Enter the École de Danse du Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris and follow the young students’ dance lessons, taught by Danseurs Étoiles Élisabeth Platel and Charles Jude in the style of legendary dance master Alexander Kalioujny...

Alexander ‘Sacha’ Kalioujny, born in Prague on 15 April 1923, wasa Czech dancer and ballet master. In 1947, he entered Serge Lifar’s Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris as Danseur Étoile; and then following Rudolf Nureyev’s request, he returned in 1970 as ballet master and devised a highly-praised dance training that focused on technique, strength and movement mastery. This film is the living memory of his classes, reconstituted by his former students, Danseurs Étoiles Élisabeth Platel and Charles Jude, and performed by the young dancers of the École de Danse de l’Opéra national de Paris. A fascinating testimony and an indispensable work tool for all classical dancers around the world.

• The living memory of Alexander Kalioujny’s dance-training method, commissioned by the Nureyev Foundation

• 20+ technical exercices, decomposed and explained

• 70+ minutes of special features and interviews with teachers and legendary dancers of the Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris (Noëlla Pontois, Attilio Labis, Gil Isoart...)

Film directed by Denis Sneguirev

Original language: French
Subtitles: English
Running time: 90’
Bonus: 77’
Video: Colour, NTSC
Sound: PCM 2.0