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Available onlineFor the company’s spring gala, the director tracks dancers backstage and on stage as they perform Robbins, Balanchine and a new work by Justin Peck
It’s fair to say dance on screen is getting more ambitious when New York City Ballet go and hire Sofia Coppola to direct their latest film. But the heavyweight director isn’t heavy-handed in this beautifully judged reimagining of a gala for the screen, telling the story of the company’s return to the theatre, from first steps in the rehearsal room to on-stage finale.
The film’s establishing shots capture the stillness of this time in limbo: huge stacks of unworn pointe shoes, tutus on their hangers, the deserted auditorium. Gonzalo Garcia walks tentatively through an empty studio, but soon the movement (from Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering) takes over, like memory flooding through his limbs. The camera moves backstage, with Ashley Bouder and Russell Janzen dancing part of Balanchine’s Duo Concertant in front of a shuttered loading dock. Amid the controlled repetitions of movement, Bouder’s pleasure in moving again is barely contained. Then Maria Kowroski and Ask la Cour slow waltz across the grand Lincoln Center foyer in an extract from Balanchine’s Liebeslieder Walzer. In period costume, they move with gentle charm and grace, cherishing their bond. Continue reading...