Posts filed under: Film

Dance is given a new dimension in Wim Wenders’ new film PINA. Juliet Burnett, a senior artist with The Australian Ballet, attended an advance screening at the Sydney Opera House.

Iconic dance maker Pina Bausch and her long-time friend, film maker Wim Wenders, had been talking about making a film together for 20 years. Finally, with the advent of 3D filmmaking technology, Wenders saw a medium that could justifiably “capture the immediacy, physicality and contagiousness of Pina’s art”. Bausch’s death in 2009 (just before filming was to commence) almost dictated an unfortunate fate for their project, but Wenders eventually agreed to proceed as a means of coming to terms with his grief at the sudden loss. With Bausch’s disciples – her dancers at Tanztheater Wuppertal – he embarked upon the creation of a tribute to their leader, and a journey of healing. (more…)

When director Asa Mader first met dancer Benjamin Millepied at a dinner party five years ago, a friendship and creative partnership was formed. Mader studied film in New York before moving to France to produce most of his films there. Millepied, a French dancer based in New York as a principal of the New York City Ballet, has also dipped his fingers into the world of film, choreographing and starring in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan alongside Natalie Portman. The result of his and Mader’s collaborations is a romantic short film called Time Doesn’t Stand Still, in which Millepied stars opposite French actress Léa Seydoux. (more…)

Senior Artist Juliet Burnett reflects on the cinematic Nina’s obsessive search for her ideal and wonders: are all ballet dancers perfectionists? (more…)