After suffering an accident, a male dancer discovers he's become unfit for classical ballet. Embittered, he falls in with a wrong crowd. Since he knows the giant Paris Opéra building like the back of his hand, gangsters ask him to assist them in smuggling the loot of a daring robbery. He is supposed to remove the fake jewels from a life-size mannequin used in a ballet, and replace them by a king's ransom in genuine jewels. This way the loot could cross borders without getting noticed. However, pulling off the exchange turns out to be far from easy, given the multitude of workers, pupils and managers milling about...
"Le trésor des Hollandais" is based on a book written by dancer, actress and author Odette Joyeux. It was further developed into a series by the team consisting of Odette Joyeux and her husband Philippe Agostini. Joyeux, who knew when she was mining a rich vein, set her tale in an environment she was deeply familiar with, to wit the environment of the Paris Opéra and its famous classical ballet school.
The heroes of her tale are two twelve-year-olds, a boy called Bicou and a girl called Jacinthe, who train as "petits rats" and who discover, much to their surprise, that there's something weird going on with the jewels supposed to adorn the "Coppélia" doll. Both of them also discover that Bicou's older brother, once a classically trained dancer of great promise, has gotten himself mixed up with a wrong crowd. All of this means that the young viewer gets to enjoy many ballet-related scenes : rehearsals, performances, exams, behind-the-scenes glimpses. The young viewer is also introduced to a typically French conception of the ballet, which is characterized by ideals of elegance, measure and harmony. As a result the series is sure to inspire many a life-long liking for the ballet. Interestingly, the series moves away from the stereotypical idea that this is a purely feminine art, by showing a variety of male pupils, star dancers and teachers.
The series is quite honest in pointing out that every ballet performance is built atop a mountain of hard work : not only the hard work of dancers and musicians, but also that of seamstresses, painters, cleaners, mechanics, guards and the like. Thus the fall of a single important prop can mean a score of tired people having to slave all through the night.
You'll notice how each episode is introduced by Odette Joyeux, who, by the way, looks exasperated to the point of fury. Did somebody steal her wallet on the way to the studio ? Given that she's called Odette, and that she's explaining and recapping a tale about the ballet : why did nobody think to develop an Odette/Odile dynamic like in Swan Lake ? For instance, Odette Joyeux could have introduced every even-numbered episode with a normal recap, and every uneven-numbered episode with a load of confusing nonsense. ("As we saw earlier on, part of the Paris Opéra building was attacked by hordes of Belgian tourists. Taking advantage of the resulting chaos the Phantom has dragged away several female teachers, some of whom have been forced to instruct him in the art of the cha-cha-cha for sixteen hours straight. Meanwhile Bicou, who has joined his brother on the path to crime, is trying to flog a dozen daffodil-coloured tutus in a sleazy alley behind a pub for one-eyed truckers.")
The basic premise behind the jewel exchange is quite clever and could be reworked into the intrigue for something else - for instance a madcap comedy or a serious thriller for adults.
"Le trésor des Hollandais" is based on a book written by dancer, actress and author Odette Joyeux. It was further developed into a series by the team consisting of Odette Joyeux and her husband Philippe Agostini. Joyeux, who knew when she was mining a rich vein, set her tale in an environment she was deeply familiar with, to wit the environment of the Paris Opéra and its famous classical ballet school.
The heroes of her tale are two twelve-year-olds, a boy called Bicou and a girl called Jacinthe, who train as "petits rats" and who discover, much to their surprise, that there's something weird going on with the jewels supposed to adorn the "Coppélia" doll. Both of them also discover that Bicou's older brother, once a classically trained dancer of great promise, has gotten himself mixed up with a wrong crowd. All of this means that the young viewer gets to enjoy many ballet-related scenes : rehearsals, performances, exams, behind-the-scenes glimpses. The young viewer is also introduced to a typically French conception of the ballet, which is characterized by ideals of elegance, measure and harmony. As a result the series is sure to inspire many a life-long liking for the ballet. Interestingly, the series moves away from the stereotypical idea that this is a purely feminine art, by showing a variety of male pupils, star dancers and teachers.
The series is quite honest in pointing out that every ballet performance is built atop a mountain of hard work : not only the hard work of dancers and musicians, but also that of seamstresses, painters, cleaners, mechanics, guards and the like. Thus the fall of a single important prop can mean a score of tired people having to slave all through the night.
You'll notice how each episode is introduced by Odette Joyeux, who, by the way, looks exasperated to the point of fury. Did somebody steal her wallet on the way to the studio ? Given that she's called Odette, and that she's explaining and recapping a tale about the ballet : why did nobody think to develop an Odette/Odile dynamic like in Swan Lake ? For instance, Odette Joyeux could have introduced every even-numbered episode with a normal recap, and every uneven-numbered episode with a load of confusing nonsense. ("As we saw earlier on, part of the Paris Opéra building was attacked by hordes of Belgian tourists. Taking advantage of the resulting chaos the Phantom has dragged away several female teachers, some of whom have been forced to instruct him in the art of the cha-cha-cha for sixteen hours straight. Meanwhile Bicou, who has joined his brother on the path to crime, is trying to flog a dozen daffodil-coloured tutus in a sleazy alley behind a pub for one-eyed truckers.")
The basic premise behind the jewel exchange is quite clever and could be reworked into the intrigue for something else - for instance a madcap comedy or a serious thriller for adults.