A Manhattan socialite meets a young Cambodian dancer. His life is changed dramatically.
By COLIN COVERT,
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Last update: May 20, 2010
Anne Bass, the Manhattan socialite, arts patron and ex-wife of billionaire investor Sid Bass, adds filmmaker to her résumé with "Dancing Across Borders." The documentary follows her Pygmalion project, recruiting a charismatic young folk dancer from his Cambodian village, and transplanting him into New York's dance world. Sokvannara "Sy" Sar was 16 when he arrived, well beyond the ideal age to begin ballet training. The film charts his progress through his private, one-on-one training in the arcane, demanding rituals of classical dance.
The film, while thought-provoking, is not a probing piece of journalism. It's a wealthy matron's account of a generous gesture she made, unencumbered by second-guessing or external voices of criticism. It left me feeling profoundly ambivalent. Bass' philanthropy takes on a troubling aspect when it plucks a young man from his family and culture in the service of a Western concept of art and beauty. Then again, with Cambodia still struggling to rehabilitate its crippled economy 30 years after the Khmer Rouge dictatorship, Sy wouldn't have many opportunities to hone his talents at home.
Sy is a natural showman, with a generous supply of the onstage magic his instructor Peter Boal calls "fairy dust." He compresses 10 years of training into three, impressing international audiences at the prestigious Varna Dance Festival in Bulgaria. A star is born.
But at what cost? Dancing ballet was never Sy's dream; it was Bass' dream to see him perform. In performance Sy shares the stage with the likes of composer Philip Glass; offstage he moves in the nosebleed section of high society. His smile is always on. Yet when he makes annual visits to his home near Angkor Wat, he is wistful and homesick for his kin, who now depend on his economic assistance. He laments that he doesn't fit in anywhere anymore. When he is invited by the U.S. Embassy to perform back home in a Cambodian arts festival, his father says he'd still prefer Sy to be a doctor or engineer.
Bass, who knew as much about making a movie as Sy originally did about grands jetés, has created a serviceable film. The rehearsal footage of Sy is repetitive, but the peculiar dynamic between sponsor and protégé is fascinating.
★★ 1/2 out of four stars
Unrated; suitable for all audiences. In English and subtitled Khmer.
Theater: Lagoon.
By COLIN COVERT,
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Last update: May 20, 2010
Anne Bass, the Manhattan socialite, arts patron and ex-wife of billionaire investor Sid Bass, adds filmmaker to her résumé with "Dancing Across Borders." The documentary follows her Pygmalion project, recruiting a charismatic young folk dancer from his Cambodian village, and transplanting him into New York's dance world. Sokvannara "Sy" Sar was 16 when he arrived, well beyond the ideal age to begin ballet training. The film charts his progress through his private, one-on-one training in the arcane, demanding rituals of classical dance.
The film, while thought-provoking, is not a probing piece of journalism. It's a wealthy matron's account of a generous gesture she made, unencumbered by second-guessing or external voices of criticism. It left me feeling profoundly ambivalent. Bass' philanthropy takes on a troubling aspect when it plucks a young man from his family and culture in the service of a Western concept of art and beauty. Then again, with Cambodia still struggling to rehabilitate its crippled economy 30 years after the Khmer Rouge dictatorship, Sy wouldn't have many opportunities to hone his talents at home.
Sy is a natural showman, with a generous supply of the onstage magic his instructor Peter Boal calls "fairy dust." He compresses 10 years of training into three, impressing international audiences at the prestigious Varna Dance Festival in Bulgaria. A star is born.
But at what cost? Dancing ballet was never Sy's dream; it was Bass' dream to see him perform. In performance Sy shares the stage with the likes of composer Philip Glass; offstage he moves in the nosebleed section of high society. His smile is always on. Yet when he makes annual visits to his home near Angkor Wat, he is wistful and homesick for his kin, who now depend on his economic assistance. He laments that he doesn't fit in anywhere anymore. When he is invited by the U.S. Embassy to perform back home in a Cambodian arts festival, his father says he'd still prefer Sy to be a doctor or engineer.
Bass, who knew as much about making a movie as Sy originally did about grands jetés, has created a serviceable film. The rehearsal footage of Sy is repetitive, but the peculiar dynamic between sponsor and protégé is fascinating.
★★ 1/2 out of four stars
Unrated; suitable for all audiences. In English and subtitled Khmer.
Theater: Lagoon.
2 comments:
Sy es para el mundo un verdadero sueño hecho realidad porque, con sus movimientos que tocan la perfección, hará en adelante una nueva era del Ballet Clásico que antes pertenecia a eruditos occidentales. Con la apertura de Asia en el mercado occidental, se está dando a conocer más de sus tradiciones y virtudes como Sy en contribución con el Arte del Ballet Clásico Universal.
Dear Readers,
Below is a Google translation to the comment in Spanish above.
"Sy is to the real world a dream come true because, by their movements that touch of perfection, will forward a new era of Classical Ballet formerly belonged to Western scholars. With the opening of Asia in the Western market, it is releasing more of their traditions and virtues as Sy in contribution to the art of the Universal Ballet."
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