First Position

Documentary that follows the journey of several students across the world to compete at the Grand Prix and win scholarships prestigious schools and dance ballet at the highest level. Several parents seem to have more drive than the students. To them ballet is life, air and water. They live it, breathe it and if things don't go their way they just might be crushed. Some will crash others will triumph, either way there will be tears.

Remember the excellent movie "The Competition" starring Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving, about young pianists who compete for glory and careers? First Position likewise gives a backstage view of a prestigious competition, complete with background about their families and their lifestyles. Except First Position is a documentary, not fiction. What a joy to follow these talented kids as they dedicate their lives to their art and their dreams. I found all of them to be likable. Some negative comments have been made about some of the parents, but they all were willing to provide whatever their children needed to pursue their dreams. One child did, eventually, drop out of dance, but it seemed his parents supported his decision. Have you ever felt proud of someone even though you had no connection with them? Well I felt that way numerous times during this film. I am not a relative nor a teacher nor a parent. But I found myself swelling with pride for those special children who have dared to pursue a dream with such singlemindedness, yet seem to be happy and humorous. Or the child who continues to dance despite taunting from other children. This documentary is recommended for anyone who loves dance or enjoys stories about the human will to achieve.

Probably the best documentary I have ever seen. The acting, music and interviews are all superb. This movie has almost more of an entertainment feel than a typical documentary that has a more educational feel. I will almost certainly watch this again in the future. It makes me want to be a dancer too!

Producer/Director Beth Kargman has put together a wonderful documentary that follows six young ballet dancers to the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most important of all ballet competitions worldwide. The prizes at the competition include awards of recognition, scholarships, and work with major dance companies. The dancers are in several age ranges and ethnicities and include 11-year-old Aaron Bell, Joan Sebastian Zamora, a dancer from Colombia, Michaela Deprince,a black dancer, Jules and Miko Fogarty, of mixed ethnicity, pretty Israeli Gaya Bommer, and all-American girl Rebecca Houseknecht. Michaela and her sister were adopted from Sierra Leone, where there was nothing but death and poverty. Michaela has been told that blacks make unsuitable ballet dancers -- bad feet, too muscular, wrong build etc. For the competition, her teacher has her dance against type, doing a feminine, delicate dance. Zamora lives in New York, far away from his family, but his father tells him there is nothing for him in Colombia and he has to go after his dream. Rebecca is a cheerleader and normal kid whose passion is dance, and Aaron doesn't tell other kids he's a dancer. All of them have great talent, as we can see from their dance routines at the Grand Prix. Zamora has stardom written all over him. Jules has decided he really doesn't like ballet, which hurts his mother, but she accepts it. A very inspiring documentary about youngsters from different backgrounds and social status with the dream of dancing in the ballet, and the sacrifices they have made to achieve their goal. The dancing is heavenly; I only wish there had been more of it. Good luck to all these kids. I'm sure we'll be hearing about most of them as time goes on.

Tutus, tears and triumphs? First Position is a very enjoyable and inspiring documentary about the annual Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious dance competitions in the world. Thousands of hopefuls try out for prizes including contracts with leading ballet companies and scholarships to some of the top ballet schools in the world. It is a very competitive environment, as the judges are looking for the right combination of body, training, personality, passion, technique and future potential. Former ballerina and first time filmmaker Bess Kargman follows six young hopefuls through the competition, and we gain some insight into their dedication, the long hours spent training, rehearsing and perfecting their techniques, as well as their aspirations and sacrifices. There is also inevitably some disappointments along the way. First Position is a warm and upbeat examination of talented kids striving for their big break and coping with enormous pressure of competition. Eleven-year-old Aran comes from a military family based in Italy and is determined to succeed. Michaela was born in Sierra Leone during the bloody civil war, and was adopted by a white American family who support her dreams. Joan Sebastian pursues dance as a way of escaping the poverty and lack of opportunities back home in his native Columbia. Sakoto is the mother of both Jules and Miko, and is obsessed with having her children succeed. A telling moment comes when Jules admits that he doesn't particularly like ballet but is only doing it to please his mother. Kargman balances the individual journeys beautifully, and suffuses the film with an element of suspense as it leads up to the make or break Grand Final in New York. This is an emotionally engaging documentary that explores a number of touching human stories with compassion and unrestrained joy. Fans of classical dance will certainly enjoy First Position. But it has enough to appeal to the casual viewer as well.

First Position was a brilliant documentary in my opinion! It gives the audience an intimate look at the lives of seven dancers ages 9-17 who are preparing for the Youth America Grand Prix international ballet competition. They each are hoping to receive a scholarship to study at a world-renown ballet institution, or a job offer so that they can achieve their dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer. The documentary addresses the lifestyles of these children, their performances at the Grand Prix semi-finals, and eventually the finals in New York City. I felt like this gave a really interesting and accurate depiction of the lives of these young dancers. The kids they picked to interview were very diverse and likable. I found myself routing for all of them. Also important, the documentary addressed how this career path has affected the lives of the parents of the children. The parents vary from loving and supportive to completely overbearing. I enjoyed the variety of approaches to the same goal. I really would recommend this documentary. The subject is really interesting. The way it is filmed and edited is ideal (not too fast, not too slow) and the dancing is absolutely breath-taking. I felt very informed and very inspired after watching First Position.

