Today I thought I'd do a review of the Tutu Much documentary. Some of you may or may not have heard of this documentary, so I'll give you a brief synopsis of what it's about. The documentary centres around 9 ballet dancers and their journey through the audition process to the summer intensive at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Originally, it began as a TV series and was eventually compelled and edited into a movie length documentary film released in 2011. I found this documentary to be really interesting and a must watch for those of you who love ballet and/or dance documentaries/movies.
Here is the Youtube video for the Tutu Much documentary trailer:
Over the years, I've watched numerous different dance/ballet documentaries and movies but I found this one to give the most in-depth version of what it's actually like during a dance summer intensive. Especially since the dance teachers helped represent a realistic portrayal of what the ballet world is like to become a ballerina. These included the amount of hard work as well as sacrifices that both the dancers themselves and the parents do in order to help their child reach the possibility of becoming a ballerina.
It was also interesting to see how the structural features of each dancer played in as a factor for what some of the teachers deemed as a possibility or higher likelihood of success that make it easier to become a ballerina that we've all heard before: long neck, slight shoulders, high arches, long limbs, short torso, small head, and thin appearance. Even after taking these into account comes the ability to overcome injuries, the financial cost of tuition, hard work and diligence. But I loved how they showed the kid/dancer's POV and how many of them formed friendships and had fun during the process despite the long hours of hard work. I especially enjoyed how it felt like the viewers were being taken along the journey and were living vicariously through the dancers eyes.
I also liked how they showed the trials and tribulations of being away from home and living in dorms at such a young age. It was also interesting to see how each dancer performed in the audition stage for the role of Clara in the Nutcracker, and what the teachers looked for when picking a student for this role. In addition, they added in the pros and cons of attending the full year program that we don't often see in other documentaries. In addition, the background pieces of each dancer made the stories more compelling with one dancer (Carmen) working at her parent's store after class, one dancer all the way from Korea who couldn't speak English before the intensive (Won-Jung), and one dancer who loved to dance and horseback riding (Melissa).
It also begged the ultimate question multiple times: Is it worth it? While, for most of them it was their lifelong dream and ultimate choice if being able to choose dancing as a career. There were also other interesting factors that played in to the realistic standpoint such as finances, living away from home (sometimes as far as Korea), giving up a part of their childhood, physical and emotional toll, as well as the idea that despite doing all of this there is still a long way to go in the journey of becoming a ballerina.
However, the film gives a hopeful and refreshing overtone and definitely demonstrates the hard work and dedication that goes into following your dream. Overall, I really liked this documentary and I would definitely recommend watching it and I loved how it felt like you were living in the dorms as a dancer with the other dancers (similar to field research) through their eyes.
If you'd like to watch the film, here is the link to Amazon.ca where you can buy it online.
As a follow up, last year (2017) Kristyn Burtt interviewed two of the ballet dancers featured in the documentary in a "Where are you now?" segment piece. I really enjoyed seeing how they all found different paths after dance, feel free to check them out below and I hope that you enjoyed my review! Let me know in the comments down below :)
Here is the link to the follow up article of "Where are they Now?" feat. Alicja Buchowicz written by Kristyn Burtt: www.dancedishwithkb.com
Here is the link to the follow up article of "Where are they Now?" feat. Melissa Johnston written by Kristyn Burtt: www.dancedishwithkb.com