"La Danse" - Le ballet de l'Opéra de Paris is a wonderful dance film. By Frederick Wiseman, it gives you the role of a fly on the wall. I saw it with a friend, a real estate mogul, who is also a doll house maker and a seamstress. She said afterwards "I want to run away and join le ballet! In the wardrobe department!" Tutus galore, masks, wigs, and more...I can see her in Paris.
Oh....the wide shots of Paris..... wonderful cinematography.
Shots from the roof - where beehives are harvested - shots below with water filled causeways - the real Phantom of the Opera location -
And then there's the dance! La Danse, le ballet....
Rehearsals, performance, moderne, classique - office meetings, union meeting, you are a fly on the wall......
"Also, at two and a half hours, it's not a film for the fidgety." reviews Mike Scott, of the The Times-Picayune. Hah - dance fans are not fidgety!
You'll get an ongoing and interspersed revelation into the rehearsals of "Medea". During the two and a half hours , between the studio rehearsals and stage rehearsals , I wondered what the buckets across the back of the stage were for. Duh - uh. Oh, Medea, every mother's worst sacrifice. If you are not familiar with the Medea story, you may want to look it up before going to this ballet.
You'll see rehearsals with le corps de ballet, and with soloists/principals. You'll see the dyeing of shoes, the sewing of crystals on tutus and the dyeing of costume fabric.
You'll see it all!
Read here about Brigitte Lefevre, the current Director of Dance at the Paris National Opera.
If you love dance, you'll love this movie.
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