La Sylphide (Ghislaine Thesmar-Michael Denard, Paris Opera Ballet 1971)
AVI | Audio: 48 kHz, MPEG Layer 3, 2 ch, 128.00 kbps avg | Video: 640x464 (1.38:1), 29.971 fps, DivX ;-) MPEG-4 Fast-Motion, 848 kbps avg | 460.75 MB
Length: 1h 14min
This is a legendary performance! It is the best sample of the great ballerina, Ghislaine Thesmar, that exists in video. The same is true of Michael Denard, a great dancer who oozed with stage presence.
This version of La Sylphide is very sweet and lyrical. This is a movie, not a stage performance, and it possesses great drama and suspense. What makes the dance shine are the fabulous performances of Ghislaine Thesmar (Lacotte's wife) and Michael Denard, who both display a wonderful lightness, superb elevation (the height of their jumps), musicality, and fine acting ability--always a help in a video where you can go close-up on the faces. The duo were one of France's most celebrated partnerships in the 70s, and they have a remarkable "chemistry" and quite similar long, lean body types that make for a beautiful line together.