Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

kz917-1 A behind the scenes look at the concept, creation and choreography of a new ballet for the New York City Ballet. One the Corps members is tasked with the choreography and assisting the costume and lighting teams in creating a piece over several months. I enjoy documentaries and have seen several about the topic of ballet, if that is your wheelhouse you will enjoy it as well.

thespoonies As an ex - professional ballet dancer I found this an interesting piece to watch . I was excited to watch a "dance film" but found that It focuses greatly upon rehearsal and the choreographer yet sadly lacks any entertainment value. Dance, is about the artistic representation of life , love , passion, however this film has none. The part where the choreographer is asked to thank the orchestra is particularly cognisant of how narcissistic dancers can be . I would encourage young dancers to watch it to realise that this is again sadly actually what being a professional ballet dancer is all about. There are better things to do with your life .

grumpy_otter Based on the description, I thought I would love this documentary, since I love ballet. Yet by the end, I didn't even like it. I will clarify that the flaws in this are not those of the film's participants, who seemed like hard-working and dedicated people, but of the director. The director seems to have wandered into the creation of a ballet halfway through and turned on a camera, with no vision of the point that should be made or the tale that should be told. I give it 3 out of 10 for the few scenes of dancing, which were very good. Watching these young bodies perform difficult movements with a seemingly effortless ease was amazing, but that is kind of the point of ballet--to make the difficult appear easy. All of the dancers were very skilled in that aspect, and the focus of the film, the young dancer and choreographer Justin Peck, seemed like a charming and talented young man. So that was the good; now on to the bad. The film is described as "From first rehearsal to world premiere, Ballet 422 takes us backstage at New York City Ballet as emerging choreographer Justin Peck crafts a new work." But that's a lie--the first time we see the dancers working on the ballet they have already learned the steps, so it's not the first rehearsal. As I said before, we join the process halfway through. Peck's process or inspiration is not mentioned or described at all--I had to google to find out that the ballet was inspired by California beaches. So that explains the costumes--sort of bathing suits. Watching the costume-design portions of the film was actually pretty interesting--or it WOULD have been if we had any idea what they were going for. Instead we just see them talking about fabric and design without any idea of what mood or tone they are trying to evoke. Here is what would have made a great film. Start with Peck learning he will be choreographing a new ballet for the company. For a lower-ranking member of the company, this is a great honor and I imagine he would have been excited about it. Let Peck tell us what his vision is and what he wants to accomplish. Answer these questions: How did you choose the music? What characteristics are you looking for in your dancers? What is the process of choosing dancers? What will the name of the ballet be? Does the ballet have a story or is it more of a mood piece? If it has a story, what is the story? What are the names of the dancers you have chosen? What parts will they play? After those questions are answered, the film could show us how Peck teaches the steps to the dancers. Did he have the whole thing planned ahead, or were changes made during the rehearsal process? Then, edit out of the film all of the parts showing Peck walking around, or sitting and listening, or looking at walls. I think that would have cut the length by about 30 minutes, so fill in with more dancing. Those changes might have made this into a good film. I should add that people unfamiliar with ballet may be confused by a few things--it would have been nice if the director had bothered to explain some of the things that were happening. When I walk out of a documentary, I want to feel that I have learned something. At the end of this, I felt like I had just watched some stuff. It was mostly tedious, with a few interesting bits here and there. I hope Peck and the lovely dancers in this mess will have successful careers, and I hope the director will take some lessons in how to tell an effective story.

sandover Lipes, the director, comes through as Wiseman's disciple; this may seem obvious. Yet some choices, and especially something everyone notices, that is the absence of talking heads, something that Wiseman obliquely put in his Opera Garnier doc, make Lipes come through as more demanding through Ballet 422's elisions.Peck, a corps de ballet speck in the illustrious New York City Ballet, gets a commission for a brand new choreography put to music of his own choice (why in the beginning we are only informed that this is music "from 1935" and not its title or composer, is a sour irony when the end comes)in just two months.So, the documentary unrolls in a drama-less manner, since the corps de ballet, its top three dancers, the costume designer, the pianist - all pros included, are professional enough to pull it through just in time, with no bursts of tension.I wondered by the time Paz de la Jolla, the choreographed piece, came to its premiere in the film, why the director decided then to put on a show, though wonderfully edited, of the choreographer's first steps and trying inspirations, to the more collaborative efforts and mounting - costumes! lights! - spectacle, for just some quick, somehow unredeemed glances.And this is the sobering truth: after the premiere, the bows and the flowers, the quick, chill thrill and the relief all was well, Peck goes backstage to change into his costume for the next piece in the program, now as a low in the NYCB's ranks corps dancer. The film concludes with a long take of a panoramic view of the MET where all that took place, with an almost cruelly extended portion of the next piece's music; and here the irony is manifold: Shostakovich's Piano Concerto no 2, whose andante we hear, was at once one of his most popular pieces, and one discarded as unusually cheerful and easy, even by himself in a deprecating manner, just to preempt any anti-proletariat criticisms.How can one, after the stress of creation and premiere, slip into the shoes of a serial, by the numbers - now the title shines in a new light - dancer just right afterwards? This is a tough world, yes. But the film also passes, for its seeming genre, subtly and surprisingly an argument for the working classes that is itself sobering, even grim, yet ultimately artistic.