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The National Ballet of Canada’s prep for a new production of the biggest ballet there is, while bidding farewell to artistic director Karen Kain, is subtly handled in a nuanced documentary

‘Ballet is fucking punk rock,” declaims corps de ballet member Shaelynn Estrada, towards the end of this absorbing documentary, which might be a bit of a definitional stretch for some viewers – but it sort of makes sense. I guess Estrada wants to celebrate the hardcore commitment the art requires from performers like her, or maybe its capacity to elicit raw emotion. Whatever she’s trying to say, there’s no denying Estrada herself is pretty punk rock herself, a ferociously likable character whose transition from home-schooled army brat (who paid for ballet lessons as a kid by cleaning the studio) to being member of the National Ballet of Canada’s corps makes up one of several very compelling stories in this solid documentary.

A few years ago, before retiring from her role as artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada, Karen Kain decided to direct a show. “We needed a new Swan Lake,” she says at the top of the new documentary Swan Song, “and I thought: I want to try to find the courage to do this.” Kain, a former ballerina, trained at NBC and made her debut as Swan Queen in the company’s 1971 production. She was later mentored by the Soviet dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev, who helped nurture her career. Kain gained domestic and then international recognition. Andy Warhol made a portrait of her and Canadians affectionately nicknamed her the nation’s Princess Diana.

Directed by Chelsea McMullan, Swan Song follows Kain’s journey to direct Swan Lake in her final year at the National Ballet of Canada. She intended to retire in 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced...

A luminous technique defines the documentary “Swan Song” as it unfurls its saga of famed ballerina Karen Kain’s final act as artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada: the helming of a new production of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake.” Kain had never directed a ballet. So, although it might not seem like a high-art kind of word, let’s just say she picked a doozy. While archival images of her own performances underscore that, as one of Canada’s most celebrated ballerinas, Kain’s timing was impeccable, the timing of her maiden directing venture was less so. Kain had planned to retire after the world premiere of the ballet set for 2020. A global pandemic pushed the premiere two years.

Director Chelsea McMullan, along with co-writer and producer Sean O’Neill, have crafted a work that echoes the artform’s grace and rigor, physical demands and details. As one of...