Browse Movies : 2005 : Documentary : B

The revolutionary 20th-century dance troupe known as the Ballets Russes began as a group of Russian refugees, who never danced in Russia, and became not one but two rival dance troupes. 'Ballets Russes' begins with the company's Diaghilev-era in turn-of-the-century Paris -- when artists such as Nijinsky, Balanchine, Picasso, Miro, Matisse and Stravinsky united in an unparalleled collaboration. The film then explores the company's halcyon days of the 1930s and '40s, when the Ballets Russes toured America, astonishing audiences schooled in vaudeville with artistry never before seen, The company's demise came in 1950s and '60s when rising costs, rocketing egos, outside competition and internal mismanagement ultimately brought the revered Ballets Russes to its knees.

Steve Earle offered to "stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots" to declare him the world's greatest songwriter. In concert, Lucinda Williams often dedicates "2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten" to him. Artists, as diverse as Emmylou Harris and The Meat Puppets, have recorded his songs. The late Townes Van Zandt was the kind of artist who is always more famous dead than alive. Born into wealth, Townes was an outsider from the get-go. Clinical depression steered the ragged course as did his appetite for drugs and alcohol. Determined to be a success, Townes eventually had a hit. The royalty checks were welcome, but this mainstream cameo seems to have been awkward for him, and there's tangible discomfort and detachment from it all.