Creators Amy Sherman Palladino and Daniel Palladino use their Emmy Award winning talent to write and direct a fictional comedy series with attitude. They have dueling ballet companies exchange stars between Paris and New York City hoping to revitalize dance audiences in a fast talking series exposing shortcomings within each company. Famous for The Gilmore Girls and the rapid-fire dialogue in their The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the married couple deliver same, in French and in English, from the very competitive company directors and dancers.
Even if you’re not into ballet or dance, there is plenty in the storyline to keep you entertained and engaged. Watching the execs and dancers spar over how to put young as well as keep older audiences in the seats for classics like Swan Lake and edgy new productions is a trip. Choreographer, Marguerite Derricks creates beautifully conceived dance in stunning full costume or just in rehearsal attire with beautiful music in elegant settings and shot from various angles. The dance scenes break up the crazy machinations of those running each company, and are short enough to make you want to see more.
We screened the first two episodes with members of ballet companies in Chicago including Reed Henry who appears in this series, and is in his second year with The Joffrey. It was fun to hear them react to scenes and when the dancers they obviously knew appeared on screen. The series also showcases the talents of renowned ballerinas, including New York City Ballet principal dancers Unity Phelan and Tiler Peck, as well as Boston Ballet principal dancer John Lam.
Jack McMillan (Luke Kirby-Lenny Bruce in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) is the hard charging NYC Metropolitan Ballet Theater Director always fighting to keep his dance company afloat. Jack is battling with super rich Crispin Shamblee (Simon Callow), the nasty, smirky money bags willing to save the company if they swap ballet stars to spark revitalization of the classic art form that is suffering declining audiences and finances.
In New York, Jack has a huge problem with Paris ballerina diva, Cheyenne Toussaint, (Lou De Laâge- The Innocents, Breathe). Her attitude is light years more difficult and combative than anyone in either company. She is an animal rights and climate warrior who does what she wants when she wants and not at all happy about going under someone else’s direction in the Big Apple. De Laâge plays tough and totally unpredictable exploding on arrival and about everything going forward. She studied ballet and trained for the role, but the Palladinos used doubles skillfully in editing some of the dance scenes.
Jack’s counterpart at the Paris’ Le Ballet National is interim Director Genevieve (Charlotte Gainsbourg – Antichrist, Melancholia) who has her hands full with artsy-fartsy Choreographer Tobias (Gideon Glick) from the New York Company, and with a ballerina originally fired from Paris, who joined the New York Company but was sent back to once again dance in Paris. Which dancers are in what company gets a little confusing, but you can always recognize the exquisite decoration of the theater in Paris.
One big problem with the dialogue is that it goes back and forth in French and English and the English subtitles go by way too fast. Even though we both speak French, we had trouble keeping up. The funny barbs fly by so fast and furious, it’s a little frustrating trying to discern what’s going on. You might want to rewind here and there to read the subtitles.
We enjoyed seeing the hoops that Jack and Genevieve had to jump through to get good PR for the hair-brained-schemes for the swap. The press conference introducing the incredibly rebellious Cheyenne at Lincoln Center Plaza is a riot. But there is some redemption for her attitude in kindness she shows to a tiny up-and-coming ballerina, and compassion for a talented male dancer who lost his way.
It may take a few episodes to get into the brisk pace; a Palladinos trademark. But we appreciated the writing, acting, music, dancing and sparring comedy, with elegant demanding performances. Who knew watching dueling ballet dancers could be so fun!
Amazon Prime All 8 episodes streaming now Rated 16 +
