I just saw this film at Lincoln Center's Dance on Camera film. As someone who has seen The Children of Theatre Street, Ballerina and Graines D'Etoiles, I was looking forward to seeing a film about how Cuban dancers are trained. I did not see that.
This film has no background on the history of the School of Dance in Havana. Why was it formed? Who has passed through the school? How are the children chosen? Alicia Alonso's name was never even mentioned ONCE.
This film choose three dancers to follow: 2 girls and 1 boy. They come from different socio- economic backgrounds and are different colors. We see them being coached and going to competitions. But the coaching/teaching scenes are in Spanish and the filmmaker did not bother to translate any of the teaching remarks.
The film ends up focusing on 1 girl who defects from Cuba while her student group is on tour. We are told in titles that the boy, who was first in his class, did not get into the company because he was too dark and of too poor a background.
The film ends up being a collection of random scenes that give the viewer a negative view of Cuba. The filmmaker (who received a hostile reception from the audience) claimed that was not her intention but that is what comes through.
This is not a film worth watching for dance lovers or anyone else who wants to see a coherent view of what dance training in Cuba consists of.
Raating: 4/10
This film has no background on the history of the School of Dance in Havana. Why was it formed? Who has passed through the school? How are the children chosen? Alicia Alonso's name was never even mentioned ONCE.
This film choose three dancers to follow: 2 girls and 1 boy. They come from different socio- economic backgrounds and are different colors. We see them being coached and going to competitions. But the coaching/teaching scenes are in Spanish and the filmmaker did not bother to translate any of the teaching remarks.
The film ends up focusing on 1 girl who defects from Cuba while her student group is on tour. We are told in titles that the boy, who was first in his class, did not get into the company because he was too dark and of too poor a background.
The film ends up being a collection of random scenes that give the viewer a negative view of Cuba. The filmmaker (who received a hostile reception from the audience) claimed that was not her intention but that is what comes through.
This is not a film worth watching for dance lovers or anyone else who wants to see a coherent view of what dance training in Cuba consists of.
Raating: 4/10