Stars: Gaya Bommer Yemini, Michaela Deprince, Jules Jarvis Fogarty | Directed by Bess Kargman
Some may wonder why I would be interested in watching a documentary on ballet dancing, especially when I have the rhythmic abilities of a broken rotary fan. That is a legitimate question that deserves an answer. Personally I feel a big purpose of movies is having an opportunity to expose ourselves to things we would otherwise never experience. Plus a sign of a good filmmaker is the ability to take an isolating subject and present it in an interesting way.
First Position succeeds at accomplishing just that.
The film follows a variety of dancers that are getting prepared for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world. Dancers from the ages of 9 to 19 look to use the Grand Pix to launch their careers as ballet dancers.
Director Bess Kargman covered...
Some may wonder why I would be interested in watching a documentary on ballet dancing, especially when I have the rhythmic abilities of a broken rotary fan. That is a legitimate question that deserves an answer. Personally I feel a big purpose of movies is having an opportunity to expose ourselves to things we would otherwise never experience. Plus a sign of a good filmmaker is the ability to take an isolating subject and present it in an interesting way.
First Position succeeds at accomplishing just that.
The film follows a variety of dancers that are getting prepared for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world. Dancers from the ages of 9 to 19 look to use the Grand Pix to launch their careers as ballet dancers.
Director Bess Kargman covered...
- 4/8/2013
- by Dan Clark
- Nerdly
First Position
Review by Dan Clark
Stars: Gaya Bommer Yemini, Michaela Deprince, Jules Jarvis Fogarty | Directed by Bess Kargman
Some may wonder why I would be interested in watching a documentary on ballet dancing, especially when I have the rhythmic abilities of a broken rotary fan. That is a legitimate question that deserves an answer. Personally I feel a big purpose of movies is having an opportunity to expose ourselves to things we would otherwise never experience. Plus a sign of a good filmmaker is the ability to take an isolating subject and present it in an interesting way. First Position succeeds at accomplishing just that.
First Position follows a variety of dancers that are getting prepared for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world. Dancers from the ages of 9 to 19 look to use the Grand Pix to launch their careers as ballet dancers.
Review by Dan Clark
Stars: Gaya Bommer Yemini, Michaela Deprince, Jules Jarvis Fogarty | Directed by Bess Kargman
Some may wonder why I would be interested in watching a documentary on ballet dancing, especially when I have the rhythmic abilities of a broken rotary fan. That is a legitimate question that deserves an answer. Personally I feel a big purpose of movies is having an opportunity to expose ourselves to things we would otherwise never experience. Plus a sign of a good filmmaker is the ability to take an isolating subject and present it in an interesting way. First Position succeeds at accomplishing just that.
First Position follows a variety of dancers that are getting prepared for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world. Dancers from the ages of 9 to 19 look to use the Grand Pix to launch their careers as ballet dancers.
- 12/9/2012
- by Guest
- Nerdly
Anyone who's seen Bess Kargman's "Spellbound"-esque dance documentary "First Position," knows who Gaya Bommer Yemini is. The Israeli dancer's journey to the Youth America Grand Prix dance competition along with five other young talents is the heart of "First Position," and currently the source of many a critic's vicarious agonizing and ecstasizing. In a film built on exceptional dance routines, Bommer Yemini performs one of the best: a wonderfully odd and stylized number called "Cartoon Girl," that's currently experiencing a resurrection online.
Watch "Cartoon Girl":
The piece, choreographed by Bommer Yemini's dance teacher mother Nadine, sees the 12-year-old transforming her body into a marionette's. She tips and twists like a doll, recontextualizing a prop from a lollipop to a paddle at one point and seeming to melt into place at others.
Described at the time by a New York Times' reviewer as proof of "vivid individuality and a talent for comic timing,...
Watch "Cartoon Girl":
The piece, choreographed by Bommer Yemini's dance teacher mother Nadine, sees the 12-year-old transforming her body into a marionette's. She tips and twists like a doll, recontextualizing a prop from a lollipop to a paddle at one point and seeming to melt into place at others.
Described at the time by a New York Times' reviewer as proof of "vivid individuality and a talent for comic timing,...
- 6/19/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
Chicago – The delicate sensibility in the documentary “First Position” would probably had not existed if first-time filmmaker Beth Kargman had not wanted to see the movie herself. As a former ballet dancer, she wanted to go behind the performance for portraits of young dancers as dedicated artists.
