company

I always make a point to watch movies about the life of dancers having attempted that life myself.
This is the first film I’ve seen that accurately illustrates the everyday trials and tribulations of
working in a company. It shows that the drama of life happens within and without the company and
that none of it really matters when it comes to the performance. It’s the first time that I’ve seen the
idea of “the show must go on” really take center stage for what it is: it’s a cold hard reality that
doesn’t care about seniority or your love life or your political affiliation or anything else.

However, as much as I enjoyed laughing along with the dancers at the crazy choreographer and
the eccentric company director, I found the story boring. It had levels and dimension in that there
were a lot of tidbits of information about different characters and their lives, but none of these
points went anywhere. Unfortunately, I think that if these plot points came together in a nice plot
line, the impact of “the show must go on” would have been muted. But if a dancer who loves the
business watches this film and gets bored, I can’t imagine how someone with no knowledge of
dance would feel.

The dancing and choreography is interesting and technically flawless, showing how ballet can go
from the classic ballet variations to the most bizarre of modern dancing. Even Neve Cambell, who
is a trained dancer, but obviously pursued a different avenue of performance, does a nice job
blending in with the dancers who have done nothing else but train and perform ballet for the
entirety of their lives.

I feel bad that this film flopped so badly, though I understand why. The story is virtually
nonexistent, and although it paints a perfect picture of what it’s like to work in a company, you can
only stare at a picture for so long.