It’s Movie Night: Dancer Edition
Curling up and watching a movie during the cold winter months is one of the best ways to unwind. For those who wish to continue to learn and indulge in dance while recuperating from stressors like Nutcracker performances or final exams, check out some of these beautiful dance films I adore:
Pina directed by film legend Wim Wenders is a stunning tribute to the modern dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch. Tanztheater Wuppertal, Bausch’s company, dances in various settings ranging from the stage to urban and wilderness environments. Their bodies exude a perennial sentiment one dancer dubs, “To be old and a child at the same time.” It's truly captivating. Interviews of the company members play as they execute four of her forty works: Rite of Spring (1975), Café Müller (1978), Kontaktof (1978), and Vollmond (2006). These fond memories frame the film with a certain tenderness that sprouts from the loss of Bausch who passed away in 2009, coinciding with the start of the film’s production. Archival clips of Bausch rehearsing with her company seamlessly flow between the performance excerpts, imbuing her presence with an endearing yet ghost-like effect. Wenders portrays dance on screen with delicate sensitivity and an aptitude for movement that visually astounds.
Ballerina has a very special place in my heart. This film not only served as my introduction to Russian ballet and Vaganova technique but also allowed me to recognize and fall in love with the work ethic and grit required to be a ballet dancer. The film follows five ballerinas at the Mariinsky Theater: Svetlana Zakharova, Diana Vishneva, Evgenia Obraztsova, Ulyana Lopatkina, and Alina Somova. These dancers have all garnered the rank of prima ballerina since the film’s premiere in 2006. The documentary collages together private coaching at the Vaganova Ballet Academy, Mariinsky Ballet company rehearsals, and interview clips from teachers, company leaders, balletomanes, and of course the featured dancers as they reflect on their journeys and performance experiences. Director Bertrand Norman provides an intimate look at the daily life of a ballet dancer showcasing the audition process and training at the Academy, to company life as a prima ballerina. Ballet history is delved into, providing historical context to much of the commentary about the ballet world and its inner workings. The clips of performances and in-studio rehearsals are gorgeous snapshots of the artists at work.
Becoming Giulia follows Giulia Tonelli, a principal dancer at the Zurich Opera House, from 2019-2021. Directed by Laura Kaehr, the film captures Tonelli as she returns to company life from maternity leave onwards. We witness her confront the demands of her repertoire in the studio, backstage, and in performance with grace and endless determination. She earnestly navigates company politics while balancing childcare at home. We are granted candid snippets of her coworker’s conversations with her and witness an artistic collaboration bloom between Tonelli and the now director of Zurich Opera House, Cathy Marston. The physical toll ballet takes on a dancer's body is showcased without any sort of aestheticization which is refreshing to see. Discussions about the realities of female leadership and power within the ballet world have an honest and candid quality to them which I find refreshing.
Mr. Gaga features Ohad Naharin, the choreographer and former artistic director (now house choreographer) of Batsheva Dance Company. Old home videotapes and interviews with Naharin and his family lead us through his youth into his professional life as a dancer and choreographer. Excerpts of his work are showcased on stage and in the studio, with clips of Naharin coaching his dancers, providing us a peekpeak into how his technique Gaga, is honed. The movement quality displayed by the dancers in this film is breathtaking. The dancers of Batsheva contort themselves into unthinkable shapes and embody repetitive, trembling dynamics that border the impossible. The intensity of the rehearsal scenes is intoxicating and the dedication to the untethered power of movement is beyond gratifying to witness.
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