I’m definitely not a ballet expert, but my limited experience with these performances enabled me to keep up with the general gist of the movie, but only just. The storyline follows the paths of two lovers, Kitri and Basil, who escape from their respective families and join a group of gipsies. The gipsies offer protection and attempt to hide the lovers from Kitri’s father and Gamache, the man he wants her to marry. There is also the side story of Don Quixote who is obsessed with Dulcinea, his true love, a figure of true womanhood that only he can see.

The Don, who is an eccentric, if not crazy old knight attempts to help the lovers by throwing Kitri’s father and Gamache off track by sending them the wrong way. This works until the Don’s bumbling sidekick then points them in the right direction. They end up intercepting the gipsy wedding, where by Basil pretends to kill himself. The Don convinces Kitri’s father to allow his daughter to wed the apparently dieing Basil, and once the ceremony is complete, Basil jumps back to life, much to the surprise of Gamache, who eventually realises that their love was inevitable. Kitri’s father however, in a fit of rage, challenges the Don to a duel. Sadly enough, the Don loses and is forced to leave, still in the search of his beloved and imaginary Dulcinea.

The video transfer was pretty average, if even that. Colour bleeding is a very significant problem and the shadow detail is poor. Colours are pretty flat and lifeless, which is a real shame considering this films potential. According to the booklet given inside of the case this performance was actually recorded in 1983, which could be a partial explanation for its lack-lustre transfer. The film is presented in full frame (4:3) and is not 16:9 enhanced.

There is only one audio soundtrack provided on this disc and it is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. Consisting only of the music by Ludwig Minkus, this soundtrack is pleasant to listen to and compliments the film nicely. Lacking the surround and subwoofer channels this soundtrack is nothing special, but is however clean and without any major faults.

Again, like the video and audio transfers, the extras on this disc are also of a below average standard. A small, black and white booklet held inside the case is probably the highlight of all the features on the disc, containing a brief summary of the movie and the cast and crew list. This information can also be found on the disc via selection through the static and very dull menus. The only other extra is a link to the nvc-arts page, which isn’t anything to be too excited about.

Overall this is a lovely piece of ballet, thrown onto a sub-standard DVD. Big fans of ballet will enjoy this disc for the performance, but will still be disappointed by the transfer and the lack of substantial and worthwhile special features. For a ballet DVD, this disc isn’t too bad, but still isn’t anything spectacular. Considering the true potential of this media I was quite disappointed by this release. Definitely one only for the hardcore ballet fans.