Dance transmissions on TV you'd like to see again

[David]

This would seem to be a marvellous opportunity for the BBC to re-broadcast some of the vast amount of dance-related material that we know is in their vaults but which isn't available elsewhere. I'm sure this forum could provide a helpful list - starting for me with Darcey Bussell's farewell performance of Song of the Earth.

 

A similar initiative in other performing arts genres would be equally welcome - in opera for example - again for me starting with  Birtwistle's Gawain!

And Radio 3 - Edward Downes' almost complete performance of Rienzi on the BBC in 1976 please?

 

Other genres: Theatre - Restoration and 18th Century Comedy perhaps?

 

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2020 by David

[JohnS]

The Cojocaru/Kobborg Cinderella I think has only ever had one broadcast, many Christmases ago, and I’d love to see that again.

[Lizbie1]

8 minutes ago, David said:

This would seem to be a marvellous opportunity for the BBC to re-broadcast some of the vast amount of dance-related material that we know is in their vaults but which isn't available elsewhere. I'm sure this forum could provide a helpful list - starting for me with Darcey Bussell's farewell performance of Song of the Earth.

 

A similar initiative in other performing arts genres would be equally welcome - in opera for example - again for me starting with  Birtwistle's Gawain!

 

Other genres: Theatre - Restoration and 18th Century Comedy perhaps?

 

 

I was thinking - maybe it's time for the BBC to be weighting its content more towards the over 70s.

[David]

Ouch!!!

[Lizbie1]

3 minutes ago, David said:

Ouch!!!

 

Not aimed at you, sorry! Thinking about it, over 70s TV would probably suit my tastes very well, though I've a distance to go yet.

[Janite]

I would love to see Darcy Bussell do Song of the Earth. Having only seen sort clips on YouTube. 

[David]

16 minutes ago, JohnS said:

The Cojocaru/Kobborg Cinderella I think has only ever had one broadcast, many Christmases ago, and I’d love to see that again.

 

Oh, yes please.

[Two Pigeons]

Collier and Dowell in Cinderella, Park and Wall in Sleeping Beauty, Schaufuss and Evdokimova in La Sylphide and the quad bill for Sir Fred's 75th please.   That's the one with the first cast in A Month in the Country.

[Jeannette]

29 minutes ago, Two Pigeons said:

Collier and Dowell in Cinderella, Park and Wall in Sleeping Beauty, Schaufuss and Evdokimova in La Sylphide and the quad bill for Sir Fred's 75th please.   That's the one with the first cast in A Month in the Country.

 

Excellent list. I would add The Dream starring Park/Dowell.

[loveclassics]

I believe there's a new streaming service starting soon that has old BBC & ITV programmes.  Or it may be up & running already but I haven't noticed anything online.  Wouldn't it be great if old ballet stuff was included?  But I think there may be copyright issues with the orchestras involved.

 

Linda

[Janite]

8 minutes ago, loveclassics said:

I believe there's a new streaming service starting soon that has old BBC & ITV programmes.  

 

Linda

 

Do you know what it's called? 

[Two Pigeons]

22 minutes ago, Janite said:

 

Do you know what it's called? 

 

 

Britbox? 

 

Cannot say I think ballet will be a priority though.  They are showing every episode of Midsomer  Murders.  I think that's a better indication of what they will be showing.

[rowan]

4 hours ago, David said:

This would seem to be a marvellous opportunity for the BBC to re-broadcast some of the vast amount of dance-related material that we know is in their vaults but which isn't available elsewhere.

Possibly not as simple as it sounds. The BBC doesn’t necessarily own the programmes it holds in its archives, or have the rights to show them.

[jm365]

I don't know how many times I have already said on this forum that it is really almost impossible for the BBC to repeat some of its earlier ballet programmes.  They were often co-productions and the rights were only taken for two transmissions.  To try to trace the artists and all the other people involved, many of whom are now dead and goodness knows what the rights situation is with them, would be a huge task.  At the time, no one was thinking forty or fifty years ahead and no one knew about all the different media that would eventually be available.  It's really, really sad - but I don't know what the solution is.

[David]

And yet thankfully most if not all the Margaret Dale productions from the early 60s have been released on DVD albeit some 50yrs later so presumably the problems dimish with time. Fraid I can't hang around for another 50yrs but isn't there a point at which rights are extinguished?.

 

[capybara]

There was a lovely dance celebration of the Queen Mother's 80th birthday which I put on record but lost some of it because they inserted half an hour of news into the broadcast. In those days, tapes were only 3 hours long.

That must be somewhere in the archives!

[Lizbie1]

7 minutes ago, capybara said:

There was a lovely dance celebration of the Queen Mother's 80th birthday which I put on record but lost some of it because they inserted half an hour of news into the broadcast. In those days, tapes were only 3 hours long.

