A Ballerina’s Tale Film Review

Becoming the first African American principle dancer for an international ballet company means that person has made it in the world. Misty Copeland has officially
made it.

Copeland is the main subject in the new documentary, A Ballerina’s Tale, released on Oct. 14 and directed by Nelson George.

Filming started in 2012 when Copeland was awarded the coveted lead role of the Firebird for America Ballet Theatre. This was the start of the rise to fame for Copeland as a woman of color, and as someone with a fuller body type; fuller body types rarely dance this role.

It was after this record-breaking performance that Copeland suffered from a potential career-ending injury. Due to the stress on her shins from rehearsing the role repeatedly, during one performance she was dangerously close to snapping her shin in half.

The film focuses a majority of the 90 minutes on her injury and recovery. It includes interviews with Copeland’s friends and family, as well as the artistic director and the chairwomen of the board of directors for American Ballet Theatre.

The footage is not heavily edited. It moves through Copeland’s life from being in the studio in the morning, going to doctors appointments in the afternoon, and capturing interviews as she sits cross-legged in park. This film style reflects this hard point in her professional career.

The film showed at several film festivals including Sundance and Tribeca. It is showing in select theatres and is available for streaming on Amazon and iTunes.

Copeland comes from an underprivileged childhood in San Pedro, California. Her mother worked long hours, along with her older sister who worked two jobs. At this time in her life, Copeland had no intentions of becoming a professional dancer. It wasn’t until she started taking ballet classes at her local YMCA that she found her calling in life.

Fast forward to 2015, and Copeland is a household name, not only in the world of dance, but also in the world of pop culture.

Over the span of filming, the cameras followed Copeland through her powerful performances, her road to recovery, and ending with her biggest achievement – promotion to principle dancer.

It moves slowly and keeps the audience waiting for some sort of plot twist or climax moment. Those moments never come. By the end of the film, the audience knows that Copland got over her injury, and they mention that she was promoted to principle. The film does not come close to giving this monumental moment justice.

There are glimpses of the film that could be desired by dancers who are watching. It is refreshing to see the struggles and day-to-day life of an
injured professional ballerina. The film gives a sort of realness to a world that seems to be perfect.

The expectation of the film was that it would celebrate all of Copeland’s accomplishments to date. After spending $7.99 to see the film, it was a disappointment.

COURTESY PHOTO/BLACKFILM.COM