Winter Dreams (1991) is one of the last ballets by Kenneth MacMillan, choreographer and director of the Royal Ballet from 1970 to 1977. MacMillan based his one-act play on Anton Chekhov's play The Three Sisters. The story takes place at the end of the nineteenth century in a Russian provincial town. The three sisters want to escape their oppressive environment and long for the big city. The middle
… sister (danced by MacMillan's muse Darcey Bussell) is married to a boring schoolteacher, but meanwhile has a passionate affair with a colonel (which makes for a beautiful pas de deux). The youngest sister flirts with two soldiers at the same time, which results in a tragically ending duel. The eldest sister has resigned herself to her fate as an old spinster. MacMillan was particularly interested in the underlying melancholy and emotions of the different characters. Handsome as he portrays the inner conflict of the dull but kind, deceived husband. The music is a selection of various piano works by Tchaikovsky, supplemented with Russian folk music. The DVD also includes a documentary about Kenneth MacMillan. (CP)more
