Breaking Pointe

Being a fan of reality shows and dance, this show was a natural for me. It profiles the Ballet West dance company out of Salt Lake City, and follows certain individuals in the company.

We have all seen the traditional stories about dancers and their struggles (Center Stage, The Turning Point, etc.) in movies. Here is the chance to go behind the scenes with real dancers and discover the truth. As it turns out (no pun intended), their daily lives are filled with the same issues we all face, but everything in their lives is dance-centric, as it must be.

Dance is a profession that melds athleticism and art. It is more demanding than most jobs because it requires discipline, self-examination, and an all-encompassing dedication.

Breaking Pointe, in its second season, has focused on about seven dancers. And always in the background is the drama of creating a performance for a paying public. The company must stage the demanding Cinderella ballet on schedule. At the same time, the dancers deal with issues like working with your spouse, having to decide between career or relationship, injuries that are debilitating, and injuries that must be borne.

And let's not forget the fact that annual reviews are hanging over everyone's heads. Dancers work under annual contracts, so every year they deal with the stress of not knowing what the next season will bring--renewal or termination. And because dance companies are very hierarchical, the dancers seek affirmation every year. "Will I get promoted to soloist? How long must I remain an intern? Can age and injuries threaten my position as a principal dancer?"

As with other professional athletes, there are only so many employers. This further complicates the lifestyle of a dancer, who may have to pack up and move to another state if he cannot continue at his present jobs.

Knowing all this, it is with great respect that I watch these dancers negotiate their problems. Some comments on this site are very critical of some of these dancers, sometimes even criticizing their physical characteristics. In my opinion, they are all beautiful. They have nearly perfected their beautiful instruments in pursuit of a beautiful illusion--that their performances are effortless.

For any reality show, reality is abridged whenever an edit is made. But I feel that the producers of this show are attempting to show us the drama of these lives in a balanced way.

How can one not feel for Chris and Christiana, principals dancers, whose marriage may be damaged by the dynamics that define it? Or Allison, whose fiancé may demand she leave the company to prove her love? Or Ronnie, the soloist whose foot injury has sidelined his career until he can rehab enough to perform the most demanding jumps?

All of this drama is offset by the moments of beauty: The exquisite precision of a spin, the ornate costumes, the classic lines of the dancer's body at work or in repose.

Breaking Pointe also shows the dancers at play, diffusing the daily stresses.

In all, we get a comprehensive look at the world of a dancer. Any young dancer who contemplates the lifestyle of ballet should watch this show.

This show is OK, you get to see a ballet company from the inside, which is interesting enough.

But on the other hand, I don't see any of them surviving one week in the Ballet de l'opéra de Paris or the Royal Ballet. They are not bad dancers, but surely not great ones and sometimes it is a bit awkward to hear big compliments for such dancing.

But to be honest, it is a regional ballet and also a reality show, you can't expect to have an étoile from the ballet de l'opréa de Paris.

If you like ballet and want an inside look in a company why not, if you are in for great ballet dancing I don't think you'll enjoy it as much, watch one of the many documentaries about ballet.

I enjoy watching the dancers in this movie, and short performances on stage. I try to go to as many live performances as available,. We seldom see the intense work behind the performance. This movie is a way to get close and personal with the dancers, imagine yourself dancing, and have a lot of fun. I want more shows like this. I am upset only season 1 is viewable. I hope to see it added to the viewing public. Please create more movies about dancing. I never get tired of seeing dancing. Few people know there are different hierarchy with the dancer's.position in the troupe. How there is so much competitions between dancers.

This show is great and filled with interesting (but not unrealistic) stories about 7 of Ballet West's dancers. Its also putting ballet back in the mainstream eye (though its ratings are low) and is offering us a real look at how hard the industry is to succeed in. I have been glued to this show since the first episode, but I must say that episodes 3 and 4 are better than episodes 1 and 2 cause 3 and 4 contain more dance with the same consistent amount of reality TV drama. Every person on this show is talented and deserving; and I really hope the show gets a second season cause it would be a shame to see one of the highest quality reality shows slip through the cracks. If you haven't checked it out definitely look it up (you can watch all the already aired episodes legally on the internet) and give it a chance, especially if you have a love for dance like me.

