getting closer!

Life rushes forward and Nureyev is almost ready to begin shooting! I caught up with rehearsals again late last week and saw right away how much had been accomplished in a short time. When I walked in the studio, the room was filled with dancers in rehearsal gear, milling and sitting on the floor. Costume and set assistant designer Sarah Armstrong came and went among them with arms full of costume pieces, working with the performers where she could.

It was a pleasure to watch young Tyler Robinson, who plays Rudik, the young Nureyev, for the first time. A National Ballet School student, Tyler has an emotively expressive face and a lovely form already evolving. In the sequence I observed, he and his mother Farida, played by Sarah Robichaud, playfully engaged a beautiful shawl before sitting down to watch the grown-up dancers of the Kirov Ballet (shown at top). Meanwhile, behind scenes, Tyler's real-life mother, Susan Garvie (pictured here with Tyler) looked on with pride.

The section which Tyler and the others were rehearsing was an example of the kind of poetic narrative sequences Moze is experimenting with in this film. In the past, the dances have often marked an emotional 'aria' within the dramatic action of his movies. Here, however, the drama of the narrative and the emotion of the dance are weaving themselves together in single dances. Thus, while the young Tyler/Rudik watches the older dancers work, he can also be transformed magically during the number (via pirouettes) into the older Nureyev/Nico. (In this photo, however, two corps members are pictured, as well as choreographer Matjash Mrozewski).

I was sad to miss the full run-through this past Sunday of all the dances as they currently stand but Moze tells me it went very well. Family and friends had been encouraged to attend and see the work-in-progress. Hope to have shots and/or video of that as the week continues. Next post will be from the set! Stay tuned.