April Fools!!

In case you couldn't figure out, my last post was a joke post. I hope you did get a nice laugh out of that video, though, because that woman is hysterical. I need a job, too, but it looks like that is not a good way to audition for one. Hahahaha!

Anyway, this month's theme is going to be "Comedy" since we started off this month with a joke day. So for today, I have this clip for you guys:

Yes, those are men in pointe shoes.

Dance of the Dying Swan

Isn't this just the most fabulous performance you've ever seen? Every move is perfectly executed--a real professional. It's a shame that she doesn't dance for any particular company :(

Review-- Center Stage

Alrighty! Another ballet movie for me to review! This one is Center Stage. It was released in 2000 with mostly unknown actors, but some make recognize the ballet director and ballet teacher. Let's get cracking!

Story:

Story's about students who have been accepted into a ballet company's workshop. Though they passed, it is more like an extended audition since three boys and three girls will be chosen to dance for the company. With so many good dancers, competition is going very tough.

This movie is the ultimate 90s cliché. Granted, this movie was just coming out of the 90s when it was released. It still has those tacky moments where they have an entire scene dedicated to a pillow fight, but still try to be all serious by having someone be bulimic. You know what I mean? Still, it doesn't mean I hated it. It kept me interested--it just not going to win awards for an original screenplay.

Characters:

The characters are also cliché. And almost all the characters look the same--minus the brunette and the tall, black girl (thank god for them! Or else I wouldn't be able to tell anyone apart). A lot of the students tend to blend blandly into the background. Only a few stand out. One is the tall, black girl (a bit of a rebel). The second is the uptight snobbish girl (the brunette). And then there's the underdog character (one of the blondes). I would give names but their names hardly matter in this type of movie.

The purpose of these characters is not really to amuse us, but to create archetypes that many dancers could at least somewhat identify with. This makes the movie more personal, and thus, a more entertaining movie. Here is where they did really well. Since most of the archetypes get featured at some point, there's plenty of opportunities for those who identify with the character to feel their story.

If she looks familiar, it's because she played Doc Oct's wife in Spiderman 2

The actors and actresses are all great dancers, and I really mean that. They are phenomenal. Their acting's not bad either. It did get a bit awkward at times (I was very aware of a script and it made the fourth wall break a bit), but I much rather have a talented dancer in a dance movie than a bunch of stunt doubles and lame cuts to hide the actors' inability to dance.

Also, get used to the main girl making the same face the entire movie. Maybe this is where Natalie Portman got her inspiration for Black Swan? Hahaha

<---- Seriously, she does it a lot XD




There's also other characters. Like the boy dancers. These guys play a crucial part since they play either the gay best friend clichés or the romantic interests. Also, the ballet director, choreographer, a med-school student, and an overbearing mother. They all did pretty good work so I can't complain. The boy dancers were really, really good.

Sets/Costumes:

The sets are mainly in studios, dormrooms, cafeterias, and on-the-town locations. They were actually pretty nice, but studios can get pretty bland. Still, it wasn't too bad at all.

The costumes were your average clothing. For performances, they were fine, but the last ballet performance I thought looked a bit weird. Something just didn't add up with the hair, shoes, and mini-skirt.

Music:

The music was mostly pop music. Some of the ballet music was classical, especially for performances of Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet. The rest of the movie's background were teen favorites of the era, and the final ballet sequence had pop and even some disco thrown in. Personally, I didn't like the disco music at all. I thought they could find something better, but hey, that's just me.

Camera:

Again, not much to say about camera. They did a really nice job with the edits and offering a variety of shots for the long dance sequences. I thought it did a nice job of capturing the essence of ballet. So kudos to them!

Ballet Presence:

Ballet! Ballet everywhere! This movie is about ballet straight to the very core. Not only do you see them dancing during class and rehearsal, you also get some full-length dance sequences. 

 They did a great job of capturing the struggles during practice and emotional breakdowns during rehearsals. Whoever wrote the script also knew a bit about ballet because the main girl's main problem is her turn-out, which puts her behind the other girls in the workshop.

The final ballet sequences that feature the students are interesting. One is a traditional ballet. The other has been modernized, most likely to be a bit different and to appeal to a wider audience. It's not bad, but I loved the dancers so it made it really amazing.

