Saturday, December 01, 2012
TOES
Today's film was a dancumentary. The kind where kids from 11-16 compete for scholarships to the most prestigious dance schools.
These are almost all the same. But I never tire of them.
Young people are selected to go to semi-finals then the final in NYC and the documentarian has to pick a number to follow through from beginning to end. Tell their stories. Go behind the scenes.
This is a good one. Moves right along. Doesn't get all sentimental about it. A few of the kids do not win. No one loses. But it is, believe it or not, the end of their careers if they do not get a prize or scholarship. Fifty thousand dollars at American Ballet, the Royal Ballet and so on.
This one also shows the pain. The injury. The "loss of childhood" which does not really impress the participants. They are having a life and a good one.
Parents dote. Some harass. Teachers, moreover, are seen backing parents off, taking the side of the kids. Nice.
It is beautifully photographed and the kids are interesting and very attractive.
You can see the difference between the potential stars and the others. It is evident from the first leap to the stage. A phenomenon which must be seen. The utter transformation of the human kid into a world class dancer in one step from the dark onto the stage. Boom.
I will give this a 3 out of Netflix5. It moves right along. Utterly unsentimental and never exploitive. Some beautiful young lives in process.
