Moretti / Bigonzetti: Caravaggio - Staatsballett Berlin (2008) [Blu-ray]

Italian choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti brings to life his fellow countryman 17th-century painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio in this Staatsballett Berlin production of his ballet about the enigmatic artist. Vladimir Malakhov, Polina Semionova, Beatrice Knop and Mikhail Kaniskin dance featured roles to the score of Bruno Moretti (based on original music by Claudio Monteverdi), and Paul Connelly conducts.

Bigonzetti’s choreography is dynamic, fusing some elements of classical ballet to what is essentially modern dance. The duets are arresting and innovative, yet not quite as unusual as some of the dancers seem to think. In the accompanying interview feature, one of the ballerinas exclaims that making a dancer stand on her seated partner’s swiveling knees has never been done before; well, she’s apparently never seen Pilobolus, or acrobats, for that matter. It would have been interesting to see how she managed to slide off those knees and rejoin the floor on pointe, but unfortunately video director Andreas Morell cuts away at that point. Morell is a bit of a problem here: especially in the lively group scenes in the first act, his quick cutting, emulating the dynamics of the movement, makes the action almost unintelligible. Otherwise, though, he seems more sensible, and his choice of medium shots and close-ups usually helps illuminate the dancers’ gestures, which are very important in this choreography. He also makes good occasional use of overhead shots.