Filmed in 2010, participated in the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada in 2011, released in the United States in 2012, and happened to watch it on a drizzly cool night that was not too late in 2013, a warm current naturally wrapped around the body, saving a lot of heaters thing.
A famous ballet audition: Youth America Grand Prix, about 5,000 ballet practitioners aged 9-19 compete in 15 cities around the world every year, and a few winners go to New York to participate in the finals. The winner has a great chance, perhaps the scholarship of the world's top ballet school to continue their studies, or to sign an influential professional ballet company. Participating in and winning the competition is probably one of the most important goals of a professional ballet dancer in the beginning stage.
The film selected six players relatively intensively, and started to follow everyone’s training and daily life before the semi-finals. It was completely a gesture of speaking, no narration, no guidance for judgment, and occasionally some subtitles that introduced the definition of the rules, completely Through the language of the lens, you can see everyone's true state, longing, fear, and enthusiasm about dreams that can be exuded through the huge screen.
Aran's great charm in dancing is gently exuded through his perfect technique, graceful expression, flexible and gentle rotation, transcending the shackles of age, allowing every pore of the viewer to perceive the beauty of ballet and his passion for dance. love. In life, he is just an 11-year-old young lady, with all kinds of skateboard toy guns and camouflage backpacks. It seems that the father who served in the US Navy has a lot of influence. Don't worry about growing into a professional dancer, he will go all the way to femininity, strength and beauty will have a perfect combination in him.
And the one who has already shown such a combination is Joan Sebastian, a stalwart teenager who left his hometown from Columbia and pursued his ballet dream alone in the United States. This is a child who bears the double weight of his own love and his parents' expectations. The ballet-loving mother wanted to have a daughter to inherit her legacy. The birth of Joan made her a little tangled, because ballet dancing for boys is still a "weird" thing in Colombian society. But once you make up your mind to dance, it's not just the mother's expectation that dances, but the passion for ballet radiating from your soul.
Joan answered the phone call from his parents in the United States. Yin Yin's words were all about "you have to persevere, this is your only way out", "if you succeed, you will have a big house, a good car and a good income", etc. Looking forward to changing your destiny with skills argument. Joan could not deny the existence of this sad fact, but facing the camera, the big boy who was aiming to participate in the Royal Ballet School of England said calmly that the practice is so hard, it is more for the power and beauty of ballet. It is not a hypocritical peace to maintain face, but a peace of relief after understanding the difficulties of life and knowing where his passion and ability lie. What he wants can only be given by himself.
Miko, who is half American and Japanese, is the perfect doll who can conquer people's hearts with just a sweet smile. She loved ballet since she was a child, and practiced with her younger brother who was not keen on ballet. The persistence, tenacity and restraint conveyed by her slender to thin body made it impossible to believe that she was just a petite loli. Miko's younger brother is very blunt, "I also like ballet, but not as much as my sister", so he doesn't strive for perfection in his practice, and his inaccurate kicks are so funny that the teacher can't help but laugh, and he will also be accompanied in the training room. I fell asleep to my sister's dance music.
The real thing about documentaries is that no one can deliberately glorify or vilify anything, or even design something. Love and passion for the same thing can neither be imposed nor easily withdrawn from a person. The scene of the semi-finals in the camera, backstage and hall, is full of exquisite costumes, elf figures, and picturesque faces of amazing beauty. But none of this hides the contrasting, unbeautiful feet of every ballet dancer. The toes wrapped in the gleaming satin, the scars, the blood, the nail fungus, all kinds of horrible. So I believe that the glorious moment of the prince and princess in the middle of the stage is not enough to support a person's full enthusiasm for ballet, but more, it is an obsession with this artistic expression instinct. Just like a tea addict, it is impossible to sit cross-legged and just wait for the brewed tea. The boring, cumbersome and meticulous and meticulous over and over again of wiping the pot and the cup is an indispensable component, and thus, a kind of sustenance can be fulfilled and complete.
Scattered are the teenagers waiting to appear, stretching, kicking, or spinning, keeping the muscles in the best condition at any time, just for the perfect curtain call during the dance.
Among them was Gaya, a little girl from Israel who did not speak English, and the explosive force of her concentration when dancing modern ballet attracted bursts of cheers. And dance can transcend language and become an effective tool for spiritual communication, so Gaya and Aran also became childhood sweethearts and soft hearts.
And Michaela, a little black girl who was orphaned in the raging war in Sierra Leone, was adopted by an old American couple. When she was a child, she watched the dancers who were frozen on the cover of ballet magazines. Described, she bluntly felt happiness, the happiness that burst out of her soul when she danced with all her strength. Her adoptive mother's meticulous care has taught her to cherish and love her hard work. Her dream is to become an outstanding black ballet dancer, to open a dance school, and to give more Sierra Leonean children a chance to have their dreams. When M's mother carefully paints a piece of translucent gauze on the chest of Michaela's white dance dress with brown and black paint, so that she can wear a more integrated skin tone, you will understand that the existence of beauty in any art form is rooted in love, so regardless of race, regardless of race color. So when the brown-black little swan dances, we see the same stretch and vitality, and it is impossible to care what kind of beauty it is.
Everyone is attracted to ballet from a different angle. One of the photographers, Rebecca's interest, came from the princess dream. Barbie, pink, Tiffany, all the glittering and even sweet objects are her loves. Putting on dance clothes and becoming the center of attention is only to strengthen the sparkle of her daily routine. Some people can sneer that this superficiality seems to have nothing to do with the "noble" art of ballet, but don't forget that behind her shining needs are the same sweat and "ugly" feet.
The flat and straightforward film did not deliberately arrange an exciting ending, and it was indifferent to the trend. The excellent Aran won the "Special Achievement Award" beyond the gold award, because the gold awards in his age group were not enough to match his skills and talents beyond his age; Joan got his wish and went to the Royal Ballet School, becoming the first in the school's history. A Colombian student; others, some won prizes, some received scholarships or dance company contracts, some were satisfied, some were lonely and regretful, and maybe they would continue to the next competition.
The first position is just a certain segment of life, and the more exciting moments are probably still rolling in the river of human growth in the future, waiting to surface. Many times I am not touched because of how elegant the carrier is, but because of the love in any field, no matter how many simple or trivial reasons behind it, when people choose to immerse themselves in it, there is only pure passion and love, and it spreads and infects the world. . The chosen ballet, and such a film, just happens to be the icing on the cake.
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