Earlier in the movie, you can also see some Swan Lake and some other traditional ballets. There was actually so much dance being featured in this movie, that I had to stop taking screencaps since I had so many. This is definitely a dance movie with great dancers. Proving that if you want to make a movie about ballet, you can easily find someone who can actually dance to play the part.

Overall Enjoyment:

Despite its clichés (eating disorder, underdog, overbearing mother, focus on perfection, trying to discover oneself, etc.), the movie wasn't bad. I mean, let's face it. We're not watching this movie for the story or the characters. We just pick one of the students we identify the most with and watch the ballet. Considering this, the movie does a really nice job knowing its audience. I think it knows its cheese and fully embraces these qualities. This movie won't appeal to most audiences, I'm guessing, since it's geared toward teens and 20-somethings mostly, but it's still not a bad movie to watch if you're outside that target age-range. Do I recommend this movie? Yes. Because the dancing is awesome!

Manga-- Forbidden Dance

I have another ballet manga! After this, I'm planning on a Top-10 list for ballet exercises and perhaps some ballet tips I found very useful in my first couple months taking ballet. Though I understand the latter is like the blind leading the blind, I do think I have some tips that could help the basic beginner. So anyway, back on target, this is a brief look at the manga series called Forbidden Dance.

Forbidden Dance is a series with four volumes. You can read a fan scanlation online here. This series is a bit old; released in 1998.

The story is about the best dancer in her ballet school named Aya. During a competition performance of Giselle's solo, she trips and sprains her ankle. Though she recovers, she is now terrified to dance. It's not until she watches an all-male ballet troop with an impressive male dancer that she wants to try again, but she just doesn't want to dance in her ballet class, she wants to dance with the all-male troop, regardless of her own gender.

 

This impressive male dancer is named Akira. And he's sort of a douche-bag. He's tough, but he knows his dance. Despite his poor first-impression, Aya still wants to dance with him one day on stage. even though it's an all-male troop, offers her a deal. He tells her that if she can win first place in a national audition, she can join his group. 

Aya knows that it was in this very competition that she fell last year but wants to join the group so badly that she is willing to confront her fears. She practices with all she has in order to be up-to-par with the rest of the girls in the competition.

*spoilers ahead*

Of course, there are more complications than just overcoming her fear during the competitions. First, there is the highly-critical judge. Second is her high-strung rival. Lastly is the unsuspecting peer of Aya's, Nachan. The rival tosses insults and could jeopardize Aya's chance of winning first, but the friend of Aya's proves even more troublesome. Nachan actually sabotages her dance shoes so her feet get cut right before performing! Harsh. 

The judge is no easier. He is a British ballet instructor brought in for the competition. Though the crowd loved her early performances during the preliminaries, he criticized her dancing as unrefined. Now Aya must quickly learn what she needs to do to change her performance, or she'll risk a zero from this particular judge.

Ayais lucky enough to find the judge in the lobby. She asks him about what she did wrong and he tells her that she lacks the stability and attention to detail that mark the very purpose of ballet. Though she did many tricks, it needs more fine-tuning. Aya won't let this stop her, and borrows a video of a British dancer named Diana. She realizes that what she's lacking that Diana has is poise and working every inch of her body--right down to her fingertips. Though the finals are drawing near, she practices so she can perfect her solo from Giselle.


But that friend, Nachan, is back again. This time, when Nachan doesn't make the finals like Aya, she threatens to kill herself if Aya doesn't step down from the competition. Luckily, Akira, the troop leader, is able to calm the girl down so Aya can perform. Thanks to all of the work Aya put into fine-tuning her dance, she is able to win first place and is now aloud to join the dance troop.

Aya joins the troop but has to work extra hard to keep up with everyone. It seems that no matter what she does, she's always behind. Add to her insecurities a rival dancer, and you've got major problems in both the personal and business fields. Aya has started to fall for Akira at this point, and though she's confident in herself, the dancer to enter the scene is the very same British dancer she looked to for form correction, Diana. 