That must be somewhere in the archives!

 

Was that the one Rhapsody was made for?

[Two Pigeons]

5 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

Was that the one Rhapsody was made for?

 

 

Indeed, with Mam'zelle Angot.

 

P.s. please may we also have the gala for the Queen's 60th Birthday.  Gelsey Kirkland as Juliet, extracts from Birthday Offering and Daphnis and Chloe.

Edited March 15, 2020 by Two Pigeons
Addition

[stucha]

7 hours ago, Two Pigeons said:

Collier and Dowell in Cinderella, Park and Wall in Sleeping Beauty, Schaufuss and Evdokimova in La Sylphide and the quad bill for Sir Fred's 75th please.   That's the one with the first cast in A Month in the Country.

 

The La Sylphide you mention can be found here. Not great quality unfortunately.

 

 

[Janite]

8 hours ago, stucha said:

 

The La Sylphide you mention can be found here.

 

 

 

Thank you, I appreciate all you people who post the ones that you  know are good. 

[alison]

This discussion had rather derailed the "terrestrial TV" thread, so I've moved it off into a separate thread.  We can all dream, but please note this post :

 

 

[David]

I feel your pain but I make no apology for returning to this subject. The point is valid but times have changed and we are moving into a different world. I belong to a generation that saw the BBC make a major contribution to the restoration of the performing arts in this country after the War - commissioning new works, encouraging the establishment of properly constituted permanent orchestras, etc. It was through the BBC, particularly the Third Programme of blessed memory that I got to know the operas of Britten and Tippett, the Symphonies of Mahler and Nielsen and so much more besides.

 

As lights go out in theatres and concert halls across the globe and we see companies making brave efforts to keep their art alive through free live streamings and the like, and as so many of us will be isolated in our homes for extended periods, we will be increasing dependant on broadcasts, recordings, etc for our daily fix.  There is a philosophical question as to what constitutes the greatest threat to civilization but I learnt my love of the performing arts during a time of war and I’m certainly not going to allow a pesky virus to stand in my way now.

 

This is the BBC's moment if they have the vision to grasp it. They have been under increasing pressure from politicians who feel threatened by its independence but those same politicians are now dependant on the media to “get their message out” and I get the impression that people are increasingly looking to the BBC for unbiased factual analysis of the pandemic threat.

 

All of which is to say that not just the BBC but also all the recording companies should recognize that once more they have a major role to play in sustaining the Arts in this country, including searching through their vaults and doing everything possible to support the arts that are the hallmark of a civilized society.

 

As so have we all - as mention has already been made elsewhere. Which leads me to my final point in this diatribe that many of us have recordings tucked away on our hard discs that we can share, as indeed many of us quietly do - you know who you are and thank you. I have a lot of stuff on my DVD Recorder hard drive that I transfer to disc for my family and friends and others who mention a particular wish but obviously have had to be cautious to stay within the legal boundaries. I feel strongly that this thread should be supported at this point in time and that we should all continue to identify the important performances from the past that must be remembered, disinterred and shared.

 

And before I am ticked off, it is worth remembering that in this world of social media, sharing is the norm and is increasing by leaps and bounds by a younger generation who are certainly not going to see their ship sink!

 

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by David

[jm365]

David, I share your regreat that BBC is not what it was - I am of the same generation as you, I think.  However, as an ex-BBC staff member, I am fed up with the blame that it gets for not repeating things that are not within its capabilities to repeat.  I believe that there are many people who would love to repeat those early programmes - but it is not easy.    Someone up the thread pointed out that Maggie Daie's films are on DVD - these were made before the era of co-production and are therefore easier to clear.  I believe that at some point a block payment to Equity and the Musicians Union achieved this.  Most of the important later programmes were either made by independents or were co-productions.  If they were the latter, the rights do not lie with the BBC and I know for a fact that some of the co-producers have gone out of business.

 

If only .....

[maryrosesatonapin]

The ideal solution would be for audiences to stream at home those arts events (of any type) that they had hoped to see live, for an appropriate fee that would keep the performers paid.  This must be within the bounds of today's technology and if only it were put in place, maybe some permanent good would come of the current worrying situation.

[David]

1 hour ago, jm365 said:

David, I share your regreat that BBC is not what it was - I am of the same generation as you, I think.  However, as an ex-BBC staff member, I am fed up with the blame that it gets for not repeating things that are not within its capabilities to repeat.  I believe that there are many people who would love to repeat those early programmes - but it is not easy.    Someone up the thread pointed out that Maggie Daie's films are on DVD - these were made before the era of co-production and are therefore easier to clear.  I believe that at some point a block payment to Equity and the Musicians Union achieved this.  Most of the important later programmes were either made by independents or were co-productions.  If they were the latter, the rights do not lie with the BBC and I know for a fact that some of the co-producers have gone out of business.

