After his successful tenure as a Principal Dancer with the New York City Ballet and a starring role in the movie Black Swan which he also choreographed and where he met his future wife Natalie Portman, in 2014 Benjamin Millepied was offered the position of Director of the prestigious Paris Opera Ballet. One of the reasons behind his appointment was the need for him to shake things up, but as he soon discovered the centuries old Company was very resistant to change, especially when it is instigated by an ‘outsider’ as Millepied was considered.
However none of the resistance to his methods or his own unhappiness at trying to introduce his style of management, is evident in this engaging fly-on-the wall documentary from filmmakers Thierry Demaizière, and Alban Teurlai who profiled Millepied as he composed a brand new ballet for the Opera’s big Gala in 2015. We observe the enigmatic choreographer enthusiatically as he opts to work with old young dancers from the Corps de Ballet as they will bring the energy that he wants to imbue in his new ballet which is firmly routed in contemporary dance.
As the countdown to the Premiere is approached, we see Millepied absorbed by the new music that has been commissioned for the ballet to start planning the choreographer as he orchestrates every single rehearsal as the work comes together. There is all the behind-the-scenes stuff too with the costume design, the orchestrations with the musical director who looks like he has just graduated High School, the props team and the technical staff too. The only one person who looks really stressed is his poor over-worked assistant Virginia who tries to balance his manic schedule as he also has to run a company of 154 dancers, and orchestrate 170 performances in two theaters. Plus some of the young dancers are sacred and want to hide any injuries they incur lest they miss their spot in the limelight.
The lack of any real drama off-stage although a tad disappointing doesn’t detract too much from the enjoyment of this engaging documentary as Demaizière and Teurlai capture the disarmingly charming Millepied’s infectious energy with some innovative camera work and beautifully imagery and fast-paced editing that makes you really appreciate seeing the ballet unfold and come together culminating in its rather stunning premiere. It’s all the total opposite of ‘Dancer’ another high-profile dance documentary earlier this year about ballet’s bad-boy Sergei Polunin whose life is one long drama.
Millepied is now back in L.A. working with his own dance company L.A. Dance Project that he had formed before his stint in Paris, and the Opera Company replaced him with one of their own dancers so that they continue with their old traditional ways which one senses after seeing Millepied’s brilliance, is really their great loss.
Labels: 2016, dance, documentary
