In June we told you about Crystal Ballet's exciting project: a ballet created to be filmed for digital download. Now the first installment of Genesis has reached N°1 in the iTunes classical music video chart.
It's not a surprise when looking at the cast and creative team for the project – choreographers Kim Brandstrup and Ernst Meisner; dancers Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae from The Royal Ballet, together with stars of English National Ballet: Alina Cojocaru, Esteban Berlanga, Daria Klimentová, Vadim Muntagirov and Erina Takahashi, and former Royal Ballet Principal Johan Kobborg. – but even so, a remarkable achievement, and as with all ‘débuts' there was a risk factor involved.
Crystal Ballet's Co-Founder and Artistic Director Henry St Clair is happy:
The general release of Genesis is a real milestone in Crystal Ballet's development and a historic moment for dance. Now, with the latest digital technology, anyone with a portable digital device can watch world class ballet anywhere, for a fraction of the price of a ticket to the theatre.
The 28 minute long film can be purchased for £12.50 and downloaded from crystalballet.com, or the film's eight parts can be purchased one by one every four weeks for £1.29 each from the Itunes store. It will also be available on Google Play.
Part one is called Spring, with Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae, released at the beginning of September and now number one in the iTunes Classical Music Videos Chart. It is available at the following link.
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
