I've recently been on a ballet documentary movie binge. I've seen A Ballerina's Tale, which... well, it's Misty Copeland- how could it not be great?
I didn't think there were many ballet movies, so I didn't research much further right after I saw that. Then I noticed Ballet 422 on Netflix. At first I thought it was a bit boring (since the focus was slightly more on choreography and the choreographer), but then, as I kept watching, I fell in love.
There weren't really any other ballet documentaries on Netflix (although somehow I missed Restless Creature with Wendy Whelan), which was very disappointing. Until I remembered I have the Amazon Prime membership (that you can now just pay like $10.99/month for instead of paying for a year up front), so I did a search for "ballet" on that app. WOW! There are a LOT of both ballet documentaries, and actual ballets available, just on Prime. (Note: I have no affiliation with Prime and make no money from it*.)
My next movie was Prima Ballerina (some subtitles), documenting my favorite, Svetlana Zakharova (Bolshoi Ballet), along with the amazing Ulyana Lopatkina (Mariinsky Theatre Ballet). This has thus far been one of my favorites.
Next up: Prima, featuring Larissa Ponomarenko (Boston Ballet). Larissa is a beautiful dancer, but honestly, I just wasn't feeling this movie. It's more about the non-classical direction she is taking now, trying new approaches to dance and self-expression. Believe me, I'm all for doing your own thing, but in a ballet movie or documentary, this isn't what I want to see. That, of course, is just my personal take.
Following Prima, I watched American Ballet Theatre: A History. Yes, yes, YES! I've noticed in some ballet schools, ballet history is a required class at some point. My ballet school doesn't offer this, but this documentary was a fantastic way to learn some ballet history, not just of ABT, but of American ballet history in general, along with the history of the roots of ballet itself. It includes not only modern-day videos of ballet, but also what looks like some of THE earliest videos ever made of ballet. It's great!
Then: TuTu Much. This one is about young ballerinas-to-be(?) as they dance during the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Summer School Program. It documents their heartache at being so far away from their parents for so long, knowing that if they get chosen, they may go on to live and work with the RWB long-term... or if they don't get chosen, they've missed one of their best opportunities to become a professional ballerina. I really enjoyed this movie- very heartfelt, as I wanted each of the dancers to get in, though not all could.
Finally in my ballet documentary journey thus far, I watched the far-too-short episodes of Strictly Ballet. I really wish they had made these into full-length shows. For the 10 minutes or so per episode, though, a decent amount of information and dancing is crammed into it.
Next, I'll watch The Movement, which documents dancers who have overcome struggles to get where they are today. Ballet is not the only dance shown in this, and the episodes, unfortunately, are even shorter than Strictly Ballet.
Here are some of the other documentaries on Amazon Prime:
Getting to the Nutcracker
A Life for Ballet
Sometimes I Dream I'm Flying
Backstage (Behind A Paris Ballet)
Czech Swan (about retired dancers coming back to perform!)
Oh Watson! (Sam Watson, modern and jazz choreographer)
Place
Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet
And some of the ballets available on Prime:
Jewels, Balanchine
Mariinsky Ballet with Ulyana Lopatkina & Igor Zalensky
Coppelia, Patrice Bart, Opera de Paris
Sleeping Beauty, Marius Petipa, The Royal Ballet
Swan Lake, Nureyev, National Opera of Paris
Cinderella, Nureyev, National Opera of Paris
La Bayadere, Petipa, Bolshoi Theatre Moscow
along with:
Giselle, Bellini, The Pharaoh's Daughter, Debussy, Raymonda.
So yeah- if you want to get inspired, Amazon has some great nearly-free ballet movies to binge on (or watch like a normal person)!!
*at the time of this posting. Yanno... just in case 😉
 | |||
| via Pinterest, from Seventeen magazine? June 29, 2015? |
I didn't think there were many ballet movies, so I didn't research much further right after I saw that. Then I noticed Ballet 422 on Netflix. At first I thought it was a bit boring (since the focus was slightly more on choreography and the choreographer), but then, as I kept watching, I fell in love.
There weren't really any other ballet documentaries on Netflix (although somehow I missed Restless Creature with Wendy Whelan), which was very disappointing. Until I remembered I have the Amazon Prime membership (that you can now just pay like $10.99/month for instead of paying for a year up front), so I did a search for "ballet" on that app. WOW! There are a LOT of both ballet documentaries, and actual ballets available, just on Prime. (Note: I have no affiliation with Prime and make no money from it*.)
My next movie was Prima Ballerina (some subtitles), documenting my favorite, Svetlana Zakharova (Bolshoi Ballet), along with the amazing Ulyana Lopatkina (Mariinsky Theatre Ballet). This has thus far been one of my favorites.
Next up: Prima, featuring Larissa Ponomarenko (Boston Ballet). Larissa is a beautiful dancer, but honestly, I just wasn't feeling this movie. It's more about the non-classical direction she is taking now, trying new approaches to dance and self-expression. Believe me, I'm all for doing your own thing, but in a ballet movie or documentary, this isn't what I want to see. That, of course, is just my personal take.
Following Prima, I watched American Ballet Theatre: A History. Yes, yes, YES! I've noticed in some ballet schools, ballet history is a required class at some point. My ballet school doesn't offer this, but this documentary was a fantastic way to learn some ballet history, not just of ABT, but of American ballet history in general, along with the history of the roots of ballet itself. It includes not only modern-day videos of ballet, but also what looks like some of THE earliest videos ever made of ballet. It's great!
Then: TuTu Much. This one is about young ballerinas-to-be(?) as they dance during the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Summer School Program. It documents their heartache at being so far away from their parents for so long, knowing that if they get chosen, they may go on to live and work with the RWB long-term... or if they don't get chosen, they've missed one of their best opportunities to become a professional ballerina. I really enjoyed this movie- very heartfelt, as I wanted each of the dancers to get in, though not all could.
Finally in my ballet documentary journey thus far, I watched the far-too-short episodes of Strictly Ballet. I really wish they had made these into full-length shows. For the 10 minutes or so per episode, though, a decent amount of information and dancing is crammed into it.
Next, I'll watch The Movement, which documents dancers who have overcome struggles to get where they are today. Ballet is not the only dance shown in this, and the episodes, unfortunately, are even shorter than Strictly Ballet.
Here are some of the other documentaries on Amazon Prime:
Getting to the Nutcracker
A Life for Ballet
Sometimes I Dream I'm Flying
Backstage (Behind A Paris Ballet)
Czech Swan (about retired dancers coming back to perform!)
Oh Watson! (Sam Watson, modern and jazz choreographer)
Place
Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet
And some of the ballets available on Prime:
Jewels, Balanchine
Mariinsky Ballet with Ulyana Lopatkina & Igor Zalensky
Coppelia, Patrice Bart, Opera de Paris
Sleeping Beauty, Marius Petipa, The Royal Ballet
Swan Lake, Nureyev, National Opera of Paris
Cinderella, Nureyev, National Opera of Paris
La Bayadere, Petipa, Bolshoi Theatre Moscow
along with:
Giselle, Bellini, The Pharaoh's Daughter, Debussy, Raymonda.
So yeah- if you want to get inspired, Amazon has some great nearly-free ballet movies to binge on (or watch like a normal person)!!
*at the time of this posting. Yanno... just in case 😉
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| Vaganova students |
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| presumably Vaganova students |
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| Svetlana Zakharova |
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| Russian ballet dancer Darian Volkova (place: Komsomolskaya Metro Station, Moscow ) // photography by Kristina Makeeva (@hobopeeba Instagram) |
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