(2003) A dancer's entire being must be devoted to the art of ballet, though susceptible to exhaustion and prone to injury; outside interests must never interfere with rehearsals and performance. Dancers are replaceable; someone else, an understudy, is always ready in the wings.

Through a tapestry of dance (starring the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago) with a little romance, director Robert Altman weaves threads of Loretta "Ry" Ryan (actress/dancer Neve Campbell, who with screenwriter Barbara Turner conceived the story), a rising young danseuse (who also waitresses and plays pool), and her minuet with Josh (James Franco), a chef, into the main fabric of the film (as much documentary as fiction): the company's rehearsals and performances of pieces by choreographers Lar Lubovich and Robert Desrosiers (as themselves).

"You know I hate pretty," says artistic director Alberto Antonelli (Malcolm McDowell, whom we may imagine as a stand-in for Altman himself in relation to his actors) to his dancers, whom he calls "babies." On an outdoor stage with a storm threatening, Ry surpasses expectations ("You went to another dimension," Mr A showers her with praise) in an emotionally riveting performance to the music "My Funny Valentine" with her male partner (Domingo Rubio) - thunder rumbling and wind swirling bits of leaves like snow, umbrellas opening in the audience as raindrops fall, the couple in a trance of dance, oblivious to the natural world.

The magnificence of muscles in sync to music, incredible control (the pain practiced into submission): their flesh's fluid and bones buoyant, as if swimming in a liquid environment. Mr A dislikes the phony ballet of dancers in love with lyricism, yet everything is otherworldly beautiful.

Behind the scenes in staff conferences new projects are discussed with budgetary concerns ever foremost. Also there are brief interludes into the personal lives of the various members of the ensemble, references to victims of AIDS, parties and celebrations.

During the Christmas holidays Antonelli's dancers roast his chestnuts (about the spirit of the '60s being inherent in one of the works they'd danced) among themselves (all too young to have experienced the decade of protesting authority and bending society's rules), as well parodying Desrosiers's introduction of his creation, Blue Snake, the finale production, and mocking the season's other spectacular dances. Other than having intense control over their bodies, the dancers are pieces on the chessboard of the artists.

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Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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