character – but no one listens to him because he is a dog and chases cats. Sakharine steals the show from Tintin and Captain Haddock, through having a richer story and better lines – or maybe due to Daniel Craig’s voice performance.

Not surprisingly the film had a Indiana Jones feel to it – Steven Spielberg was the director. The film reserves the slapstick humor from the books – but in a way that I found corny.

The film clearly combines elements from: The Secret of the the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure. Curiously Bianca Castafiore, who does not appear in either book, appears in the film as a plot device to shatter bullet proof glass.

The pirate fighting scenes are the best.

But I finally got to see the documentary/film The Yes Men on DVD the other night.

It’s all about Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum campaign against the against the WTO (World Trade Organisation). Rather than taking to the streets or blogging, they speak on behave of the WTO ! As the documentary explains, Mike-and-Andy were give control of the domain gatt.org, which they turned into a parody of the WTO site. As they say: “On the Internet no one can tell if you are a dog”, and organisations/conferences started to invite representatives from gatt.org (thinking they were inviting an arm of the WTO) to speak.

The documentary/film follows Mike-and-Andy as they impersonate trade experts/strategists from the WTO at a number of conferences. We see Mike-and-Andy’s increasingly unsubtle send up of WTO policy – culminating in a ridiculous gold unitard.

The documentary is definitely sympathetic with Mike-and-Andy’s position. But regardless of your position, the documentary and Mike-and-Andy what do is pretty funny. Mike-and-Andy take stand-up satirical comedy to another level – without the laughter (track). Most of the venues where the guys speak are populated by analysts/accountants/academics/diplomats for whom english is a second-language – so something might be lost in translation. The latter might also explain why the audience never reacts to the ridiculous propositions Mike-and-Andy espouse.

If you like political satire this DVD is for you.

Jig, as its name suggests, is about Irish Dancing. It follows a number of contestants as they prepare for the 2010 world championships in 2010. Sue Bourne has done a good job of showing the human side of and the hard work put by dancers. The support and sacrifice of the dancers’ families is also revealed : the mother who works extra to support his son; the mother who has mortgaged her house twice to finance one more year; and the family who moved from California to study with one of best instructors in the world.

The dresses the girls wear are so expensive that one mother went into business making them to cut down on costs.

Joe Bitter’s family moved from sunny California to Birmingham, so Joe could take classes with John Carey – eight times world champion.

Also at John’s school is 10 year old John Whitehurst – who comes from a family of soccer playing boys. It is his mum who works extra hours to pay for the lessons and competitions. It is his dad who sums up the quirky image of Irish Dancing: “it was like a Shirley Temple convention” of their first competition.

Irish dancing is shown as a global activity: New York, Birmingham, Derry, London, Moscow, and Rotterdam. There is the team of dancers with high hopes from Moscow; and the trans-atlantic (friendly) rivalry between two 10 year old girls: Brogan McCay and Julia O’Rourke.

The dancing itself is superb. This style of dance does not use the hands, so many of the bio-mechanical techniques available in other dance styles is not available; dancers must somehow maintain control during turns and jumps with only their legs. This combined with a very turned out foot position and fast percussive moves must be very stressful physically.

Good little documentary. The story is told through the dancers’ perspective – speaking frankly and with a quiet charm.

Warning: plot elements discussed.

I was surprised at how sophisticated it was; for some reason I expecting something a bit lighter and humorous. Instead, it was dramatic: as it explored the facets of the main character – Guido Contini. Nine is a semi-biographical portrayal Federico Fellini’s – the famous Italian film director – life. At times it was almost operatic.

The whole show revolves around the Guido character and Nick Purdie carried the show well – displaying on stage maturity that belied his relatively young age. Guido is under a lot of pressure, as his personal life falls apart, and his reputation is assaulted by a series of ‘flops’. He takes refuge at a seaside spa to get away from it all, but on ends up running head on into his problems: his mistress Carla ends up leaving him; his decease mother (played by Caitlin Barrie comes to him in visions; he needs a film plot; and his muse deserts him too.

