The target audience for any ballet movie/TV show is pre-teen and teenage girls. There are some boys, but it's mostly girls. When you make a movie for that audience about ballet, I think it should inspire young dancers, encourage non-dancers to get involved, or at least go see a ballet, and tell parents that ballet, and dance in general, is a good, beneficial thing for their children.
"Black Swan" and the new series "Flesh and Bone" not only ignore(d) the target audience, but anyone who wasn't in the ballet world would see these things and wonder why the heck anyone would want to be a dancer! What message were they trying to send? Why insult ballet, and dancers? Why make a beautiful thing, ugly and vulgar?
I was talking to a ballet mother about this and she brought up a very good point: Most ballet companies and schools take very good care of their dancers. They have physical therapists on call, sometimes on site. Their have nutritionists speak to their dancers. They give classes in therapeutic exercise like Pilates and yoga. The teachers and ballet masters and directors have close contact with the dancers, and make sure they take care of themselves, since that's simply good business. That's the ballet world of the 21st century.
Are there cruel people in the arts? Sure, just like everywhere else, but according to these awful shows, that's all there is! There was one reality show where the dancers were getting angry that the producers wanted conflict and drama where there wasn't any. They were being told to create some. Reality...
I want a ballet film that's uplifting and shows the struggle and triumph in a positive way, not this dark, edgy crap. No parent who cares about their child would want them in the worlds of "Black Swan" or "Flesh and Bone". I found it quite revealing that most of the people who liked "Black Swan" had never been in a professional company or had any kind of career, and the ones who hated it, like me, had been professionals with major companies. Did I struggle? Yes. Was there hardship? Sure. But it was beautiful. "Black Swan" and "Flesh and Bone" are ugly.
That's not ballet.
See you in class.
I was talking to a ballet mother about this and she brought up a very good point: Most ballet companies and schools take very good care of their dancers. They have physical therapists on call, sometimes on site. Their have nutritionists speak to their dancers. They give classes in therapeutic exercise like Pilates and yoga. The teachers and ballet masters and directors have close contact with the dancers, and make sure they take care of themselves, since that's simply good business. That's the ballet world of the 21st century.
Are there cruel people in the arts? Sure, just like everywhere else, but according to these awful shows, that's all there is! There was one reality show where the dancers were getting angry that the producers wanted conflict and drama where there wasn't any. They were being told to create some. Reality...
I want a ballet film that's uplifting and shows the struggle and triumph in a positive way, not this dark, edgy crap. No parent who cares about their child would want them in the worlds of "Black Swan" or "Flesh and Bone". I found it quite revealing that most of the people who liked "Black Swan" had never been in a professional company or had any kind of career, and the ones who hated it, like me, had been professionals with major companies. Did I struggle? Yes. Was there hardship? Sure. But it was beautiful. "Black Swan" and "Flesh and Bone" are ugly.
That's not ballet.
See you in class.
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