First Position

tomtorfan · Post by **tomtorfan** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:46 am

I was fortunate enough to see First Position Friday afternoon. This is the documentary that has been sweeping awards at film festivals around the world since its debut last September at the Toronto International Film Festival. It follows six gifted young dancers from all over the world as they aim for the finals of the Youth America Grand Prix.

The young prodigies the filmmakers chose to follow are astonishingly engaging and their individual backgrounds couldn't be more different. You can watch this trailer to get a feel of what's in store:

http://www.balletdocumentary.com/official-trailer/

The inspring stories these precocious kids weave, the passion they feel as they pursue their demanding art, is something every fan of BETM will recognize because we’ve heard variations on these themes from many of the kids who’ve been in BETM over the years: the long hours of practice, the sacrifices they and their families have made, the pain -- emotional and physical. This is a must-see movie for any fan of BETM. On the eve of this year’s YAGP competition, where Giuseppe Bausilio and Landon Harris are both competing, you realize just how driven these young people are to want to pursue ballet and how damned good they must be to even get to the finals of this competition.

A final note: The screening I was at was packaged as part of the Kids Film Festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox theatre. More than half the audience was made up of school groups. One particularly rowdy group seated near the front had its share of young boys trying at times to show that they were above this ballet nonsense their teacher had taken them to. But as the doc weaved its magic, those mouthy boys grew silent...completely absorbed and awestruck by the discipline, athleticism and beauty they were witnessing. Like BETM, First Position does a great job of trashing some tired myths.

First Position goes into limited theatrical release in Canada and the United States beginning on May 4. Here’s a link to the roll-out schedule in U.S. cities:

http://www.balletdocumentary.com/in-movie-theaters/

Post by **ERinVA** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:52 pm

Looks like I will be waiting a loooong time for it to show up here.

dongringo · Post by **dongringo** » Sat May 26, 2012 5:17 am

Just saw First Position. I agree with everything tomtorfan said regarding this incredible documentary. And since one of the young dancers is from Cali, Colombia where I have friends, I can't wait for them to see it.

dongringo · Post by **dongringo** » Sat May 26, 2012 8:31 pm

Watching First Position sparked an interest in the YAGP so I looked up a youtube clip of last year's winners and noticed that the overall winner of the competition is one of the main subjects in the film, Aran Bell. Also noted, Giuseppe is the Bronze winner so I'm sure this clip is posted in his thread, but the clip is still relevant to the documentary so here it is. Aran's routine starts about 2:30.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... NI8Tu3aJMo#!

Also noted when reading the FAQ on the official website is that it won an audience award at the Portland International Film Festival (I love my city) among others.

Post by **ERinVA** » Sat May 26, 2012 10:42 pm

Just to note that these are 2011 YAGP winners, not this year's. I didn't realize that at first.

dongringo · Post by **dongringo** » Sun May 27, 2012 1:56 am

ERinVA wrote:Just to note that these are 2011 YAGP winners, not this year's. I didn't realize that at first.

That's why I said, "last year's winners."

The documentary crew filmed them in 2010/2011 up to the finals.

dongringo · Post by **dongringo** » Tue May 29, 2012 1:17 am

My brother and I were out and about today and he wanted to see First Position so I saw it again. A couple things I noticed:

1. The clip of the 2011 YAGP winners in which Aran Bell from the film won overall and Giuseppe won the bronze isn't the same as the film so the Finals in the documentary must have been from 2010 in which Aran Bell also won overall, but some other kid won the bronze while Giuseppe was still in BETM.

2. Noticed a very brief shot of Kiril Kulish accepting an award. He must have been one of the senior winners that year. Perhaps one of you extreme fanatics can confirm this?

Post by **ERinVA** » Tue May 29, 2012 2:02 am

Giuseppe competed before he became a Billy (which is how the company first noticed him), but he he also competed last year while he was in BETM and received the bronze. He competed again this year after having left the show and received the silver.

dongringo · Post by **dongringo** » Tue May 29, 2012 2:15 am

ERinVA wrote:Giuseppe competed before he became a Billy (which is how the company first noticed him), but he he also competed last year while he was in BETM and received the bronze. He competed again this year after having left the show and received the silver.

Thanks for the details. The YAGP Finals in the film then must be 2010 as it was another dancer who won the bronze.

Post by **CJ-Rochester** » Tue May 29, 2012 1:08 pm

Here are the lists of winners for each year:
2010: http://www.yagp.org/eng/NY_winners_2010.php
2011: http://www.yagp.org/eng/NY_winners_2011.php
2012: http://www.yagp.org/eng/NY_winners_2012.php

In 2010 Aran Bell won the Hope Award in the Pre-competitive Age division. He was 11 at the time. The Junior Age division is for 12-14 years old, and Senior Age for 15-17 years.

Regarding the footage of Kiril receiving an award, according to a post in his thread he
was the 2007 Grand Prix. Most likely they mixed in some old footage.

Billy Elliot the Forum

First Position

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