'Breaking Pointe' on CW Network

[NYadgal]

I mentioned this on the ABT thread, but it was suggested this needed a thread of its own.

A 'reality' docu-drama about the world of dance, featuring Salt Lake City's Ballet West Company, this show debuted on May 31st.

We have a special BWW connection. Ballet West was our dear Glebb's ballet company. (He was, as you know, the Ballet Master). How he would have LOVED this show!

I watched the first episode, and eagerly await the rest of the season.
Hope you all tune in!


From the CW Website:

For the first time ever, the beauty and grace of ballet, the world's preeminent dance form, will be brought to television. Viewers will also see the dark side of this seemingly perfect world; the jealousy, competition and intensity that exist behind the scenes at a professional ballet company. For under the tights and tutus lie warriors, who battle in a gritty world of extreme athleticism, focus and dedication, while hunting for the unattainable...perfection.

"Breaking Pointe" rips back the curtain on the inner workings of elite Salt Lake City Ballet Company, Ballet West. It obliterates the notion that ballet is a dated art form and shatters pre-conceived stereotypes about the men and women who give their lives to the world of ballet. Beneath their perfect exteriors, these dancers have the toughness of linebackers, punishing their bodies to achieve perfection and dancing through injuries and pain.

Led by Artistic Director Adam Sklute, a former dancer and Associate Director of The Joffrey Ballet, Ballet West and Ballet West II's company of 48 dancers includes: Principal Artist Christiana Bennett, Soloist Ronnie Underwood, Demi-Soloist Allison DeBona, Demi-Soloist Rex Tilton, Beckanne Sisk, Kathleen Martin and Ronald Tilton.

Shot in a rich, cinematic style, "Breaking Pointe" pulls the viewer directly into the company, where they will experience the exhausting rehearsals, the stylized glamour of the dancers' life and the vibrant and dynamic main-stage performances.

It's every little girl's dream to grow up and become a ballerina, but nobody knows what the world of competitive ballet is really about. No one sees the sacrifice and discipline it takes to look perfect for the audience. Nobody knows that in order to advance and get the best roles, dancers have to navigate the complicated social politics inside the company. And, no one sees, when the curtain goes down, the drama that bleeds into the dancers’ private lives…until now.

[NYadgal]

Breaking Pointe on CW Network

[bwaylvsong]

I saw this the other night and really enjoyed it. I did think that it focused a little too much on the relationships among the dancers, not to mention that literally every single male dancer profiled was straight (what are the odds?).

[Sheldon Devane]

just caught the first episode of this show, and wow, what an insulting piece of junk. They are really going out of their way to talk about how the male dancers "own a lot of hot rods" or "are less girly than my other boyfriends, and he does ballet". Every other scene is one of the guys with his girlfriend. Jeez. I would have thought it was impossible to do a show about ballet and be homophobic, but I was wrong. Sure, not all male dancers are gay, but there are enough that they should be represented in any show on the subject.

[PalJoey]

Keep watching.

[Sheldon Devane]

Ah, thanks PJ. I was hoping I was wrong, and the show would pleasantly surprise me.

[wonkit]

More ballet and less relationship trauma would work for me.

[NYadgal]

Well, it is airing on the CW Network... and not PBS.

I'm still intrigued by it. Relationships and all.

[NYadgal]

Adam Sklute, the Artistic Director of Ballet West stated:

"the reason BW agreed to do this was to bring awareness and interest to our art form and understanding to the lives of professional dancers. I think it will do that."...