How to live the confinement gracefully...
A ‘Message of support from the Paris national Opera Ballet company’:
This short video shows dancers from the Paris Opera ballet company do their ballet routine in their homes during confinement. The music is taken from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.
The video was directed by Cédric Klapish – you may recognise his name as he was the director of L’Auberge Espagnole, the film we watched for our first movie night this year! He also directed Chacun cherche son chat, which some final-year students in French have watched.
Why I recommend this:
It’s good to see ballet dancers evolve in a relatable environment – in their pyjamas or in their living room – as it goes against the stereotypical representation of ballet as an outdated, or snobbish form of art. Dancers are like us: they are stuck at home, work from home, sometimes have kids around them: my favourite moment of the video is the little girl determined to squeeze between her mum’s legs at 1’20!
Watching this video also helps cope with the confinement, by elevating how we see ourselves in our everyday environment. For four minutes, standing alone on a balcony or in a kitchen not being depressed and becoming somewhat beautiful.
I find the strength and precision of these dancers impressive: how fast they can beat these jumps, how high they can throw their legs… I’d tear a ligament if I was to try this at home, but these dancers show us that beauty can be found in this crisis. And sure, watching this video from my sofa is good enough as exercise, right?
