Ballet Stories

The magic of ballet is evoked in these enchanting stories presented with many musical excerpts from the works themselves. Jenny Agutter, who, before turning to acting, was a dancer, presents the stories of two French ballets -- Giselle Coppelia -- and the three great ballets by Tchaikovsky, in engaging style. These are tales of princes and princesses, of good fairies and bad witches, and, in Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, the brave soldier and Clara -- but does it happen, or is it a dream? And there is the music - the lovely melody from Swan Lake, the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the waltzes and the richly atmospheric passages painting, in sound, castles, forests, mists and lakes. A perfect introduction to The Ballet Jenny Agutter began her performing life as a ballet dancer in the Walt Disney film Ballerina. But she rose to fame in the television production and subsequently the film of The Railway Children. She has been equally active in the theater in varied roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre and on Broadway. Her recent television credits include The Buccaneers, Heartbeat, and the television series And The Beat Goes On.