"First Position" is an incredibly interesting documentary. I say this because I hate ballet...yet I found myself seriously drawn into the lives of these kids. It must be good if it could win me over, that's for sure. This film is about a group of kids who are trying to make it in ballet field. They range in age from 8 to 17 and are from various countries--including the US, Columbia and Israel. And, through the course of the film, you see them in various international competitions--trying to win awards, scholarships and, perhaps, jobs. While none of this on the surface sounds that interesting, the film has several things going for it. First, many of the kids are incredibly likable and are amazing to watch. The most amazing of these is the insanely talented 11 year-old boy who is just gorgeous to watch as he dances (it looked so easy and his joy as he danced was infectious). Second, a few of the stories pulled me in and got me excited--such as the girl originally from Sierra Leone and the SUPER-annoying mother who pushed her boy to dance even though he clearly was not interested. Third, the film lacks narration and just lets the folks talk--and most of the best documentaries do this. Fourth, and this one surprised me, I found myself REALLY, REALLY caring about the kids. As the final competition progressed, I was on the edge of my seat. Well worth seeing.

As the credits roll there is a sentence thanking everyone for having faith in a "first time filmmaker." And she did a fine job indeed. Over the past few years I have seen several documentaries featuring school-age kids, one preparing for a high school jazz competition, another for scholarships to cooking schools, plus a few others. What always strikes me is how dedicated these kids are, the antithesis of lost kids roaming the streets, looking to get into mischief. The subject of is film is the 2010 world-wide competition to identify future ballet stars. A few thousand kids compete at semi-final sites around the world, and about the 200 best converge on New York for the finals, where some will get scholarships and some will get hired into a ballet company. Interestingly the IMDb credits don't mention perhaps the best dancer featured, a boy of 11 named Aran. His parents are US military and when he competed they were stationed in Italy. For me the most inspiring story was of Michaela Deprince, who as a young girl in war-torn Sierra Leone witnessed her parents killed during their civil war in the 1990s. She and another girl were adopted by an American couple and grew up with a normal life, and now she is an accomplished and successful ballet dancer. The other that I found greatly interesting is Joan (pronounced 'JOE-nn') Sebastian Zamora, a 16-yr-old boy from Columbia. He seemed mature way beyond his age and is dedicated to his dancing. He was a superb dancer at 16, and was hired by England's Royal Ballet. Overall a fine documentary with just the right emphasis on the semis and the finals, and just the right parceling of time among the featured contestants. Even if a person is not a particular fan of ballet (like me) it is enjoyable for the story being told. We hear too much news of kids getting into trouble, we don't hear enough of the good kids who are dedicated and work hard for what they want.

A nicely crafted documentary about six youngsters working extremely hard for the highly competitive Young American Grand Prix (YAGP) for ballet dancers aged 9-19. These focused kids are among 300 finalists chosen from 1,500 contestants from all over the world. Winners of the grand prix will receive prizes, elite dance company contracts or scholarships at top ballet schools. The film traces their hardworking daily training routine, setbacks and their hopes. We also catch a glimpse of their family life while these aspiring young men and women talk about their dreams and passion. It is an excellent production which captures the drive and aspirations of these young people from various background – and the care of their parents, whether they are mixed couple, foster parents, in the military or ordinary Americans. What we see is not only the kid's passion, but also how their parents bend backwards and revolve their lives around their children's talents and interest. It goes so far that a company has to move and school has to give way to home schooling so that the kids can have more time to dance. So a two- hour each way commune is nothing. Equally admirable and impressive is the trust, confidence and pride of the parents, not to mention their invaluable support. Some of these parents are dancers or musicians but whatever their experience is, they have enormous trust/belief in their kids and wholeheartedly support their children. However, there is a fine line between them and the helicopter or monster parents who impose on their kids in the name of "for the sake of their own good." I have heard that some kids in Hong Kong are forced to learn the piano since they were young and incidents are: once the kids pass all the grade exams they never touch the piano again. But what we see in the movie is that all the six characters have developed a genuine love and interest for ballet from within. Despite their young age and development stage, in order to strive for excellence in ballet, they are willing to give up a big part of their personal life including separating from the family, going out with friends, eating anything they want, suffer and endure various injuries etc. Their parents are just behind them. The coaches are interesting characters too – or the director just chose the more lively coaches and to film. We can see that these coaches are also human – they can be strict and mean but they are well-liked and respected - whether they are French or Colombian or Russian or American. The editing and directing is excellent with witty and funny dialogues or facial expressions (and they are all real!) intersperse between intense and competitive scenes. It slowly set the stage for the nerve breaking YAGP and by then we are almost part of the family of the youngsters and really hope their efforts pay off. Like their parents and coaches, I also held my breath as the kids performed in their 5 minute appearance on stage for the Grand Prix. Competition is tough, but we can see the kid's determination, maturity and intense focus. The endurance and passion is so strong that it would overshadow the physical pain! Success does not come from luck. We also see support, respect and recognition of their potentials pay a very important role in shaping these youngsters' lives. We witness that when you are doing something you love, even the pain will be gone and you will go on. This resilience combined with their talent speak loud and clear why they are ahead of other dancers despite their huge prices to pay. An excellent documentary for parents, students, teachers, coaches and anyone interested in ballet/music/sports and nurturing our next generation. Highly recommended.

Produced and directed by Bess Kargman, this is a fascinating and riveting documentary. Each year, the world's largest ballet competition is held, for young dancers ages 9-19, called the Youth America Grand Prix. In 15 cities around the world five thousand young dancers compete in the semi-finals for 300 slots in the finals in New York City. They will get five minutes on stage, judged by directors and top personnel from some of the world's most prodigious ballet companies, to try and win scholarships or job contracts for their future careers. As many of these documentaries are presented, seven hopefuls, with very diverse backgrounds, are followed in their preparations, training and personal lives. I found all of the competitors to be extremely interesting and it was hard to pick a favorite. You couldn't ask more from a documentary with vivid portrayals of the young dancers and their families, as well as the suspense of the competition itself.