Some notes on the 7 dancers (no episode spoilers, just brief bios/intros and personal opinions). Beckanne Sisk is a very young (19) up and coming dancer who blows everyone away with her ridiculous talent. Shes really good friends (and roommates) with Katie Martin. Katie is in a relationship with fellow ballet west cutie Ronald Tilton. I love Katie, she's really sweet and funny. Ronald, Katie's boyfriend, is super lucky in that he also gets to work alongside his brother Rex Tilton at Ballet West. Rex is sortof dating Allison Debona. Allison is SUPER career focused and I really sympathize with her on the show, but some people find her irritating...personal preference (and only bad edit?) I suppose. Christiana Bennett is one of the principal dancers at ballet west. Christiana seems like a great person and she dances sooo effortlessly (though we know shes gotta be in pain and struggling). And lastly there is Ronnie Underwood. Ronnie is a MAN...No really that is how they sell him on the show...total dude. He's pretty hilarious to watch as he struts his stuff like a hot peacock.

I've only done a quick pass so far through the first two episodes (produced by the BBC) and they seemed a little high key, but interesting and not totally out of line with Ballet West's YouTubes which focus well on rehearsals and ballet development.

BW's artistic director talks on some of them and they help to personalize the dancers, who can sometimes feel that no-one picks them out on-stage. They depict a company which works hard and sticks to the classical standards on-stage.

Ballet companies of all sizes are trying new kinds of promotion in this tough economy, with so much other entertainment now out there. European and US ballet companies generally have been in a somewhat precarious position and even ABT and NYCB laid off dancers for a while in the downturn in 2009. Some companies have since done without orchestras though Ballet West still has one.

For the moment the number of well-paid dancer positions (probably in the US below 500) doesn't seem to be growing, and the audiences are not yet really diversifying.

A national survey was presented to a dance management workshop in NYC recently which showed that overall seat sales for ballet in the US have now slipped below 30% of total budget. Maybe half of that seat revenue comes from the Nutcrackers. The rest is made up by local government (ballet can be a real asset for cities), foundations, benefactors, and fund-raising galas, all demanding and none of them forever.

Now we get to see ballet fighting back. :-) My guess is the potential for an explosion of interest in ballet is there. The movie Black Swan which this show seems an extension of was a bit bizarre but it reached an audience far wider than ballet normally does. The ABT's soloist Sarah Lane did most of the hard dancing in that as the double for Natalie Portman.

Ballet West is about the same size and offers the same kind of mostly classical-ballet programs and training as say the Anaheim, the Memphis, the San Diego, and the Tulsa. All the companies of that size and most of the larger are doing sometimes peculiar new things to pull in bigger crowds.

Anaheim is perhaps the most way-out in promotion: check their YouTubes. They do ballets in strange places which some other companies (Pacific Northwest in Seattle, and Hamburg, and English National Ballet, and the new Angel Carrera company in Madrid) are also doing. I for one like them.

Many companies are traveling more. This month in New York we have the best-ever two-month ABT season (an amazing Onegin last night with a cast to die for: Gomes, Vishneva, and Osipova) and City Ballet next door at Lincoln Center with dozens of new ballets, and in a few days the Australian National and next month Paris Opera Ballet will be here.

The Mariinsky from St Petersburg was in NY a few months ago, and soon after, they simulcast a very good 3D Giselle with Osipova in the lead role in theaters around the world. English National Ballet have done a Swan Lake in 3D. YouTube now offers 3D so 3D videos of ballet could appear there soon, and probably most new ballet DVDs will be in 3D. (Hint: it's awesome.)

Personalizing the ballet dancers and the creative process which we see here in Breaking Pointe can resonate really well and could be the best response to the question at the end of Jennifer Homan's recent history of ballet (Apollo's Angels): Is ballet over?

I'm not Mormon but I like Salt lake City and it is serious about its culture. So good luck Ballet West. I for one hope this venture does okay. Ten stars for trying.