Coming to theatres and to VOD today, Friday, September 16: DANCER
Steven Cantor’s portrait of ballet’s bad boy made its theatrical debut in LA last week. It will also screen at the upcoming Zurich, BFI London, and Calgary film fests.
Showing immense potential, Ukrainian Sergei Polunin was transitioned from gymnastics to ballet at an early age. When faced with high tuition for his dance training, his father and grandmother moved abroad to earn money. Their sacrifice paid off, as Polunin earned a spot in London’s Royal Ballet School at the age of 13. Six years later, he was named its youngest ever principal dancer, with critics proclaiming him the next Nureyev. Confronted with fame and success while still a teenager, the dancer lived a life of excess, earning him a wild reputation, and, just a few years later, burn out. Gaining intimate access to Polunin, his family, friends, and dance world associates, Cantor offers a behind-the-scenes look at the trajectory of the dancer’s meteoric rise and fall, the hidden costs of success, and how the viral response to his performance in Hozier’s “Take Me To Church” helped reignite his passion for the art form.
what (not) to doc 