Paying for Classes

 Phew, I just paid my tuition for next month's worth of classes. I go to a park district so I can get a deduction based on my residency. Still, I just paid $210 for a little over one month of classes. I know that may seem like nothing to other people, but for a college student who can't find a job in this economy, that is the cost of one of my kidneys.

If this keeps up, I may not be able to keep dancing. Unless a company finally responds to my resume and job application, I'll be forced to either drop to once a week only, switch studios, or be so unlucky as to drop ballet altogether. 

Is this $15/class a good price for dance classes? Other adult dancers, how much do you pay per class? Are you satisfied with your studio? I tried doing research on other dance studios in my area, but (get this) all I got was a bunch of "this link is missing" errors or they just won't let me click on links. So much for doing research....

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!

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. 

Absolutely Adorable

This video popped up on my Yahoo! homepage today and I just had to share it with everyone. It's just so darn cute!

So what can we learn from this little girl? Even if you can't get it, just keep trying! You may look silly, you may be behind everyone else, but you know what? At least you tried.

Manga-- Mai Oriru Hana

More ballet manga! This time, it's a much better paced one-shot (sort of like the graphic novel equivalent of a short story). Again, this isn't serialized in the US, so you can read it for free here. The translators translated "Mai Oriru Hana" as "Glittering Steps Toward Tomorrow," but I think it's more like "The Dancing Flower Blooms" or something like that.

Anyway, the plot is really short, sweet, and to the point. It's about a girl named Yuuka who goes to a school cultural festival and sees a beautiful upperclassman dancing ballet. The upperclassman is named Misaki, and Yuuka is determined to become as good as her. Yuuka starts taking ballet classes and applies to the same high school as Misaki in order to become closer to her and attend the same ballet after-school club. Later in the year, the club announces they will be performing at the cultural festival and they will be holding auditions for Misaki's dance partner. Yuuka is determined to get the part and works very hard, despite her freshman status, in order to become Misaki's duet partner.

*spoilers ahead*

Yuuka auditions even though she is only a first year and there are many other dancers in the club better than her. Since she dances with passion, she is given the role. Together, her and Misaki practice for the festival. Misaki is hard on Yuuka in order to help her improve.Yuuka doesn't mind since she understands that though Misaki may seem icy on the outside, she dances with passion and prefers to hide her emotions.

When the festival begins, Yuuka gets nervous, but Misaki tells her that everyone gets a little nervous and helps her feel better before they perform. They take the stage together and perform beautifully, and Yuuka finally achieves her dream of dancing alongside Misaki at a cultural festival.

The art looks really similar to the artist who drew Full Moon o Sagashite. And the eyes are HUGE. And since this is a manga, that's saying something, but I loved the ballet scenes. Luckily there were many.  

This story has a much stronger focus on ballet than Le Masque.  The story, though very short, makes you admire the protagonist's determination and does a really nice job of having an interesting story. I almost wish this were longer, but since it's only a one-shot, I guess I can say I'm satisfied.

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.

Review-- The Turning Point

 For this week, I watched the movie, The Turning Point! This movie was nominated for a lot of Oscars, but like I say about Oscars, I almost never like the movies that the Academy picks. So, let's see how this movie does!

 Story:

The story is about two women named DeeDee and Emma (played by Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft respectively). Both are friends, and both were fierce rivals in ballet. But DeeDee decides to get married and have children while Emma pursues a career in dance. Years later, two meet again as Emma's company drops by DeeDee's town. Meeting with each other again reminds the other woman of all the opportunities she's missed. Emma, out of either kindness or a longing for a daughter, semi-adopts DeeDee's daughter, Amelia. Amelia is a dancer, too. Emma helps Amelia enter the company. DeeDee is not only worried that she is losing her daughter to her rival, but also that Amelia will make the same mistakes she made. The story is of these two women and of Amelia as they morn for lost dreams and begin new ones.

DeeDee and Emma

Sometimes I really like the story...and then sometimes I find it slightly bland. Sometimes I think it's rather realistic...and then sometimes I feel they are pushing my threshold of bullshit. There are times were the script is well-written and subtle where needed...then there are times when it's pretty much layered on us. For instance, Amelia is making eyes at the Russian dancer. A LOT. It's not too subtle. Then it immediately jumps to this weird dance sequence. I guess it's supposed to be symbolic, but they don't even know each other, so it comes off as sort of a joke. So, yeah...not so subtle. Other times, it shows a great understanding of human behavior. There's this one scene where Amelia and her mother are talking. Both think the other one is mad at her for something. It's a great use of common defense mechanisms.