 

If only .....

 

Well I'm certainly at one with you in being fed up with those who slag off the BBC, particularly politicians pre-occupied with their own agendas. As I remember Dante had a special level in hell for the politically ambitious - stuffing them head first down a hole on top of each other in one of the deepest levels. Perhaps  Mr McGregor will take that on board for us. But accepting what you say as of course I do, the recordings some of us hold in our private collections are of immense importance which is why I retain stuff on hard drive and and am always willing to burn a copy on disc for anyone who is interested. Blurry videos on You Tube are all very well but surely we can do better than that. Bob Lockyer did an important job for us in describing the breadth of the dance material held in the BBC archives but I don't know if a comprehensive index is available anywhere. If not, we don't even know what we are in danger of losing and we should worry about that. Now that Alison has established a separate thread it does offer an opportunity at least to record the 'lost' programmes that people believe to be important and wish to see again. 

 

I shall shut up now! 

Edited March 16, 2020 by David

[rowan]

 

17 minutes ago, David said:

I don't know if a comprehensive index is available anywhere.

This may help. 1923 to 2009 Radio Times listings with fairly comprehensive details about the programme. https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/

[Fonty]

I am pretty certain this has been mentioned before, but it seems criminal that the Magic of Dance can't seem to be shown again anywhere.  I appreciate that in "the old days" the powers that be might not have thought about future problems,.  However, we are talking about a programme specially produced in 1979 with one of the greatest ballerinas who was a household name, interviewing fellow legends and sharing her own experiences.  

 

Surely somebody somewhere should have had the forethought to say, "Hang on, I think this Fonteyn programme might be one to keep, and a good source of revenue for the future.  Let's sort out the copyrights now."  I am pretty certain Fonteyn herself must have thought she was involved in a programme that would be seen by future generations.  

 

 

[David]

1 hour ago, rowan said:

 

This may help. 1923 to 2009 Radio Times listings with fairly comprehensive details about the programme. https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/

 

Thanks for this - I'll certainly check it out.

[Mérante]

Very much in agreement with David's contribution above.  Athene Seyler has a wonderful book THE CRAFT OF COMEDY.  She explains the differences between Old Comedy, Commedia, and so forth.  It''s subtle, but ... that's where the monkey sleeps! 

 

Some of the Greats in Old Comedy, Restoration Comedy etc. were broadcast on television in the 50s and early 60s - they've vanished.  We need them badly, so that the young can learn The Craft of Comedy - and of Tragedy, while we are, er, at it.

German television both East and West broadcast at the same time, excellent versions of the Weimar classics.  These have never, ever, been published on DVD.  I met someone at Bad something or the other, who had a collection of 3000 videos of those productions and had searched, in vain, for a sponsor to transfer them to DVD.

NOW IS THE TIME to re-broadcast these productions - the Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, von Kleist etc. plays. 

[JohnS]

4 hours ago, David said:

 

I shall shut up now! 

Please don’t!

[Fonty]

How tenuous a connection to dance do you mean?  I can think of lots of programmes I would love to see, but not much dancing in them.  Maybe I should start a new thread?

 

 

[Rachelm]

There are so many documentaries I would love to see again, particularly the special on Alina Cojocaru. I think there was another for her partnership with Johan Kobborg too. But any Royal Ballet documentaries would be most welcome.

 

I'd also love to see the latest RB Swan Lake again, as I recorded it on my previous Sky box and have since upgraded to a different box, so lost the recording. 

 

It was great to see Mayerling the other day though, I thought Sarah Lamb was divine!

 

 

[David]

17 hours ago, Mérante said:

Some of the Greats in Old Comedy, Restoration Comedy etc. were broadcast on television in the 50s and early 60s - they've vanished.  We need them badly, so that the young can learn The Craft of Comedy - and of Tragedy, while we are, er, at it.

 

German television both East and West broadcast at the same time, excellent versions of the Weimar classics.  These have never, ever, been published on DVD.  I met someone at Bad something or the other, who had a collection of 3000 videos of those productions and had searched, in vain, for a sponsor to transfer them to DVD.

NOW IS THE TIME to re-broadcast these productions - the Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, von Kleist etc. plays. 

 

Since this is a ballet forum I hold back from commenting on other genres but  I'm very much with you on this. The truth is that much of what we say here applies with equal force to all the other branches of the performing arts. It's what I like to think of as the Gesamkuntswerk of the arts. That's probably a misapplication of the term - I suspect you would know that better than I -  but it reminds me that I must soon return to The Divine Comedy and all its associations in readiness for Wayne's next challenge. That man really makes me work!