A Dancer's Life

Last updated

A Dancer's Life
Directed by William Richert
Produced byWilliam Richert
Starring
Edited byDavid Hill
Anthony Potenza
Robert Van Dyke
Production
companies
Leroy Street Productions, Inc.
Distributed byRoninfilm
Release dates
June of 1973 First Avenue Screening Room, New York City
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

A Dancer's Life: The First Position is a 1972 ballet documentary directed and produced by William Richert. [1] The personal and professional lives of aspiring dancers at New York's American Ballet Theatre School are chronicled in this documentary.

Contents

Synopsis

This documentary about the teachers and students of the American Ballet Theatre School focuses primarily on three aspiring dancers: teenaged Janis Roswick, Daniel Giagni (who adores her), and the irresponsible David Prince. Throughout the film, Janis reads aloud from her diary, disclosing her intention to add beauty to the world and become a better person through dance, and describes her preparation to lose her innocence. Janis is frequently seen walking with Daniel and another dancer, Andrei Kulyk, who flirts with her.

When Daniel confides in Andrei about the shyness which keeps him from declaring his feelings for Janis, Andrei advises him to sublimate his feelings to his art. Daniel’s life outside of school, as he drills and trains to be a typist with the New York National Guard, is contrasted with his rehearsals of a scene from Petrouchka , in which he evokes unrequited love as Janis watches.

Daniel comes close to initiating a romantic moment with Janis in her apartment when he tries to take her hand, but when she is not responsive, he soon leaves. David is first seen in his apartment, telling fellow student Marlese Rockey of his ambivalence about becoming a dancer and complaining that Leon Danielian, the school's director, characterizes him as conniving. Following this, David is seen in Danielian’s office, where the director remarks on the boy’s improved attitude and cautions him that it must continue or he will be dismissed from school.

David is later seen during a visit with his mother, who tries to convince him to return home to Florida. In a segment titled “Acceptance,” after having sex with Marlese, David announces that he might soon leave New York, and later, in a segment called “Betrayal,” Marlese characterizes her affair with him as “time wasted on something that didn’t exist.” In the following segment, David is seen back on a Florida beach, discussing Marlese, his feelings about his lost dance career and his current employment as a supermarket bagger.

In segments throughout the film, costumed dancers perform excerpts from the ballet Petrouchka. Teachers Valentina Pereyaslavec and Michael Maule are seen instructing classes, as is Danielian. Confined to a wheelchair throughout most of the film, Danielian discusses his ongoing treatments for arthritis, and sepia-toned footage of a young Danielian dancing in Paris is shown. Later, after an operation restores his mobility, Danielian walks into class where he is applauded by his students. Rudolph Nureyev is seen briefly in practice at the studio and Julie Newmar discusses the life of a dancer and talks to Maule about his short film career.

The film ends with a long session in which Janis and Daniel perform a romantic, tender dance together, followed by still photographs of students as Pereyaslavec's voice is heard instructing a class.

Cast

Petrouchka dancers

Critical reception

The film received some "glowing reviews, then disappeared," as described by Diane Hubbard Burns of the Orlando Sentinel in 1990. [2] The New York Times' film critic Roger Greenspun gave the film a positive review upon its release in New York in June 1973. [3] In 1992, John Hartl of The Seattle Times called it "one of the finest ballet movies ever made." [4]

Home media

The documentary was restored by the film's executive producer Jerry Seltzer and producer/director William Richert using the only two existing prints, rescuing it from obscurity. The film was released on home video "somewhere in the early 1990s." [2] [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis</i> 1970 American documentary

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis is a 1970 American documentary film biography of Martin Luther King Jr. and his creation and leadership of the nonviolent campaign for civil rights and social and economic justice in the Civil Rights Movement. It uses only original newsreel and other primary material, unvarnished and unretouched, and covers the period from the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 and 1956 through his assassination in 1968. The original newsreel segments are framed by celebrity narrators Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Ben Gazzara, Charlton Heston, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster, Paul Newman, Anthony Quinn, Clarence Williams III, and Joanne Woodward. The movie was produced by Ely Landau and directed by Sidney Lumet and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Richard J. Kaplan was the associate producer in charge of production.

Julie Newmar American actress (born 1933)

Julie Newmar is an American actress, dancer, and singer, known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real-estate mogul. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Katrin Sveg in the 1958 Broadway production of The Marriage-Go-Round and reprised the role in the 1961 film version. In the 1960s, she starred for two seasons as Catwoman in the television series Batman (1966–1967). Her other stage credits include the Ziegfeld Follies in 1956, Lola in Damn Yankees! in 1961, and Irma in Irma la Douce in 1965 in regional productions.

