The Blu-ray Experience II: Opera, Ballet & theatre

The Australian Ballet: Coppélia

This delightful ballet tells the story of Dr Coppelius, an eccentric toymaker, who attempts to bring life to his beautiful doll Coppélia. He is foiled by the mischevious Swanilda, who masquerades as Coppélia and saves her love, Franz, from the Doctor's magic. Recorded live at the Sydney Opera House, this acclaimed production by Dame Peggy van Praagh, the founding Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet, is a triumph.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

An all-star cast highlights this vibrant musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's immortal tale. One day, plucky young Alice follows a white rabbit down a hole and discovers a world of bizarre characters.

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake

Director and choreographer Matthew Bourne's radical reworking of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. The score remains the same, but the famous corps de ballet is now danced by men.

Don Quixote from Birmingham Royal Ballet

Birmingham Royal Ballet perform Don Quixote in a production by Carlos Acosta. Based on Spain’s most famous novel, the classic ballet follows Don Quixote’s extraordinary adventures as he helps young lovers Kitri and Basilio find happiness. Filmed at the Birmingham Hippodrome, Don Quixote features some of ballet’s most iconic and virtuosic dance moments. Starring Momoko Hirata as Kitri, Mathias Dingman as Basilio and Tom Rogers as Don Quixote.

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland (1966) is a BBC television play based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. It was directed by Jonathan Miller, then most widely known for his appearance in the long-running satirical revue Beyond the Fringe.

Swan Lake SPBT

Classic production of the world’s most-famous ballet, the one that dance audiences long for – Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. First performed in St.Petersburg in 1895, Swan Lake with its unrivalled “white acts”, its spectacular and dramatic Ballroom scene, sublime music and deeply moving story, is the ballet that towers above all others. Filmed on the 2nd of April 2006 at the South African State Theatre - Pretoria during the first ever St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre tour. This is the world’s favourite ballet, Tchaikovsky’s complete Swan Lake performed with the Johannesburg Festival orchestra; by the best touring ballet company in the world.

Giselle SPBT

No ballet better epitomizes romance than Giselle, also known for its rich melody. This ballet explores the traditional theme of love triumphing over death. Bursting with freshness, spontaneity and emotion, the musical core for Giselle remains one of ballet music’s greatest successes. The Saint Petersburg Ballet Theatre remains faithful to the version of this ballet that is at once the closest to the original and the most romantic. Live SPBT`s performance 'Giselle' was filmed on 16th March 2007 on the spacious stage of the State Theatre in Pretoria during the second SPBT`s tour of South Africa. Giselle was created in 1841 at the Royal Academy of Music, now the Opéra National de Paris.

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas classic revisited in dance form at the Finnish National Opera: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It's the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy, miserly old man who, on Christmas Eve, is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. A magical tale popular with all ages, adapted into a ballet by an all-British artistic team including composer Sally Beamish and choreographer David Bintley.

La Fille mal gardée

Ever since its triumphant premiere in 1960, Frederick Ashton's La Fille mal gardee has been treasured as one of his happiest creations - his artistic tribute to nature, and an expression of his feelings for his beloved Suffolk countryside. Marianela Nunez and Carlos Acosta perfectly portray the young lovers Lise and Colas, determined to thwart the plans of Widow Simone to marry off her wayward daughter to Alain, the simple son of wealthy Farmer Thomas. Osbert Lancaster's colourful, picture-book designs, along with Ferdinand Herold's tuneful score, arranged by John Lanchbery, provide the perfect setting for Ashton's blissfully bucolic ballet, complete with haywain, pony, maypole and ribbons, a cockrel and his chickens and, of course, the famous clog dance, here wonderfully led by William Tuckett as the irascible but lovable Widow Simone.

Alice in Wonderland

Alice, now 19 years old, returns to the whimsical world she first entered as a child and embarks on a journey to discover her true destiny.

The Royal Ballet

Filmed on the stage of London's Covent Garden. Includes extracts from Swan lake, Ondine & The Firebird.

Mr. Xia And Miss Shang

Xia Ji pushes people away with his arrogance and sharp tongue, while Shang Jia is kind and considerate who does things to please others more than it being from the bottom of her heart. What kind of chemistry, will have, the two people with such contrasting personalities?

Alice in Wonderland

Alice follows a white rabbit down a rabbit-hole into a whimsical Wonderland, where she meets characters like the delightful Cheshire Cat, the clumsy White Knight, a rude caterpillar, and the hot-tempered Queen of Hearts and can grow ten feet tall or shrink to three inches. But will she ever be able to return home?

Swan Lake

The Royal Ballet's 1980 production of Tchaikovsky's classic ballet.

Cinderella

Cinderella is helped to the ball by her fairy godmother in The Royal Ballet's version of the classic fairy tale, using Sergei Prokofiev's music and Frederick Ashton's choreography in a comic ballet.

