Review ‘A Ballerina’s Tale’ follows Misty Copeland’s incredible rise in the ballet worldPosted in Articles, Arts, Book/Video Reviews, Media Archive, United States on 2016-02-09 02:33Z by Steven |
Review ‘A Ballerina’s Tale’ follows Misty Copeland’s incredible rise in the ballet world
The Los Angeles Times
2016-02-08
Mary McNamara, Contact Reporter
Misty Copeland in the documentary “A Ballerina’s Tale.” (Oskar Landi / Sundance Selects) |
If you think #OscarsSoWhite, consider the world of elite ballet. And if you want to understand why the current conversation over the lack of diversity among this year’s film academy nominees is just one thread of a much larger tapestry, watch Nelson George’s documentary “A Ballerina’s Tale: The Incredible Rise of Misty Copeland” on PBS on Monday night.
Watch too if you are a dance aficionado or a woman, if you have a daughter or for that matter a son, if you are a Southern California resident or just a thinking member of a culture that is changing, with various degrees of resistance, in almost every area.
It won’t take long, just 90 minutes that include several exquisite dance scenes, Copeland’s now-signature friendly frankness and none of the crazy-girl “Black Swan” pathology we have come to expect from tales of the dance world…
…”I think that people think that sometimes I focus too much on the fact that I’m a black dancer,” Copeland says in the film’s opening moments. “There’s never been a black principal woman … in the top companies of the world. In New York City Ballet, in New York City. I don’t think people realize what a feat it is, being a black woman. But that’s so much of who I am, and I think it’s so much a part of my story.”…
Read the entire review here.