NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Ballet is beautiful. Ballet is ethereal. Ballet is mysterious.
Can also be cool?
The creators of the new Prime Video show 鈥溍塼oile鈥� 鈥� Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, of fame 鈥� are betting yes. Or, shall we say 鈥渙ui鈥� 鈥� the show is split between New York and Paris as it tracks the story of two ballet companies joining forces to attract audiences and stay afloat.
And 鈥渁float鈥� is a good word to describe the chief appeal of the show: real lifts, not to mention turns and leaps, by real ballet dancers, many of whom are in the cast. Sharp-eyed viewers might notice several stars in supporting roles. A mix of 鈥淏unheads鈥� (also from the Palladinos), 鈥� with way more leg warmers 鈥� and perhaps classic ballet movie 鈥淭he Turning Point,鈥� 鈥溍塼oile鈥� seems to know it lives and dies by the quality of its dancing.
You can't fake it
And that's because, as actor David Alvarez says, 鈥淏allet is one of those things you can鈥檛 fake.鈥�
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just wing it and pretend you can do it,鈥� says Alvarez, who made his name as one of the original dancing Billy Elliots on Broadway, winning a best-actor Tony along with two other Billys at age 14, and later played Bernardo in Steven Spielberg鈥檚 鈥淲est Side Story鈥� remake.
鈥淎ny dancer will be able to spot from a mile away that you鈥檙e not actually a ballet dancer, just by how you walk or your posture,鈥� he says.
Alvarez plays Gael, a dancer who has a stormy relationship with Cheyenne, herself a very stormy prima ballerina 鈥� or 鈥溍﹖oile,鈥� the French word for "star鈥� 鈥� who comes to New York as part of an elaborate talent swap between the two companies.
The gimmick has made uneasy partners of Jack, who runs Metropolitan Ballet Theater in New York, and Genevi猫ve (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who runs the top company in Paris. (The two troupes are very thinly veiled versions of New York City Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet.)
Dancers learned to act, and actors to dance
Alvarez is one of those hybrids, an actor who also dances. Ta茂s Vinolo, who plays young dancer Mishi, is a real-life ballet dancer who's making her acting debut.
Normally, she says, 鈥淲e express with our body. Expressing with another form, like speaking and acting, was a bit of a challenge.鈥�
Minolo feels confident that the creators found the truth in ballet. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 have a good idea of what ballet is and how hard it is,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey see the pink tutu and the pointe shoes. But they don鈥檛 see that it鈥檚 very physical. And it鈥檚 hard. It鈥檚 a lot of discipline, and it鈥檚 also very hard mentally.鈥�
Ballet dancers are trained athletes
The physical challenge of ballet was just what Sherman-Palladino was looking to get across. The showrunner trained seriously in ballet from the age of 4, before fate guided her into a writing career.
鈥淎nd she has the back surgeries to prove it,鈥� quips husband Dan.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing world,鈥� says Sherman-Palladino. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e amazing artists. And it鈥檚 literally an art form where you鈥檙e just guaranteed not to make any money. So you have to truly just love it.
鈥淵ou know, they鈥檙e trained athletes,鈥� Sherman-Palladino adds. 鈥淭hey're unbelievably strong, and just the things that they can do with their bodies is ridiculous.鈥�
She sees dance as like 鈥渟ilent movies almost 鈥� it鈥檚 storytelling, it鈥檚 acting, it's emotion and heartache and happiness and love ... I think that so many people who think that dance is not for them just haven鈥檛 seen it.鈥�
Lost in translation?
Some of the French cast members barely spoke English, and vice versa. The show takes place in two languages 鈥� but the signature rat-a-tat Palladino banter can be hard to translate.
鈥淚t was tricky because we are very precise with our language, but our language doesn鈥檛 exactly translate to French," Sherman-Palladino says. 鈥淔inding a translator may have been the hardest thing that we had to deal with on the entire show 鈥� the right translator that caught the essence of our script. So we kept changing translators 'til we finally found one that everybody could agree on.鈥�
For Lou De La芒ge, who plays Cheyenne, it was especially challenging because she spoke little English when she was cast. But the writer鈥檚 strike meant she had nine months to prepare, rather than three, which proved a huge help.
Gainsbourg, a British-French actor and singer-songwriter, spoke English but still found it tricky to get into the Palladino rhythm. 鈥淚 was very nervous about learning the lines,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 very slow. That was already challenging. Then the rhythm was something completely new. 鈥� in the end, I got to understand the humor and the pace, (but) it took me a little while.鈥�
Learning what ballet is all about
Kirby, whose Jack runs Metropolitan Ballet Theater, says he knew little about ballet beforehand 鈥� but had a cousin who was a dancer, 鈥渁nd so I鈥檇 see her putting her body through torment.鈥�
Gainsbourg only spent a year studying ballet when she was 4. She stopped but did piano in the same building 鈥� the Salle Pleyel in Paris 鈥� and remembers the elevator stopping on the ballet floor, where she鈥檇 go into the dressing room and pick up 鈥渁 very good, talcum powder smell. And that鈥檚 my emotional remembrance of ballet.鈥�
As for De La芒ge, her mother enrolled her in intensive dance training as a child, but it was a mother鈥檚 dream and not the daughter鈥檚.
鈥淪o that became a fight between us because she wanted that for me, and I didn鈥檛 want that for me,鈥� De La芒ge says. As an actor, 鈥淚 worked with really good dancers, but that wasn鈥檛 my passion. I love watching dance.鈥�
What Gainsbourg has taken away from doing a series on ballet is 鈥渢he fact that it鈥檚 so extreme and that everybody is working there for their passion. It鈥檚 not about money ... it鈥檚 really about the art, and they鈥檙e all completely passionate.鈥�
Just don鈥檛 touch the pointe shoes!
Ask the real ballerinas in the cast 鈥� for example, NYCB stars Tiler Peck and Unity Phelan, who play small roles, as does former principal Robbie Fairchild 鈥� and they鈥檒l tell you: Ballerinas sew their own ribbons on their pointe shoes. Nobody does it for them.
So Minolo had to demur when, on the series, the crew offered to sew the ribbons on for her.
鈥淚 have a very specific way,鈥� she explains. 鈥淎nd I don鈥檛 like when people touch my pointe shoes. I like to stitch the edge of my pointe shoes to make the platform bigger."
鈥淚 do that too!鈥� replies Alvarez, and the two laugh. 鈥淕ood for balancing."
鈥淵eah exactly,鈥� Minolo giggles. "You understand.鈥�
Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press