This is a list of movies featuring recognizable dance forms, demonstrating them, shedding light on their origin, or being the base of a plot.

Erik Bruhn Danish ballet dancer

Erik Belton Evers Bruhn was a Danish danseur, choreographer, artistic director, actor, and author.

Darcey Bussell British ballerina

Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell, is an English retired ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest Strictly Come Dancing.

Sol Hurok Russian-American impresario (1888–1974)

Sol Hurok was a 20th-century American impresario.

Darci Kistler American ballerina (born 1964)

Darci Kistler is an American ballerina. She is often said to be the last muse for choreographer George Balanchine.

Ruth Page (ballerina) American ballerina and choreographer (1899–1991)

Ruth Page was an American ballerina and choreographer, who created innovative works on American themes.

Sir Eugene Aynsley Goossens was an English conductor and composer.

<i>Barbie of Swan Lake</i> 2003 Canadian film

Barbie of Swan Lake is a 2003 computer-animated fantasy film directed by Owen Hurley. It was released to video and DVD on September 30, 2003, and made its television premiere on Nickelodeon on November 16, 2003.

<i>Never Let Me Go</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Delmer Daves

Never Let Me Go is a 1953 British adventure romance film starring Clark Gable and Gene Tierney. The picture, directed by Delmer Daves and produced by Clarence Brown, was from a screenplay by George Froeschel and Ronald Millar, based on the 1949 novel Came the Dawn by Roger Bax.

Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo

The company Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo was formed in 1932 after the death of Sergei Diaghilev and the demise of Ballets Russes. Its director was Wassily de Basil, and its artistic director was René Blum. They fell out in 1936 and the company split. The part which de Basil retained went through two name changes before becoming the Original Ballet Russe. Blum founded Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, which changed its name to Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo when Léonide Massine became artistic director in 1938. It operated under this name until it disbanded some 20 years later.

Janis is a 1974 American-Canadian documentary film about the rock singer Janis Joplin. The film was directed by Howard Alk with much assistance from Albert Grossman, Joplin's manager. It was available on videocassette in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, but DVD versions have been released only in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. In late 2011, it was added to Hulu's movie collection for online viewing. Part of the film soundtrack is included on the 1975 album Janis.

Gaîté Parisienne is a 1938 ballet choreographed by Léonide Massine (1896-1979) to music by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) arranged and orchestrated many decades later by Manuel Rosenthal (1904-2003) in collaboration with Jacques Brindejonc-Offenbach, the composer's nephew. With a libretto and décor by Comte Étienne de Beaumont and costumes executed by Barbara Karinska, it was first presented by the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo at the Théâtre de Monte Carlo on 5 April 1938.

The Original Ballet Russe was a ballet company established in 1931 by René Blum and Colonel Wassily de Basil as a successor to the Ballets Russes, founded in 1909 by Sergei Diaghilev. The company assumed the new name Original Ballet Russe after a split between de Basil and Blum. De Basil led the renamed company, while Blum and others founded a new company under the name Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo. It was a large scale professional ballet company which toured extensively in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the United States, and Central and South America. It closed down operations in 1947.

Evgenia Obraztsova Russian ballerina (born 1984)

Evgenia Viktorovna Obraztsova is a Russian ballerina. She is a prima ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, and with the Mariinsky Ballet.

Vadim Muntagirov Russian ballet dancer

Vadim Muntagirov is a Russian ballet dancer. He is currently a principal dancer at The Royal Ballet in London and previously a lead principal dancer at the English National Ballet.

Vyvyan Lorrayne is a South African ballet dancer, now retired. Noted as a "softly classical stylist," she won acclaim as a principal dancer in England's Royal Ballet during the 1960s and 1970s.

Lawrence Rhodes was an American premier dancer, dance teacher and director of ballet companies and the dance divisions of New York University and the Juilliard School.

An Evening with the Royal Ballet is a 1963 British documentary film produced by the British Home Entertainment for the Royal Ballet company.

References

  1. ↑ "A Dancer's Life," American Film Institute website. Accessed Nov. 24, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Diane Hubbard Burns (December 9, 1990). "On Video: Lives Of 2 Dancers| Diane Hubbard Burns". Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  3. ↑ Roger Greenspun (June 2, 1973). "The Screen: 'First Position' Arrives:Dance Documentary Is a Study in Depth The Cast Janis Roswick Seen as Aspirant Here| Roger Greenspun". The New York Times . Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  4. 1 2 John Hartl (December 27, 1992). "Videos -- Some Favorite Classic Films Make It To Video| John Hartl". The Seattle Times . Retrieved July 11, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.