 

But Diana has her own problems. During a performance of Swan Lake, Aya notices that Diana's ankle is bothering her. She runs behind scenes to talk to Diana about it, but she refuses Aya to tell anyone, convinced that such a reveal would ruin her career. Aya knows she can't dance the Black Swan on her bad ankle, so offers to dance the Black Swan for her. How they could swap a 100% Japanese girl for a 100% British girl and have NO ONE backstage notice is beyond me (they do notice during the performance, but only by her dancing).




But Aya is able to hold her own and perform the moves that she knew Diana wouldn't be able to do if she wants to finish the ballet. Thanks to Aya taking over, Diana is able to finish up the last act easily.

 This helps Diana and Aya sort of make peace, but it by no means helps end all problems. Diana collapses at the end of the performance and must be taken to the doctor. They are unsure if she'll be able to dance again, which greatly upsets Diana. Akira is revealed to have gone to the same ballet school as Diana when they were younger, and apparently, were quite close. Aya learns this information and becomes jealous again of all the attention he gives to her.

Still, Aya doesn't let this interrupt her work. She continues to practice hard to be able to keep up with the senior members, but it's still not enough. When Akira tries to get a sponsor for the group, the sponsor says he'll support the troop if Aya sits out. This angers her, but she doesn't let this get her down. She's convinced that if she practices enough, she'll be let on stage.

Remember to read right to left!

The groups also practices hard, but Akira must leave for a while to help return Diana back to Britain. This puts the entire group on edge since he's the star performance, but Aya also sees an opportunity. If Akira can't dance, she will take his place. She cuts her hair to blend in more with the boys and starts practicing more than ever.

Luckily Diana returns home safely. Her ankle is looking better and she may even be able to dance on it. The troop's show starts, but Akira barely has time to make it home in time. Aya must take the stage in his place for the time being. She dances, unbeknown to the audience and sponsor, but the crowd is getting anxious--they came to see Akira dance, but he isn't there.

 Akira arrives back just in time for the ending of the show. Aya and Akira admit their feelings for each other as Akira goes on to perform. When he steps off, he takes Aya back out with him and they dance a routine they had been practicing together. Though the sponsor isn't pleased, he admits that they worked well together. The troop will have money to keep performing and looks to have a promising future.

*end spoilers*

This was actually a really well-written, well-paced manga. Though I felt the romance was weak, I did understand a bit why she admired Akira so much. He did redeem himself in his own way, but was still kind of a douch-bag in comparison to some of the other dancers in the troop. Diana's character was a bit snoobish, but you really understood the pain she went through when she realized she might not be able to dance ever again. Aya's character was definitely the best--a strong-minded, confident woman who never gives up on her dreams and is not afraid to confront her fears. She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to work her butt off for that chance. She was a great female protagonist that I wouldn't mind having little girls look up to as a role-model.

The art was pretty good, but I'm sure you can tell from some of the scans I posted that the anatomy is bizarre. I'm not quite sure if that was creative freedom or what, but if you look, for example, at the scene where Diana injures her ankle, her hand engulfs her ankle. I doubt anyone could really do that, no matter how small your ankles. There were other bizarre mistakes, too, but it wasn't too bad overall.

Though the ballet was pretty accurate, I did notice (and this could actually be a translation error) that the acts of Swan Lake were off. The graphic novel says that the Black Swan comes out in Act 2, but she doesn't come out until Act 3. So some slight errors there, but nothing detrimental to the story.

Overall, this was a very nice story that I'm glad I read. I loved the leading lady and I loved the ballet! Very good and I highly recommend giving it a shot if you're interested.

Review-- Dance, Subaru!

Time for another ballet movie! This one is a Japanese film called Dance, Subaru! It's based off a manga by the same name. I haven't read the original manga, so I can't compare this film to its original source, but I'll do what I can! Unfortunately, since it is Japanese, I had to watch this on Youtube. You can find it up on Youtube with subtitles, but the quality is really poor. What this means is that I won't have great screencaps for you guys to enjoy this time around, sadly.

Story:

The story is about a young girl named Subaru. She and her twin brother love to dance. After sneaking a peek into a dance studio's rehearsal for Swan Lake, they promise each other to become great dancers one day. But unfortunately for her brother, that is never to happen since he develops brain cancer at a very young age. The tumor causes him to forget memories, but Subaru's dancing allows him to remember her even just for a bit.

