TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2015 // A FILM REVIEW OF "A BALLERINA'S TALE"
The 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, runs April 15th-26th and features hundreds of features, documentaries, short films, and special events all throughout downtown New York City. The ArtsWire Weekly's three featured reviewers Mateo, Derek, & Chrisena are hitting the festival and bringing the reviews right to you! What you should see and what you should skip...
I have danced my entire life. I don't just mean for fun, I mean for a large portion of my middle school and high school years, I was training to be a professional dancer. I wanted to be a prima ballerina, and dance in New York City in a lovely white tutu and satin pointe shoes. However, to be a ballerina you must have certain physical attributes. Turned out hips, flexible shoulders, beautiful feet, strong ankles and you must be thin with no curves, long willow-like limbs and you must be pale. At least, that's the ideal.
Or it was. Misty Copeland is a legendary dancer. She is strong, muscular, talented and black. She has curves where Primas are flat, and color where there has only been starkness. And she is changing our ideas of what it should mean to be a ballerina.
This film begins with a crackly home video of Misty in a dance class. She is all arms and legs, but her extensions are seamless, her hands like doves attached to her wrists. She is amazing and soon her career takes off. She finally joins the American Ballet Theatre, but it isn’t a perfect fit. She talks about how she really didn’t fit in. She was the only African American dancer in the company, and she was being told for the first time in her life that she needed to lose weight. At this point in time, Misty spirals into a state of confusion and a lack of focus. She reminisces about ordering two dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts to her apartment and eating a dozen while in tears. She even talks about the guilt she felt about being different.
This is a raw part of her story that I’m so glad was shared. Even the best of the best have days, weeks, and months where they don’t feel as though they belong. When ABT sees Misty’s focus crumble they reach out for a support system for her. Misty soon becomes friends with a long list of African American women who were trail blazers in their fields. This sisterhood strengthens Misty’s resolve to follow her reams with laser-like focus. In no time at all, Misty finally becomes a soloist, dancing the role of Firebird.
The film is not only a window into the trials and tribulations of a fantastic dancer, but it examines some extremely pertinent questions. Will Misty ever become a Prima? What will her struggles mean for all women with different body types, and different races? Is it possible that we can re-write George Balanchine’s version of a Prima Ballerina? Hopefully, Misty’s career will breathe life into an art form that is quickly losing its relevance.
VERDICT: If you love ballet it’s a MUST SEE.
Playing as part of The 2015 Tribeca International Film Festival. For tickets & schedules: http://www.tribecafilm.com
DIRECTED BY Nelson George SCREENWRITER Nelson George FEATURING Misty Copeland
CHRISENA RICCI once went to a costume party dressed in an all black dress and black wig. No one there could guess who she was. So she shouted out, "I'm Christina Ricci, without the T or I and add an E!" Everyone stood there confused, she was annoyed, so she stormed off. She never returned to that apartment ever again. Which is fine, because she later realized she was at the wrong party. She now lives in New York City.