Dancing for Mr. B: Six Balanchine Ballerinas

If you're a ballet fan, this documentary is a must. Although it features six of Balanchine's great ballerinas (Maria Tallchief, Mary Ellen Moylan, Melissa Hayden, Allegra Kent, Merrill Ashley and Darcie Kistler), screen time is also given to Tanquil La Clerq and Suzanne Farrell. Like many other ballet documentaries, much more time is given to interviews than to performances, but in this case, in exchange for too-brief glimpses of his choreography, the viewer gains insight into the interaction between Balanchine and his dancers, and those interactions provide a pretty revealing insight into Balanchine's personal charisma and character. The dance scenes are wonderful but gravely undermined by fairly amateur photography and washed out color. The time span covered by the film is about 40 years and allows us to see Tallchief and other Balanchine favorites in their prime. They were a wondrous group and the moves that Balanchine taught them, often spontaneously, live on in the performances of their successors, often coached by Balanchine's own students. There are occasional glimpses of Balanchine himself at work, concentrating his attention on a single ballerina, taking advantage of attributes they alone possess and helping them to exceed themselves. This is a film, in other words, not just about performance but about creativity and about human beings who also happen to have been among the greatest artists in dance history.

This documentary is nice for a short rental and viewing. I found it very interesting as it shows the ballerinas "off stage"; as the appear in life. There ARE film clips of their performances during their years with George Balanchine- the Mr. B in the title- , but most of the documentary consists of interviews of these women at (presumably) their homes or offices. Their is some contemporary (circa 1989) footage of them in dance classes; either as ballerinas and/or teachers.

Of course, the main item of interest was Mr. B. However, a great deal of information about the lives of the ballerinas (not connected with Mr. B) is also shown. I find it interesting because it brings in a "third dimension" about the performer though too much of it could be distracting when the main focus is supposed to be on Mr. B himself. Of note are the comments about the first marriage of one of the ballerinas, Maria Tallchief. Her first husband was Mr. B himself! So, her personal memories are quite relevant to the story of Mr. B.

I find it a very good documentary; if you are familiar with these ballerinas and the story of George Balanchine. Otherwise you might (as I did when I first saw this over 11 years ago when I was not familiar with them) get lost and wonder what is all this about! If you are unfamiliar with Mr. B a better introduction is the documentary "Balanchine"; that came out in 2004- the centennial of his birth. This should be seen after you see that documentary.

Of interest is that though these ballerinas were all stars (lead ballerinas) they still looked up to George Balanchine. As Tallchief stated, he could choreograph dances for ballerinas that had them mainly "on point", even though he had never been on point himself. He was their teacher and you could see they were still in awe of him.