A sad day comes when her brother doesn't survive his cancer and dies. Subaru is devastated and wanders away during the funeral. She comes across a brightly lit building that calls itself the "Palais Garnier." She enters the building and finds a small dance company. It's hardly professional and tends to specialize more in humorous ballet and stripping than classical ballet, but Subaru finds herself a niche there with the workers.

Years go by and Subaru is working at the Palais Garnier as a dancer. She dances only during select times during the day/week since she is still in high school and the owner doesn't want her working as a stripper. As she is performing, an American named Liz Park takes note of Subaru's dancing. Liz senses a rival and presses Subaru forward a bit in order to strengthen her dancing. 

Subaru and her childhood friend, Mana

Liz isn't the only one, a childhood friend of Subaru's, also a dancer, named Mana, pushes Subaru to audition for a ballet company. When Subaru is accepted into the company, new paths are open for her. She gets a part in Swan Lake and decides to enter a ballet competition. This is where her story really begins.

The story wasn't bad. There were parts where I was really confused, but it wasn't too complicated or too simple. There was enough drama to keep me interested, and overall, it was paced really nicely.

Characters:

The characters, hmmm... I'm actually not quite sure how to go about this. The characters were fine. Subaru is a bit aloof and almost mysterious. She tends to keep to herself and will only show herself to those she really trusts. Her supporting characters are also admirable in their own ways. I found Liz particularly interesting. She purposely helps Subaru improve so she could have a rival. Interesting....

It's actually the actors that I'm more interested in. These scene-stealers are definitely the actress playing little Subaru, the actor playing little Subaru's brother, and the actress who plays Liz Park.

The kids playing the younger versions of Subaru and her brother are amazing. The amount of emotion the little girl can portray is really good for someone as young as her. Her little cat dance for the brother is also adorable. Their performance left me amazed.

Liz Park and Subaru Miyamoto

Liz Park's actress is also amazing. Why? For one, she's speaking Japanese and it's not her native language; she's Korean. Not only that, but her accent isn't too bad! Second, she learned ballet for this role. Granted, it's not amazing, but it's not bad either. Third, she's a model, not an actress. The fact that she can play a somewhat selfish, genius dancer is pretty amazing to me. I'm impressed and slightly gobsmacked because I can't learn Japanese as well as her in such a short amount of time. She worked really hard for this role, good for her!

Sets/Costumes:

Hmm, not much to say. The setting is in Japan, mostly in the Palais Garnier building. Then there's the dance studios and competition. The settings they pick work for the story. 

The costumes I can't really comment on either. They are either street clothes or their performance clothes. The tutus they wore for Swan Lake looked like your traditional tutus so there's not much to really say here.

Music:

Hmmm, music. I didn't really notice anything that amazed me, to be honest. Some classical music was used, like the Little Swans' song from Swan Lake and "Bolero." The other music didn't wow me.

Camera:

The camera was, actually, really good. There were some really nice shots that I wish I could show you guys, but the quality is so bad it ruins it. For instance, in the Palais Garnier, the owner was speaking in her office. A window opening to the stage below showed the dancers performing as the director spoke with an employee. I loved how they did that since it add depth to the scene.

Also, the editing for the dancing was really good. They did a nice job of matching up the scenes with previously performed moves; as well as transitioning from dancer to dancer during the competition scenes. Also, since the actors weren't professionals, the edits between the actors and their body doubles were really nicely shot. The seemingly effortless shots really made this worth watching.

Ballet Presence:

This entire movie is full of ballet. Though there is other drama, it centers itself around Subaru's dancing. Sadly, the dancer playing Subaru isn't a really good dancer, so her dancing scenes are limited, and those we do get you wish you didn't get. 

For instance, there's this scene where Liz and Subaru's pseudo-boyfriend take her to a hip-hop club to loosen up and learn how to dance with a group of people. The result is...painful. Instead of hip-hop, you get this. No joke.

So though ballet was present, it was mainly only passable with the lead. Everyone else did a really nice job otherwise.

Overall Enjoyment:

This movie was actually really well made. I do wish that there was more dancing and that the lead dancer could be a little better of a dancer, but the director clearly knows what he's doing and is incredibly talented. He knows how to get just the right shot and it pays off during the dance sequences. Despite all this, after seeing it once, I feel as if I've seen it all, really, so I probably wouldn't be willing to watch it a second time. 

