“Joy Womack – The White Swan” – She flies [MOVIE REVIEW]
Russian co-directors Dina Burlis and Sergey Gavrilov love ballet and in Joy Womack they found a unique subject at the very start of her career. Joy, a California girl, had been obsessed with ballet from a very early age. Her dream? To study and dance at the Bolshoi in Moscow. In her mind, the Bolshoi was the pinnacle of her art form and to conquer that, she felt she could conquer everything. She wasn’t far off. Filmed exquisitely, Burlis and Gavrilov track Joy from the end of her studies at the Bolshoi Academy for the next seven years. Historically, until the advent of World War II, Russian ballet and choreography dominated the world scene. After the war, it had to share that stage with many other countries, especially with the rise of the Americans led by Russian star choreographer George Balanchine. But this isn’t about anyone but the Russians and Joy’s obsession with surviving and triumphing in that system. Intermingled with occasional historic archives relating to the Russian system, including a very interesting clip of a ballet academy leader dissecting the bodies of young girls who want to dance. Taking apart the defects of each prospective student – clavicles too…
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