Coming to VOD today, Tuesday, October 6: BALLET BOYS
Kenneth Elvebakk’s portrait of dancers’ dreams made its debut at Thessaloniki Doc last year. Its fest circuit also included Krakow, Edinburgh, Bergen, Reykjavik, Cucalorus, Palm Springs, IDFA, and Goteborg.
Elvebakk follows three teenagers – the only male dancers in their class – as they contemplate their commitment to ballet over four years. Torgeir is finding himself distracted by girls, Syvert struggles with balancing dance and academics, while Lukas is the most serious-minded about pursuing the artform as his career. While Elvebakk captures the grace and beauty of their performances, there’s a distinct lack of energy to the rest of the film. The boys’ friendship is appealing, but never quite developed beyond the surface to offer any deeper insight. Despite its pointedly gendered title, neither does the film address in any real depth issues related to being male in a discipline that overwhelmingly celebrates female dancers, nor how the trio navigates any potential flack they might conceivably receive from their non-dancer social circles.
what (not) to doc 
This award winning film is a beautiful film. It’s a coming of age film and it reflects very well what it’s like to be a boy and dance ballet. Ballet Boys is a film you definitely should see. This is one of the best dance films I’ve seen.