the career of Sergey Polunin. this is the subject of this beautiful documentary. a ballet star, "Bad boy", seductive subject for media, for his tattoos, revolt, eccentricity. in London, in Moscow, making a great motivational short film. hard work. passion and hate about a way who not seems be, always, him. dialogues. images. confessions. and the portrait , a great portrait, discovered step by step. this could be all. sure, it is a film about a boy from East and about his huge talent. it is a film about ballet and its deep sacrifices. it is a film about glory of a young man. and about the errors. or, about the second chance and the reconciliation with the past. short, it is a film who must see. because, the chances are not small, in a delicate - precise manner, it could be a film for yourself. and this does it more than an expected ordinary documentary- the story of the Ukrainian young man has, at different level, each sin and virtue who define the contemporary life. but it is more than a newspaper article or a motivational book. it is a good support for discover, again, the essence of life. this is all.

This wonderful documentary about an amazing dancer is definitely worth watching if you love ballet. He's a totally fabulous dancer who is currently considered to be the best male ballet dancer in the world. He's often compared to Nureyev with his high leaps, pirouettes, fouettes, and nearly perfect technique. He also seems to be a genuinely good guy who lost his way in his early 20's, having reached the peak of his dancing skills and being named the youngest Principal dancer of the London Royal Opera Ballet at the age of 19.The separation from his family at an early age left him wondering if it was all worth it. He decided to quit dancing and left the Royal Ballet in his early 20's only to discover that he really loved dancing, and could not see himself never dancing again. After leaving the Royal Ballet, he was dubbed by the press as "the bad boy of ballet" after admitting to drug use and getting numerous tattoos. He has fortunately returned to dancing. His video "Take Me to Church" can be seen on YouTube and has had close to 17 million hits. His current dance and life partner is the beautiful ballerina Natalia Osipova.

"Dancer" (2016 release; 85 min.) is a documentary about 'bad boy' ballet superstar Sergei Polunin. As the documentary opens, we are with Polunin in his dressing room, with "curtain in 20 min." being announced. We then watch him perform, and are in awe of his skills. The documentary then goes back in time, to "Kherson, southern Ukraine", as the movie informs us, where we see young Sergei do absolutely amazing things at a young age (watch the footage of 8 yr. old Sergei...). Before we know it, Sergei, now age 13, is training at the Royal ballet School in London.Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from veteran film maker Steven Cantor. Here his subject is a highly skilled and talented ballet dancer who shot up through the ranks of the ballet world, only to discover that it's pretty lonely at the top, not to mention that the physical and psychological toll it takes on him may be more than he can handle. The British press had a field day with this guy, branding him the "bad boy" of ballet (and that is certainly what I remembered of Polunin). But when you see it in a larger context, it's pretty clear to me that Polunin wasn't much of a bad boy, but instead a lonely young man who comes of age in a brutally competitive environment, all the while terribly missing his family. There are some extraordinary moments in this all-access documentary. Let me just mention one to wet you appetite: late in the documentary, Polunin is dancing the lead role in Spartacus, and at the break we find him in his dressing room, recovering before the second half of the evening. Just watch..."Dancer" opened last weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Tuesday evening screening where I saw this at was attended poorly (only 2 people besides myself). Given the complete lack of marketing for this release, I can't say I was very surprised. Hopefully this is the type of release that will find a wider audience once it is available on DVD/Blu-ray. If you like ballet, I would readily recommend you seek this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.

Dancer is not just a film about dance or a dancer, it's a human story, powerful, touching: it opens a window on Sergei Polunin's life, on the choices and the difficulties of a boy whose genius is a blessing and a curse in the same time. Scene after scene we feel like it was our, the dedication, the sacrifice, the pressure to achieve success and then, the disillusionment, the rebellion against a fate planned for him since childhood and against the system. Dancer doesn't give you answers to existential questions but leaves you with at least two certainties: Sergei Polunin it's a true, amazing artist and...if he is a "bad boy", you are the Queen Elizabeth!