Ballet

Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman captured creativity in motion in this profile of the American Ballet Theatre as it prepared for its 1992 European tour. During daily rehearsals at the company’s Lower Manhattan studio, the choreographers, ballet masters and mistresses are shown at work with principal dancers, soloists, and the corps de ballet in the arduous construction of a dance. A ballet master interviews a future dancer. Natalia Makarova offers advice on projecting allure and glamour, while others in the American Ballet Theatre deal with the more mundane administrative and fundraising aspects. The tour begins, and the company performs in Rome, Copenhagen, and at the Acropolis in Athens. In off-hours the dancers go to the beach and ride a Tivoli roller coaster in Copenhagen, but then it’s back to work. The curtain rises, and Romeo and Juliet begins. —allmovieguide