“First Position” follows six different competitors in the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix, which focuses on ballet dancers ages 9-19. There are situations that are expected – the intensity of a parent who accommodates and sacrifices, the instructor taskmaster in the studio and the hours of obsessive rehearsal. But when the individual kids are spotlighted, a new truth emerges. Life has a different path for these talents, and each journey has an artistic interpretation within it.
Rebecca Houseknect Waits Backstage in ‘First Position’
Photo credit: Sundance Selects
There is the poignant story of a war orphan from Africa turned ballerina, when an adoptive family...
“First Position” follows six different competitors in the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix, which focuses on ballet dancers ages 9-19. There are situations that are expected – the intensity of a parent who accommodates and sacrifices, the instructor taskmaster in the studio and the hours of obsessive rehearsal. But when the individual kids are spotlighted, a new truth emerges. Life has a different path for these talents, and each journey has an artistic interpretation within it.
Rebecca Houseknect Waits Backstage in ‘First Position’
Photo credit: Sundance Selects
There is the poignant story of a war orphan from Africa turned ballerina, when an adoptive family...
- 5/21/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – In general, one of the essential rites of passage for girls in childhood are ballet lessons and costumed recitals. What about those exceptional talents who stick with the art? Director Bess Kargman creates a documentary about the elite youth within the beauty and truth of the dance, “First Position.”
Rating: 3.5/5.0
The title refers to the stance that every new ballet student learns, and in Kargman’s document, symbolizes the career beginnings of the cream of the youth crop. No matter what your opinion or connection to the art form is, this film enhances the appreciation of the hard work and dedication that these children endure. There are several surprises, with both the expected stereotypes and outside-the-box participants. Everything is beautiful at the ballet.
Kargman follows six different competitors in the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix, which focuses on ballet dancers ages 9-19. There are types that are expected – the...
Rating: 3.5/5.0
The title refers to the stance that every new ballet student learns, and in Kargman’s document, symbolizes the career beginnings of the cream of the youth crop. No matter what your opinion or connection to the art form is, this film enhances the appreciation of the hard work and dedication that these children endure. There are several surprises, with both the expected stereotypes and outside-the-box participants. Everything is beautiful at the ballet.
Kargman follows six different competitors in the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix, which focuses on ballet dancers ages 9-19. There are types that are expected – the...
- 5/21/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – Last-minute Hookup! In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 30 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the award-winning Sundance Selects documentary “First Position”!
“First Position” from director Bess Kargman stars Aran Bell, Gaya Bommer Yemini, Michaela Deprince, Jules Jarvis Fogarty, Miko Fogarty, Rebecca Houseknecht and Joan Sebastian Zamora.
To win your admit-two, advance-screening movie passes to “First Position” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, get interactive with our unique Hookup technology directly below. That’s it! This advance screening is on Monday, May 14, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. in Chicago. The more social actions you complete below, the higher yours odds of winning!
Note: You can enter for our “First Position” Hookup as well as our earlier “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” Hookup, but you can’t win both as they’re taking place on the same night.
“First Position” from director Bess Kargman stars Aran Bell, Gaya Bommer Yemini, Michaela Deprince, Jules Jarvis Fogarty, Miko Fogarty, Rebecca Houseknecht and Joan Sebastian Zamora.
To win your admit-two, advance-screening movie passes to “First Position” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, get interactive with our unique Hookup technology directly below. That’s it! This advance screening is on Monday, May 14, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. in Chicago. The more social actions you complete below, the higher yours odds of winning!
Note: You can enter for our “First Position” Hookup as well as our earlier “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” Hookup, but you can’t win both as they’re taking place on the same night.
- 5/12/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
First Position Trailer. Bess Kargman‘s First Position (2011) movie trailer stars Aran Bell, Gaya Bommer Yemini, Michaela Deprince, Jules Jarvis Fogarty, Rebecca Houseknecht, and Joan Sebastian Zamora. First Position‘s plot synopsis: “Follow in the inspirational footsteps of six talented ballet dancers (ages nine to nineteen) as they struggle to maintain form in the face of injury [...]
Continue reading: First Position (2011) Movie Trailer: Bess Kargman...
Continue reading: First Position (2011) Movie Trailer: Bess Kargman...
- 4/6/2012
- by R.W.
- Film-Book
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