Dancing Together

I believe dancing in sync is more difficult than dancing solo. Sure, it's a lot less stressful and embarrassing if you mess up a little since you have twenty or so people supporting you, but timing is crucial.

Here's a corps that does a really nice job! I just love the lighting on their white costumes!

Not in a good mood :(

Today was ballet class again. I don't know why, but I was just in a sad mood today. I don't think I got enough sleep and the stress from trying to balance all my schoolwork is starting to get to me.

It didn't improve my mood much that we started talking about recitals. My adult class is thinking about performing during the regular academy's recitals. I really don't want to go. My teacher wants us to be an inspiration to others, but I just don't want to show off my meager dancing skills just yet. Also, I've tried to dance in front of others before, and I always got really nervous before performing. (I used to be a danceteam, remember? That was many posts ago.) Not only that, but I'll just be really boring since I can't do much yet.

Anyway, they spent at least ten minutes, in addition to the ten minutes warming up, speaking about this. That means we wasted twenty minutes of practice time. Since I'm working really hard right now to pay for these classes, it's rather frustrating to be wasting them talking about something that can be talked about before or after class starts. I'm just really sick of all this wasted time!

Also, this new leotard I made... it really reveals everything, you know? I have rolls of fat on me that I never knew I had, and I consider myself skinny! It's so easy to see how girls, wearing these uniforms, get really self-conscious about their body and develop eating disorders. 

This all just put a damper on my moods, and I just didn't feel like putting that extra effort into my dancing today. It's just depressing and frustrating at the moment. 

As for the recital, maybe I'll do it. It'll be sort of a contradiction of mine to host this blog to support older dancers (and by older I mean 13+) and not perform. If my teacher thinks of it as inspirational, what harm could there really be in doing it?



Today's Youtube recommendation is this soloist's Black Swan pas de deux:

Isn't that lovely? And it's in great quality, too.

Chinese State Circus + Swan Lake

Okay, so this doesn't have a lot of ballet, but it's still absolutely amazing. Though these girls weren't ballet dancers, it's interesting to see how their careers crossover with other arts. Both their gymnastics and ballet require a solid, strong core and a lot of balance! Kudos to them for doing such an excellent job!

Isn't that amazing!? I loved it.

Review-- Margot

Phew! Just in time! This review is of the movie, Margot. It is a made-for-television British movie and based off the real-life events of famous ballerina, Margot Fonteyn. This is definitely one of the lesser known movies featuring ballet, and I almost passed it up. So let's see how they did!

Story:

Story is about an older ballerina who is married to a revolutionary and Panamanian ambassador named Tito. Margot's marriage and career are strained as she struggles to balance each in her life. Meanwhile, a new Russian dancer named Rudi is sent to her apartment to stay. Problems with the Russian government make it is hard for the British company to get Russian dancers, so finding him means they have to make sure he has a place to stay. 

Since Margot is the prima ballerina and the Russian dancer is a favorite with the audience, they are quickly paired together for ballets. Margot starts to fall for him just a bit... but he seems to have as much interest in girls as guys. She isn't sure if she should let herself love him or not until after a single performance. During curtain calls, he turns to her and realizes that he is willing to start a more serious relationship with her.

Meanwhile, her husband sells her jewels without telling her to pay for guns for the revolution. He flirts with other women at a party and openly insults her and embarasses her in front of their guests; her marriage is now even more stressed. Her dominating mother tries to make decisions for her, and feeling trapped, she turns to her crush for comfort. He dumps his boyfriend, and Margot has an affair with him. Their love inspires their dancing, and the audience loves them more than ever.

But is this really what Margot wants? How should she balance her work (put under pressure by her failing body and aging) and her home life (strained by the revolution and infidelity)?

I'm a little lost on how to describe this movie without making it sound boring. Yes, the plot is slightly cliché. A woman falls for a younger man.... affairs.... we've heard it before. Yet I really enjoyed it. Her aging is lightly touched upon without having it slammed into our faces. Her feet becoming more and more damaged is shown but not spoken.

