John Cranko’s The Lady and the Fool & Pineapple Poll out on DVD

These two ballets by John Cranko are early examples of the choreographer’s theatrical ingenuity. Created for the then Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet, (later Royal Ballet), Pineapple Poll is a light hearted frolic.

Lady and the Fool is a bittersweet satire on the plight of society’s outcasts with La Capricciosa danced by Svetlana Beriosova in the year she became Prima Ballerina at Sadler’s Wells.

Both ballets are rare studio performances from the BBC’s earliest television archives and are released for the first time on DVD.

The ICA Classics Legacy series presents a collection of historic performances by some of the world’s greatest artists, incorporating rare archive footage that has been expertly and lovingly restored.

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THE LADY AND THE FOOL
Svetlana Beriosova, Ray Powell, Ronald Hynde
Royal Opera House Orchestra / Charles Mackerras
STUDIO RECORDING, TRANSMITTED 3 MAY 1959
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PINEAPPLE POLL
Merle Park, David Blair, Stanley Holden, Brenda
Taylor, Gerd Larsen
London Symphony Orchestra / Charles Mackerras
STUDIO RECORDING, TRANSMITTED 1 NOVEMBER 1959

via ICA

Gramilano Editor

Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.