For ballet fans, as well as those interested in the dance arts, A Life for Ballet offers a stunning look at the master Pierre Lacotte and his impressive ca- reer. Lacotte and his wife and dance partner, Ghislaine Thesmar, influenced the world of ballet with their work, including adaptations of romantic bal- lets such as Coppelia in Shanghai in 2002, Daughter of the Danube in Tokyo in 2007 and La Sylphide in 2011 in Vienna and Moscow. Thesmar was Prima Ballerina in La Sylphide in Buenos Aires and Tokyo and in Swan Lake with Ruolf Noureev, and has been an esteemed professor at the Opera de Paris. This film explores the ballet over a span of 60 years, including new archival footage, and features ballet greats such as Rudolph Noureev, Agnes Let- estu, Michael Denard, Evgenia Obratsova, and Svetlana Zakharova. While Lacotte’s accomplishments are far too lengthy to list, some of the most significant ones are his reconstruction of Swan Lake for the Ballet National de Nancy, where he was artistic director from 1991 to 1999, and also recreating Ondine at the request of Makhar Vasiev, set to the music of Cesare Pugni. Lacotte had to recreate the entire ballet from scratch, which was re-choreographed by Marius Petipa in 1874, and had underwent several adaptations since then. The only original documentation from which Lacotte had to reference were some notes from the violin section and a critical review that was written after the originally re-choreographed production. HD | 2011 | FRANCE | 95 min | French w/English subtitles | Color and B&W CORINTH FILMS PRESENTS A WIDE MANAGEMENT LOIC MAGERON AND DELANGE PRODUCTION IN COPRODUCTION WITH SUPERSONIC PRODUCTIONS WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY MARLENE IONESCO WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE PRIMA BALLERINAS OF THE OPERA DE PARIS BOLCHOI KIROV-AROP CINEMATOGRAPHER ELIZABETH PROUVOST EDITED BY MICHÈLE LONCOL SOUND & MUSIC BY ELISE JIFFARD POST-PRODUCTION SUPERSONIC PRODUCTIONS WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF GHISLAINE THESMAR PIERRE LACOTTE JOSETTE CLAVIER YVETTE CHAUVIRÉ CYRIL ATANASSOV JACQUES JODEL MICHAEL DENARD RICHARD DUQUESNOIS JEAN PAUL GRAVIER DOMINIQUE KHALFOUNI EDATARINA MAXIMOVA RUDOLF NOUREEV PAUL CHALMAR NOELLA PONTOIS ANNE SALMON ANDRÉ FEDOTOFF SVETLANA ZAKAHROVA SERGEÏ FILIN EVGENIA OBRATSOVA LEONID SARAFANOV AURÉLIE DUPONT MANUEL LEGRIS MARIE AGNES GILLOT DOROTHÉ GILBERT MATHIAS HEYMAN BENJAMIN PECH MATHIEU GANIO Marlène Ionesco discovered her love for dance through studying theater and film and her passion for Russian cinema. While working in stage directing, Ionseco was exposed to artists, dancers and choreographers, which lead to her focus on the portrait of ballet stars, including Agnes Letestu, Dominique Khalfouni, Mathieu Ganio and Larrio Ekson. Marlène Ionesco has been making films about dance for over fifteen years. Her filmography includes Blue Navy, A Star at a Glance, and Agnes Letestu, to name a few. CORINTH FILMS, INC. John M. Poole, Sr., PRESIDENT 3117 Bursonville Road www.corinthfilms.com [email protected] Riegelsville, PA 18077 Phone (610) 509-8350 Fax (610) 346-6345 John M. Poole, Jr., FILM ENGAGEMENTS FILM ENGAGEMENTS (610) 509-8350 [email protected].