The seductive ‘telephone’ scene featuring Carla was ably handled by Bridget Connor as she sang and draped herself over the stage and Guido. The emotional duet between Guido and Claudia (played by Bethany Gould) was wonderful – there was a real sense of connection between the “director” and his favourite actress (and muse). In the end only his wife (played by Emma Walker) comes back to him.

In between all the singing are – true to the show’s Broadway roots – dance sequences. At times there was a Bollywood feel to it.

At the end of the show, I felt a bit exhausted from Guido’s emotional journey through his life and the encounters with his women. But Whitireia was ready with a happy fix. The night ended with a little upbeat dance piece Be Italian!. The transition into the dance was a bit of uneven and I think the transition could be smoothed by changing the choreography slightly and introducing the dance piece as one of Guido’s films.

Well done everyone.

Every Little Step is a documentary film is about the 2006 revival of the Broadway hit 1975 A Chorus Line.

Inevitable it is also the story of the original cast and production. From watching the DVD, I found out that the original production was based on the stories of the original cast. This documentary film is interleaved with footage from the original show and the dancers/singers/actors trying out for the characters.

Even though you never see very much of the production, singing and dancing is fantastic. These must be some of the best proponents of musical theatre that one might see anywhere.

The documentary does a great job of showing the story behind A Chorus Line, as well as opening a window into the harsh world of a professional dancer. The story is at two levels; everything in this film is at two levels: A Chorus Line is about dancers auditioning for a show (based real stories), while the DVD is about dancers auditioning to play dancers auditioning! The documentary follows some of the hopefuls as they go from the public open auditions to the final call-back.

The audition process is harsh: relentless and in the full glare of everyone. There must be few professions where you go through an eight month long audition process and then endure another eight month rehearsal period before you get to do it ‘for real’.

The documentary interviews members of both the original cast and crew; and the revival cast (and some of their families) and crew. Bob Avian, the director of the revival gives quite a bit of his time to the documentary – and comes across as a genuinely caring for all the dancers he see. Marvin Hamlisch who wrote the original music is also interviewed.

Directors Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern have done a great job.

The programme was varied and rich; two classical ballet pieces, from choreographers who have a big influence of the Royal New Zealand Ballet; and some cutting edge contemporary dance pieces.

There were two classical pieces: Napoli Divertissements and Emeralds. The former was choreographed by August Bournonville, the latter by George Balanchine; a rare opportunity to see exemplars of two differing classical styles – fast foot movements and a quick tempo versus something lyrical.

The third ballet piece was Company B a contemporary ballet by Paul Taylor. That used classical technique to provide an alternative perspective of the times that spawned the music of the Andrews Sisters. The dead bodies and solemn marching in the background really drove home that young men were dying behind the facade of cheer and longing. Jesse Scales and Jason Carter did a delightful pas de deux to Pennsylvania Polka. Rebekha Duncan danced a memorable saucy solo to Rum and Cola.

The three contemporary dance pieces – Whispers from Pandora’ Box, Recent Bedroom, and Sum – really pushed the boundaries: what is dance ? how much communication is possible in the performance alone (without the context of a title and commentary) ? All of the dancers put their bodies into their performance. In the last two pieces, Gareth Okan really stood out.

The programme alternated the ballet with the contemporary; starting with Bournonville and finishing with Taylor. I found it mentally and emotionally exhausting.

Another well produced production with high technical standards.

This is a new production, and in his first full-length choreographic work, Craig Horsman has tweaked and shortened the Russian version a little bit. The traditional second and thirds Acts have been combined into one. It becomes clear why the Black Fairy – Carabosse – was not invited: the Chancellor – Catalabutte – deliberately ripped up the invitation. Another innovation was the use of a shadow show to portray the birth of Princess Aurora. And for good measure the Chancellor is a cat ! – as his love interest; this cleverly elevates the Puss in Boots and White Cat characters from the original Ivan Vsevolozhsky story.

