First Position
HH
Dir: Bess Kargman
With: Aran Bell, Joan Sebastian Zamora
Running time: 90 minutes
FROM spelling bees to Irish dancing extravaganzas, documentary makers love a competition. Here, the contest being examined is the Youth America Grand Prix, in which 5000 ballet dancers strut and arabesque their stuff before elite schools and dance companies in the hope of being given scholarships. Bess Kargman's film follows a group of characters, among them a young man from Cuba and an all-American princess type. Kargman has a good eye for a story, even if her choices are a little obvious, and there's a certain fascination in glimpsing a side of the Black Swan world rarely seen, but the competition format is becoming rather tired. Still, sure to be of interest to young dancers, particularly the screening this Saturday which has a Q&A afterwards led by Kerry Livingstone of Scottish Ballet.
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