Name: Dancing for Mr. B: Six Balanchine Ballerinas
Genre: Documentary
Released: 1989-10-07
Duration: 1 h 26 min
Rating: 8.7
Cast: George Balanchine, Diana Adams, Merrill Ashley

This documentary is nice for a short rental and viewing. I found it very interesting as it shows the ballerinas "off stage"; as the appear in life. There ARE film clips of their performances during their years with George Balanchine- the Mr. B in the title- , but most of the documentary consists of interviews of these women at (presumably) their homes or offices. Their is some contemporary (circa 1989) footage of them in dance classes; either as ballerinas and/or teachers.

Of course, the main item of interest was Mr. B. However, a great deal of information about the lives of the ballerinas (not connected with Mr. B) is also shown. I find it interesting because it brings in a "third dimension" about the performer though too much of it could be distracting when the main focus is supposed to be on Mr. B himself. Of note are the comments about the first marriage of one of the ballerinas, Maria Tallchief. Her first husband was Mr. B himself! So, her personal memories are quite relevant to the story of Mr. B.

I find it a very good documentary; if you are familiar with these ballerinas and the story of George Balanchine. Otherwise you might (as I did when I first saw this over 11 years ago when I was not familiar with them) get lost and wonder what is all this about! If you are unfamiliar with Mr. B a better introduction is the documentary "Balanchine"; that came out in 2004- the centennial of his birth. This should be seen after you see that documentary.

Of interest is that though these ballerinas were all stars (lead ballerinas) they still looked up to George Balanchine. As Tallchief stated, he could choreograph dances for ballerinas that had them mainly "on point", even though he had never been on point himself. He was their teacher and you could see they were still in awe of him.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

Dancing for Mr. B: Six Balanchine Ballerinas

Six of George Balanchine's finest stars, Maria Tallchief, Mary Ellen Moylan, Melissa Hayden, Allegra Kent, Merrill Ashley and Darci Kistler pay a moving tribute to the legendary choreographer and tell how he shaped them as dancers and influenced their lives.

Dancing for Mr. B: Six Balanchine Ballerinas (1989)

The Biggest Movies and TV Coming in September

See which big screen releases you can watch from the comfort of your couch.

Theatrical Releases Coming to Streaming

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Dancing for Mr. B: Six Balanchine Ballerinas

Photos2

Top Cast10

User reviews2

Related interests

Storyline

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed