Cartoons

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Northern Ballet is promoting its revival of David Nixon's ballet The Three Musketeers with thius animated film.  It is still early days but I think it is a great idea.

The Dutch National Ballet has been doing that sort of things for years.   Here is its animation of Giselle


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 La Bayadère


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and Ted Brandsen's Coppelia:


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Other companies do it well too.   Here's the Canadian National Ballet's Onegin.




 Though not strictly an animation I rather like this office parody by Houston Ballet:

 
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Dangerous things snakes.  Especially if you are a pigeon.

This is why I love the Dutch National Ballet so much

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I mentioned the Dutch National Ballet's production of Giselle yesterday (see Dutch National Ballet's Giselle 22 Oct 2015). They have now published this wonderful animation. It is in Dutch but I doubt whether any foreigner will have any trouble following it.

I love the facial expressions - particularly those of the wilis.  A combination of malice and purpose. We all know jobs worths who look and behave like them.  Also, just look at the jealousy on Hilarion's face.  Normally I can't help feeling sorry for Hilarion, especially as one of my favourite people in ballet once danced that role. Hilarion lost the girl to some toff from a Scots baronial castle. Then it was Hilarion rather than the two-timing toff who broke Giselle's heart who was driven to his death.  But I have no sympathy for the cartoon Hilarion. He reminds me of Will Grundy from The Archers who is also a gamekeeper.

This is not the first brilliant innovation from the Dutch National Ballet.  They inspired and helped to develop and market a video game called Bounden recently (see Bounden - Something that appeals to my Interests in Technology and Dance 17 Dec 2013). Companies on this side of the North Sea could learn a lot from our good friends in Amsterdam.