John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's tragedy about the feuding Montagues and Capulets, whose children find each other and overcome the deep-seated hatred, has inspired countless artists. John Cranko also took up this timeless material in 1962 and created one of his most popular ballets. Sergei Prokofiev's descriptive music - in combination with Jürgen Rose's opulent sets and costumes – forms the perfect back drop which allows the scenes to unfold just as if they had sprung directly from an Italian Renaissance painting.

Tip Toe

A performance film following the young ballerinas of Na Ponta dos Pés, an art school founded by Tuany Nascimento in Rio de Janeiro.

Bolshoi Ballet: Don Quixote

Product Description ••••• A complete 1978 performance of this classic ballet stars the magnificent Nadezhda Pavlova and Vyacheslav Gordeev; the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra is conducted by Alexander Kopilov. DVD Bonus: Scenes from Don Quixote filmed at the Bolshoi in 1964 and starring the legendary dancers Maya Plisetskaya and Maris Liepa; Bolshoi Orchestra conducted by Youri Fayer.

Anyuta

Bolshoi Ballet stars Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova dance this 1982 performance of "Anyuta," the story of a small-town woman who purposely marries above her social status only to learn that popularity comes with a price. Maximova performs the role of Anyuta; Vasiliev plays Anyuta's drunk father.

Cinderfella

When his father dies, poor Fella is left at the mercy of his snobbish stepmother and her two no-good sons Maximilian and Rupert. As he slaves away for his nasty step-family, Maximilian and Rupert attempt to find a treasure Fella's father has supposedly hidden on the estate. Hoping to restore her dwindling fortunes, the stepmother plans a fancy ball in honor of the visiting Princess Charmein whom she hopes will marry Rupert. Eventually, Fella's Fairy Godfather shows up to convince him that he has a shot at winning the Princess himself.

Trolls World Tour

Queen Poppy and Branch make a surprising discovery — there are other Troll worlds beyond their own, and their distinct differences create big clashes between these various tribes. When a mysterious threat puts all of the Trolls across the land in danger, Poppy, Branch, and their band of friends must embark on an epic quest to create harmony among the feuding Trolls to unite them against certain doom.

Slumberland

A young girl discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will be able to see her late father again.

Arlo the Alligator Boy

Upon learning that he is from New York City, a wide-eyed boy, who is half human and half alligator, decides to leave his sheltered life in the swamp and search for his long lost father. A musical adventure.

Joe's Apartment

A nice guy has just moved to New York and discovers that he must share his run-down apartment with a couple thousand singing, dancing cockroaches.

Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness

A brave young animal explorer teams up with two trusty friends to find a powerful artifact before his greedy uncle can get his paws on it.

The Willoughbys

When the four Willoughby children are abandoned by their selfish parents, they must learn how to adapt their Old-Fashioned values to the contemporary world in order to create something new: The Modern Family.

Wonder Park

A young girl named June with a big imagination makes an incredible discovery -- the amusement park of her dreams has come to life. Filled with the world's wildest rides operated by fun-loving animals, the excitement never ends. But when trouble hits, June and her misfit team of furry friends begin an unforgettable journey to save the park.

Tom and Jerry & The Wizard of Oz

After a deadly storm, Tom and Jerry find themselves stranded on an unknown island ruled by the evil Wizard of Oz. As they try to find their way back home, they worry for their master Dorothy's safety.

Christopher Robin

Christopher Robin, the boy who had countless adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood, has grown up and lost his way. Now it’s up to his spirited and loveable stuffed animals, Winnie The Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and the rest of the gang, to rekindle their friendship and remind him of endless days of childlike wonder and make-believe, when doing nothing was the very best something.

Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure

Tom And Jerry are among the last animals living in Storybook Town, a fairy tale-inspired theme park "where dreams come true, if you believe."

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Legend of Everfree

When Canterlot Highschool goes on a trip to Camp Everfree, they’re surprised to find a magical force is causing strange things to happen around camp. With the help of the Mane 6 and especially Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle must confront the dark “Midnight Sparkle” within herself and embrace her newfound magical abilities to save the camp.

Animal Crackers

A family must use a magical box of Animal Crackers to save a rundown circus from being taken over by their evil uncle Horatio P. Huntington.

A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits

A contemporary musical version of the classic Cinderella story in which the servant step daughter hope to compete in a musical competition for a famous pop star.

Sing

A koala named Buster recruits his best friend to help him drum up business for his theater by hosting a singing competition.

Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire

The Yowie Yahoo starts kidnapping musicians at a concert attended by Scooby and the gang in Vampire Rock, Australia.

My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever

As the ponies prepare for another Hearth's Warming, families come together to celebrate the holiday; Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash are ready for the big day, but Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn't have time to celebrate.

Alice in Wonderland

In Victorian England, a bored young girl dreams that she has entered a fantasy world called Wonderland, populated by even more fantastic characters.

Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King

Scooby-Doo and Shaggy must go into the underworld ruled by The Goblin King in order to stop a mortal named The Amazing Krudsky who wants power and is a threat to their pals: Fred, Velma, and Daphne.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run

When his best friend Gary is suddenly snatched away, SpongeBob takes Patrick on a madcap mission far beyond Bikini Bottom to save their pink-shelled pal.