There was also a bit where Amelia gets drunk but goes to perform. As funny as that was, she would be booted off the corps in a heartbeat. To even let her on, when a ballerina's core strength is inebriated, is also a shocker.
Also, Amelia just casually telling her mom she's on the pill and her mom's just, "oh, good girl." I couldn't imagine anyone's mom being like that. Amelia even says that her mom's straitlaced later on, but what straitlaced mother would be saying, "oh good girl," or even having that conversation to start with?

I did like the theme of "aging out" and becoming too old to make certain decisions. It's one that doesn't come up too often, and it certainly fits the bill for this blog. They did a pretty good job about delving into passion and art, too, and how these never go away with age. They only briefly touched on how perhaps the mother is living vicariously through her daughter, and that was during an explosive argument near the end of the movie. It's actually this argument that I think is my favorite part in the movie. I liked watching the two actresses hurl insults at each other and how all the skeletons came out.

Another theme that I felt was pretty powerful was "life's short; it's okay to mess up once in awhile." The women want to help Amelia from feeling the same pain they went through, but they finally learn that she needs to grow up, too, and the only way for her to do that would be to make mistakes. 

Characters:

The acting was pretty fine. Emma's actress did a great job with subtle facial expressions, though she did have the most convenient, sweet sounding hiccups. I wish mine conveniently didn't interrupt my speech making me sound like a drunken fool, too.

The daughter, Amelia, also did a great job. She was funny during the drunk scene and she did all of her own dancing, which I approve. The male Russian dancer who Amelia falls for was a phenomenal dancer, though maybe not the greatest actor. Granted, he probably didn't have enough lines for me to even judge.

Sets/Costumes:

Nothing much to comment on here. It's a movie from the seventies and it shows its age. And I really wished people in the 70s movies wore bras. Seriously.

 

Music:

Music is mostly played during the ballet sequences, which are often, or the practice sequences, also often. These are classical pieces, and I really can't say much more than that.

Camera:

The camerawork seemed fine to me. There were some times where I wanted to see more of the dancers' body, but it was very rare. They did a good job covering Emma's actress' lack of dancing ability. What they showed me was satisfying enough, but not insulting to my intelligence.

Playbill effect

Near the end, there are several short acts of ballets. They would project the playbill over the beginning of each act so you could recognize which dancer is performing. I really appreciated this since once you get everyone in makeup with their hair done up, everyone looks the same.

When the Russian dancer was dancing though, (and as cool as this shot was) you could see the cameraman's shadow in the spotlight! Whoops!

Oh hi, camera crew!

Ballet Presence:

I liked the dancing a lot. I love it when actresses and actors can dance their own parts. Though the actress that played Emma didn't do her own parts, they did a pretty good job of editing her bits out. When it does come time for her ballet, she was a tad awkward, but she handled it nicely. 

 Amelia's character is a beautiful dancer. She smiles a lot when she dances, but she dances gorgeously. The Russian dancer (I think he's called Yuri?) is also AMAZING. HOLY CRAP. Just look at that air on the picture above. Yeah. He's awesome. I could watch him dance all day.

Ah... ah hem. Anyways, enough with the worshiping... The ballet company puts on several ballets. Some of them were more modern while others were the more traditional types. These traditional ballets were of Swan Lake, Giselle, and Don Quixote.

 

 

See? Quite a bit of ballet! This movie definitely has a strong focus on dancers.

Overall Enjoyment:

I'm not quite sure what to make of it. Is it a good movie? Yes. Is it a great movie that deserves all of the Oscar nominees it was nominated for? Probably not. (But there we go again with Oscars!) Would I recommend watching it? Sure! Why not! This is probably as good as dance movies are going to get. I still like The Red Shoes the best, though I have to give this movie about 6 out of 10 stars. The story was really slow moving, but I would still probably watch this again than Black Swan. Then again, both are rather bland.... oh who cares. Watch what you want. Why do should you care about my opinion anyway?

Busted

So the studio I go to called my house when I was gone. Instead of calling back later, they told my mom ballet classes were canceled. Now she knows; luckily, it was one of many things that upset her today, so I'm mostly off the hook. Still, despite all this, she started crying, shut the blinds to the family room, and watched Dr. Phil on the television for awhile.

What a miserable day.

Review-- The Company

The second ballet movie I'm reviewing is called The Company, made in 2003. This has some big names in it, most noticeably James Franco (he played Harry in Spiderman) and Malcolm McDowell. I didn't recognize the other name, Neve Campbell, but she's in it, too.

