81
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasEnormously absorbing.
- 88New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanGoldfine discover so many fascinating themes within their seemingly narrow subject that anyone with the slightest interest in history or human nature will find it absorbing.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThe archival footage is so breathtaking, the reminiscences so piquant, that even a stranger to dance can't help but be swept up by this peek into such exquisite, now vanished glamour.
- 80The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensBallets Russes does tell a marvelous story of midcentury show business, encompassing both the most exalted expressions of pure art and the sometimes grubby commerce that sustained it.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoThe documentary traces the fiery history of Ballets Russes -- which for a time consisted of two warring companies.
- 75TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghYou don't have to know an arabesque from an alligator handbag to enjoy Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine's loving documentary about the various incarnations of the Ballet Russe.
- 70The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayGeller and Goldfine have assembled a vital historical document, covering a cultural era now mostly lost, corrupted imperceptibly but permanently when fledgling ballerinas started dreaming about Broadway and Hollywood instead of Swan Lake.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceThe documentary Ballets Russes enacts its drama with a light editorial hand and unavoidable sentimentality, rather like a roll call of the NBA's "50 Greatest Players."
- 70The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterA captivating if somewhat conventional documentary, Ballets Russes is a paean to the groundbreaking, 20th century ballet troupe that began as a loose group of Russian refugees, metamorphosed into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and eventually split into two competing companies.
- 50Film ThreatFilm ThreatThis very conventional PBS style videodoc should not be viewed before operating heavy machinery. However, there's plenty to fascinate devotees of the dance.