BALLET BOYS (September 12, 2014)
Every couple of years there is a documentary about dance hopefuls that ends with a major talent competition or an audition that will determines the young person’s future.
These films are generally worth watching for the dancing, and the heart-warming stories of their family’s struggles and courage to pursue such a risky career.
Norwegian documentary film director/producer Kenneth Elvebakk’s Ballet Boys has all this, plus the story of friendship between three very different boys, united by their love of dance. It does, however, leave you wanting a more sustained footage of their dancing.
We meet Lukas, Syvert and Torgeir and their lovely parents, all sacrificing so much for their sons’ dreams. No pushy parents here and no hidden pots of gold that will pay for ballet school. If the boys want to continue dancing after high school, they have to earn scholarships or gain entry to the state-financed National Academy of Arts in Oslo.
With footage from several of their formative years, we see these personable and talented boys grow up before our eyes. Lukas, who has movie-star good looks, is apparently the best dancer, and has a big decision to make when he is invited to audition for the Royal Ballet in London.
There is the cost, the uncertainty, the separation from his family and the betrayal of his two best friends whose ‘boys class’ at the National Academy depends on having a quorum of boy dancers.
Like any ambitious dancer, London’s call is too great to resist, and he auditions. Then, he must endure the agonising wait for a response.
The film could have used a bit more dancing, but we are given a fairly comprehensive glimpse of a boy dancer’s education. For one thing, there is not much time for a social life with mates or girls.
Syvert feels that his Asian ethnicity makes it difficult for him to pull the girls he is attracted to. As if the gruelling dance classes are not enough, the boys have to keep up with their academic studies and undergo regular physical fitness exams (we are allowed in). A poor assessment in any of these areas could end the dream.
by Joyce Glasser, Mature Times film reviewer