Story:

Now, this is definitely a new breed of movie. It's almost a documentary style. There's no solid story, just an overarching theme. In many ways, the movie itself is like a representation of the modern ballets it performs. The ballets have a vague story, but what is more important is the talent and the emotion that their dancing evokes in the audience.

If I did have to give this movie a plot, it is about the ballet company as a whole. We specifically follow a budding dance star as she goes to practice, interacts with others, and performs. The ballet company is in Chicago and performs mostly modern ballets.

The story also had its funny moments. I love when a dancer starts talking back to the ballet director (master? I'm not quite sure what he preferred to be called) and the Christmas skits were also really funny. The funny bits added a nice change of pace in juxtaposition to the more serious ballet rehearsals and company concerns.

I liked this movie. I liked hearing the ballet rehearsals since they reminded me of the old days I danced in high school. I read that the screenwriter didn't know anything about ballet, but after spending time with the Chicago ballet, wrote the script. I have to say, she did a pretty good job, and I felt it made a really good representation of the stresses and fun times a ballet company goes through.

This is mostly for older audiences, since there's nudity and sex references. Older kids in their teens would be fine, but if you're looking for a great family film, this is definitely not a good choice since it probably won't hold their attention. 

Characters:

I won't separate main characters from supporting characters since everyone is equally important in this story, but I will look at the ballerina the movie follows most. She's the budding star of the company, and she goes by her last name, Ryan, or Ry for short. Neve Campbell plays her character and she definitely looks like she knows what she's doing. She dances her own parts, which I love. (I hate "clever" editing to hide an actress' inability to perform the moves because you can always tell they aren't really performing.) But she performed her own part, and quite well, too. She trained for four months to get back into shape and she looks great.

The other dancer characters also dance their own part. Those who had line did a great job, too. It felt natural, like I was looking into a window that showed me their lives. However, since everyone looks somewhat similar in their uniforms, I had a really hard time telling them apart. When one dancer snaps her Achilles tendon and then I think she's dancing in the next scene, it makes it really confusing. I had to rewind to notice that they were two different people.

The ballet director is played by Malcolm McDowell. He's the son of an Italian immigrant who takes charge of this Chicago ballet company. He's a perfectionist, arrogant businessman and can be a jerk at times, but all the dancers respect him and hope for him to acknowledge their hard work, which he does. I really liked this actor as the ballet director. He was able to balance the strict side with the slightly bitchy side.

James Franco plays Ry's boyfriend. He's a successful chef at a restaurant. I actually read he trained at a Chicago bistro in order to take this part, so kudos to him. He didn't have a big part, just smile and look cute I guess.

Sets/Costumes:

I can't say much about costumes since they wore your everyday outfits. The ballet costumes were either minimal or bizarre, so I can't comment too much on these. The sets, however, are great. I loved seeing Chicago as the back drop. In fact, one of the outdoor performances takes place at a Lollapalooza stage. Lady Gaga actually performed on the very same stage they danced on. The movie did a great job of capturing some of the major Chicago landmarks, such as the el-train, which drives past Ry's apartment several times in the movie.

The ballet studio is small, but you get the idea. It is the stage that is more interesting. I loved how the camera shot from the performers perspectives at times so we could catch a glimpse of their world.

Music:

Was there music? I don't know. There was music during the ballet performances, but I wasn't to blown away by anything I heard. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad.

Camera:

The camera was odd at times. Most of the time it was great! But sometimes we would get an odd zoom, like the ones I do on my digital camera. There were definitely odd moments, but for the most part, it was fine. The scenes were set up real nice, like the picture of the stage above.

Ballet Presence:

Ballet is everywhere. Can't avoid it, so if you don't like it, stay away. Why are you at this blog anyway? The film features mostly modern ballets. I don't recognize any personally, but I don't know much about modern ballet, so these could have been created for the movie.

Those they did have were really interesting and entertaining. It was nice to get a different type of ballet than just the classical stuff. The movie also took time out to show us a couple minutes of the ballet. I love when movies do this instead of cutting to the end of the ballet because I like to see the characters' hard work.

I loved how the actress could dance her own part. I know I'm beating a dead horse here with that comment, but it's true. It makes a world of a difference.

 Aren't they pretty? There's also this really cool one where they are suspended from the ceiling and dance. It reminds me a bit of some circus acts.

Overall Enjoyment:

Overall, I loved this movie. I liked the documentary feel, I liked ballets, I liked the characters. I know many people won't like this movie because there's not a strong story, but it still makes a great ballet movie. It probably could have shown the darker side of ballet a bit more, but other than that, it was a great movie that completely immersed me into its own world. I recommend giving it a try and if you don't like it, at least enjoy the dancing!