The Meaning of Great Dancing and a Short Review of Ballerina (2006) by Bertrand Normand « Ballet

The Meaning of Great Dancing and a Short Review of Ballerina (2006) by Bertrand Normand

Aug 8th, 2010 | Posted by Bonnie

Learning how to dance is more than just technique and power. This is my big revelation as I start out my second year of Ballet. This isn’t a new idea to me – it’s something I know but I don’t know. Confused yet?

When I go to ballet class and dance, my main focus is always technique technique technique. I’m too busy working on my turn out or point work to focus on anything else. When I watch other dancers, I “remember” again that there’s more to dance than the height of your arabesque or the speed and precision of your footwork.

How Ballerina (2006) Changed My Dance Focus

Watching Ballerina (2006) by Bertrand Normand reawakened my desire to add that beauty to my dancing. Ballerina follows five Russian ballerinas Ulyania Lopatkina, Diana Vishneva, Evgenia Obraztsova, Alina Somova and Svetlana Zakharova from the Marinsky theatre. Many people on Amazon really like the movie’s focus on the grit and toughness that the Russian ballerinas need to complete the training program but

My Favorite Moments are the ones that emphasize the artistry of the ballerina. Ballerina (2006) along with meeting a new ballet teacher at PNB who keys in on the subtle beauty of ballet redefined the meaning of a great dancer for me. A great dancer does not need 32 fouetté turns to capture your attention. She can draw you in with only her expressions; the way her arms, her head, and her eyes is enough to inspire.

This clip shows a practice session by Diana Vishneva of the Kirov Ballet. I really like this scene because she is so expressive with her eyes and facial expressions.

I also really like watching Evgenia Obraztsova performing Cinderella. There is so much drama in her face when she is just walking out! Ok parts of it is a bit overdramatic, but a lot of it is simple but telling movements.

Here’s a longer version of the above clip:

Final Thoughts on Ballerina

I highly recommend watching Ballerina. My only qualm with the movie is it’s only a small glimpse into the life of a Russian ballerina. I wish the movie included information on how the Russian ballerinas trained. What do they eat? Do they all eat the same foods? Do they do any ab workouts or is it entirely focused on ballet classes? You don’t really see this in the movie. I also wish there was more video of Ulyana Lopatkina. The documentary introduces her as the greatest ballerina of this generation, but we only see her perform about two times. I would have liked to see more of her performances so I can learn from her.

In other words, I need a Ballerina Part II! I am thinking of buying Prima Ballerina because Ulyana Lopatkina is supposed to be one of the main focuses.

Changing My Focus in Ballet Class

Now in class I try to focus more on my arms, my fingers, my head, and the subtle timing of certain exercises. When I first started out everything moved at the same speed and pace, but if you want to do something like pas de cheval right and make it beautiful then a lot of it has to do with the timing. With pas de cheval, there’s a suspension before you développé your leg that I didn’t realize before my new teacher brought it up.

Clips have been provided courtesy of First Run Features. You can purchase a copy of the Ballerina (2006) by Bertrand Norman from First Run Features.

On an off note – who knows how to add padding around an image? I added padding: 50px in the image style but it doesn’t seem to do anything. Note to self… it’s the margin element that adds the extra padding…