Gymnast, dancer, aerialist and actress Dreya Weber has reunited with her ex-husband the writer and director Ned Farr to make, this their 3rd movie together. The Aeralist is a sequel to their 2006 award-winning film The Gymnast which told the story of the dancing and Vegas acrobatics after-life of a former Olympic hopeful Jane Hawkins played by Weber.
In that movie Jane was 43 years old and well past the average age of an acrobatic dancer, but now she is 56 and the wear and tear on her body has made much of her work excruciatingly painful, a fact she tries her best to hide from everyone else.
This new story, part melodrama part thriller, sees Jane rejoin ‘The Family” a group of back up dancers and aerialists, who after 20 years together are about to go on the very last tour as the support act of famous rock star Aurora (Monique Parent).
When their long time director withdraws through sickness Jane is put in charge, but the Tours scrupulous Promoter (James L. Brewster) has other plans. He brings in Xavier (Kelly Marcus) who is a hot new choreographer allegedly to spice the act up, but we soon find out that he and the Promoter have ulterior motives.
As injured/old as she is Jane is still the expert aerialist and the star and so it is very inevitable that she and the pushy inexperienced Xavier are due for a battle royale.
All the goings on are witnessed by a young journalist (Morgan Bradley) who is tagging along to write a regular profile piece on Jane, but who insists on digging deep through her past. Its through her investigations we learn of Jane’s broken marriage, her relationships with other female dancers, and how she managed to be able to afford the best trainer when she was working for a place in the Olympics.
It will of course all will work out well for Jane and The Family in the end after several surprising plot twists along the play. But the drama is really not what this film is about, it’s the sheer joy of seeing Weber’s artistry and her fearless performance as a truly stunning aeralist that makes the whole piece so very watchable.
