By: debbie lynn elias
Every little girl (and even some little boys) and aspiring ballerina knows what “first position” is: arms slightly bent with hands gracefully resting across the navel area of the torso as if floating on air. It is from this “first position” from which all other ballet movements emerge, just as young hopeful dancers emerge and blossom like butterflies from a cocoon. With FIRST POSITION, director Bess Kargman takes us into the world of ballet, starting from a thematic “first position”, introducing us to young dancers at various stages of development but all with the same hopes and dreams. Fascinating, quite lovely to watch, educational and interesting, FIRST POSITION elegantly moves through emotion and time, while showcasing some of the most charming and talented young people blossoming in ballet today.
Focusing on seven young dancers – Aran Bell, Gaya Bommer Yemini, Michaela Deprince, JJ Fogarty, Miko Fogarty, Joan Sebastian Zamora and Rebecca Houseknecht – we meet each up close and personal both in their day-to-day lives and in competition as each moves through the Young America Dance Finals towards a performance at the Youth Grand Prix. Held annually in New York City, the YGP is a platform for dancers from across the globe, similar to sports drafts, with the prize being coveted scholarships and job offers from the finest and most elite dance academies and dance companies the world over.
Setting the stage with the Youth America Grand Prix as a common thread, Kargman makes ballet and FIRST POSITION engaging and interesting while the young people showcased make it compelling, filling your heart. You quickly find yourself rooting for your favorites just as you would for a professional athlete or sports team. Particularly engaging are Aran and his little Israeli friend Gaya, as well as Michaela and Joan. Although Miko is a bit too pretentious for my money and her mother is a terrible, terrible stage mother, joyous to watch is her brother JJ who quits dancing, driving his pushy mother to tears. Then there’s Rebecca who can easily be classified as the “one bad apple.” Her ego, combined with her “princess” persona and “princess” obsession, made me want to take a swig of Pepto-Bismol.
But when we look at Aran, Gaya, Joan and Michaela, we see true champions filled with heart, vibrancy, appreciation; a celebration of life. Balanced against grand wide-angle lensing of performances, Kargman’s camera also captures small, nuanced expressions that create compelling, poignant intimate portraits. We quickly learn that Aran has the best poker face but when he gets out in front of the audience, he just lights up. And the joy that Aran and Gaya have rooting for each other – not to mention Gaya’s mother! I think she was happier and more excited watching Aran than Aran’s own mom! But then there’s Michaela. She is flawless. And her personal story just breaks your heart. Leave it a couple from the Philadelphia/Jersey area to embody the true spirit of the “City of Brotherly Love” in adopting Michaela and her sister Mia from Africa at a very young age.
The behind the scenes aspect of the ballet, costume creation (very interesting is the detail provided and focus on what Michaela’s mom does with her costuming as Michaela is African), toe shoe data ($80 a pair and they run through almost a pair a day!), coaching, and the different criteria each judge has with what they look for. That latter aspect is perhaps one of the most interesting pieces of information elicited in FIRST POSITION as, unlike sports, the final score isn’t the determining factor of whether a dancer moves forward to the next round or wins a scholarship or job offer.
And then, as with any sport, we see the injuries. As the final competition nears, Michaela is afflicted with a serious case of tendinitis. We also see snippets and commentary from several other dancers (who are not of primary focus in the documentary) also sidelined or hampered by injury. You see the pain riddle their young faces but in some cases, that pain turns to ebullience for as we learn from Michaela, once she starts dancing, she is transported and forgets the pain. This refreshing outlook at not only speaks to unspoken dedication, but the heart and what ballet means to her; what an integral part of her it is, as necessary as air.
FIRST POSITION excels with its pacing thanks to the Kargman, who also edited the film together with Kate Amend. There is an easy, even flow as we move around the world and through competitions, never lingering too long on anything thanks to some finely tuned cross-cutting. The film itself feels as if we are floating through it, much like a ballerina floating in air. Nothing bogs down and the camera neither feels intrusive into intensely personal moments nor distracting as each dancer through the rigors and routines of life, dance and competition.
Truly exceptional as a complimentary tool in post production are scattered visual effects, particularly some “double exposure” with a visual layering of the dance movements during the finals competition. The imagery not only heightens the emotion of the dance piece, but the overall beauty of the dance, the costuming and the experience of watching ballet. Exquisitely breathtaking. Visually, the color palette throughout the film is rich, vibrant, never dull and Nick Higgins’ cinematography is as sharp and precise as a grand battement with pirouettes yet exudes the loveliness of a ballerina in attitude en pointe. Notable is the myriad of dance variations throughout FIRST POSITION, not to mention accompany music – some is familiar and will catch the ear of the audience while other pieces are not as recognizable but are so eloquently scored and arranged in a musical tapestry so as to expose the audience to something new and different without the audience realizing it.
Having recently seen Wm Wenders Oscar nominated documentary Pina based on the renowned German choreographer and her dance company of interpretive dancers, I can say with all honestly that FIRST POSITION can takes its bows now for its level of excellence and is truly “first” among dance documentaries, particularly when it comes to ballet. FIRST POSITION is how a dance documentary should be done.
A beautiful film, FIRST POSITION will keep you on your toes.
Directed by Bess Kargman.