It's very nicely done, but the core elements might be a dead ringer for many other movies out there. Still, not bad at all. I really can't think of much else to comment on.

Characters:

The actress who played Margot did an excellent job. She conveyed sorrow convincingly, and danced the ballet portions nicely. Clever camera tricks were used for parts she couldn't perform, but the ones she did act in were really nice. I swear she even does a pirouette at one point. Not bad! I was most certainly impressed. I don't know who this actress is, but this movie reminds me that more people can act than just A-list actors and actresses.

I really wish that Rudi had a bit more background related to us. All we know is that 1) he's a good dancer, 2) he's Russian, and 3) he's bisexual. That's just not enough for me. I think he even dances his parts! And if he doesn't, then they did a wonderful job finding the perfect stunt double for him. Granted, he doesn't dance often, but when he does, it's not too shabby! I also really liked the actor who played his part. For all I know, he's really Russian.

I wish the mother character was drawn out a bit more. At the very end, Margot spits out all her grudges against her mother, but we really don't see much tension between them. Sometimes they disagree, but Margot always politely sweeps the mother's comments aside. This idea of an overbearing mother is really interesting, but it doesn't really look into it as much as I would like. 


The man who played Tito played a good guy-you-like-to-hate (no picture of him because I forgot). His blatant lack of respect for his wife is just infuriating. Granted, Margot also cheated at one point, so who am I to pass judgment? Still, a really nice job from all the actors and actresses in this movie. They all did phenomenally.

Sets/Costumes:

I LOVE the sets and costumes! Everything had to be in this time period, so everything had to be just right. I loved the ballet studio, stage, and costumes. They were all absolutely wonderful. The sets took time to fill in the extra details like tutus hanging up on hangers and the rosin for dance shoes.

Music:

The movie used mostly music from famous ballets. These mostly being Tchaikovsky's. Not much to say since they are classical pieces, after all.

Camera:

The camera was really great. They got some really nice shots in, like the ballet studio picture above, that really gave you a sense of space and dynamics. Other times, there were awkward zooms. Though, to be honest, they actually may have been done on purpose. These awkward zooms were during interviews, which may have been the effect they wanted for this type of setting.

The character is about to go on stage. The camera cleverly edits out the actress for her body double as she passes past the curtains and makes her entrance.

Also, the editing inbetween body doubles is BRILLIANT. I love it! My most favorite and ingenious example is near the very beginning during Swan Lake. The actress prepares to go on. She passes by the side curtain and the body double takes her place as the camera pans over with the character onto the stage. The seamless edit makes it a really nice transition, and I appreciated the thought that went into it.

Ballet Presence:

The actress and her body double did a great job dancing, but even the actress had to learn how to move for the ballet portions. She even learned to spot and can do a single pirouette. I'll be shocked if someone told me she learned this much for the role because I was really impressed with how well she did for what she was given. By making the actress at least appear to dance in one shot, it gave us the illusion she really could dance. Clever editing doesn't always pull through with deceiving the audience. At least, not this audience.

 I did like how the ballet bits they performed matched up with what stage their relationship was at. Like Giselle picking the petals off the flower was matched with Margot and Rudi first dancing together, and also Odile/Odette being two sides of the same coin when Margot is leading a sort of "double life." Though there were times this didn't work so well, it was nicely done overall.

The dancers were mostly shot from behind so you couldn't see the stunt doubles. When there was a move that the actors could perform, that's when they shot from the front. Though this got old after awhile, it was still nice to see them perform. They performed quite a few pieces from ballets. There was Swan Lake, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadere, and at least two others that I can't remember the names of right off the top of my head.

The man who played Rudi, I think, danced part of La Bayadere. I really liked him, too. I thought they both did wonderful jobs.

Overall Enjoyment:

For a made for television movie, this is GREAT. It's well shot, it's a period piece to boot, and they were really clever about hiding their smaller budget. They blackened the theatre and shot the dancers from behind mostly to hide the lack of extras. Very clever, if you ask me. Still, I wish they shot the dancers from the front more often, though it's quite understandable.

The actress playing Margot was fantastic, and so were all the other players. This is definitely what I consider a hidden gem. Maybe it's not for you, but for a ballet movie, I found it pretty amazing.