The feline antics of Catalabutte (danced by Shannon Dawson) and Lady Florine (danced by Lucy Balfour) added some lighter touches to what is otherwise a courtly ballet.

Being a new production the costumes and set were wonderfully detailed. The mortals got richly detailed customs and the fairies light etherial outfits.

The ‘good’ fairies are pretty much as you would expect to find them: simple chiffon tutus in light colours. Even the Lilac Fairy has a simple arrangement. I thought that she should have counterpointed the Black Fairy in a more visual way.

I think the best costume and character was the Black Fairy – Carabosse – danced by Maree White. She did a fantastic job; the choreography, personalisation, and costume seem to borrow heavily from von Rothbart in Swan Lake. The Black Fairy is dressed in black, looking a little bit like Charlize Theron in Aeon Flux with a massive black cape; she is the only fairy to have a head piece, but no wings. She has her own retinue of hench-goblins to boot. She even turns into a dragon – curtesy of Weta Workshop – when she fights Prince Desire.

I wish the fight between the Prince and Carabosse was a bit longer, so that the drama and tension cab build. But it was a nice deviation from the standard ‘cutting through the vines’ when it came time for the Prince to ‘rescue’ the Princess.

I was also wish that the four princes, from whom Aurora was originally to select a husband, had solos of their own.

I was disappointed that the Stella Abrera and Sergio Torrado were not in the principal roles. Instead, the cast was ably lead by Abigail Boyle and Qi Huan. Qi Huan is most princely – with well controlled jumps, leaps and turns. Abigail Boyle handles her technically demanding role well. The evergreen Sir John Trimmer plays the King. The dancing of Adriana Harper and Medhi Angot as the Bluebirds was wonderful.

While the story is relatively simple, I found the beautiful produced programme very useful for filling in some of the ‘gaps’. I though the wedding could have more visual ‘handrails’. [It certainly pays to read up on the story.]

The cast got a resounding ovation at the final curtain.

Once again, defence won the game. The All Blacks, did not deliver the kind of performance that they did against Australia (semi-final) and Argentina (quarter-final), but they tackled their hearts out and the forwards worked the hard tough metres.

It was a close game and the result was never assured. Both teams had a bad night with their kicking; both kicked 1 out of 4 attempts, and thankfully for New Zealand, our kick was worth one more point!

I think that the All Blacks without Dan Carter was weakened. But it speaks volumes for New Zealand’s depth in players that Stephen Donald became an unexpected hero – he kicked what turned out to be the winning penalty. Such has been the bad run of injuries to the first five-eights, that Donald who was not in the original team was called up – while whitebait fishing, so the story goes – within days of the final to provide cover for Aaron Cruden (who was also called in, from his skateboard, so the story goes) when Dan Carter was injured in training.

The pressure on the kickers must have been immense. Piri Weepu had a bad night with the boot, but made up for it in his tackling and marshaling the team – and saving a certain French try. the French kicking was equally ‘off’: only managing the conversion from close in.

Given the work done by both sets of forwards, it seems fitting that both trys were scored by forwards: Tony Woodcock and Thierry Dusautoir. The later, the French captain, was also made man-of-the-match. This was fitting in some ways, as the All Black team work, on defence, won them the game.

France were a little more inventive with their attacks; but the All Black defence was up to it. France won better line-out ball and their scrum was more than competitive; but the All Blacks tackled and tackled and tackled. In the end it was not anything fancy: just tackling hard, and sprinting back to your place in the defensive pattern, and doing it again.

Only with three minutes to go did the All Blacks snuff out French hopes: by retaining possession in the forwards, through a series of slow pick-and-goes that wound the clock down.

The win puts the demons of 1991 and 2007 to rest, and sets them up for the next decade or so. It sets the example and the bar for future All Black teams.

Finally, I think it is fitting that France, who out tackled a spirited 14-man Wales to an 9-8 win, to get to the final, were, in turn, out tackled to a 7-8 loss, in the final.