Simone
Orlando, a magnificent principal dancer with ballet BC is about to discover
what it's like to give up everything she does and loves because of a dance injury
during rehearsal. In denial about her pain and worsening state, she continues
to dance, and her final bow is taken in her role as Blanche in “Streetcar Named Desire”. The film travels with her as she undergoes physic, two surgeries and
unendurable mental stress as she comes to terms with the fact that her point
shoes will forever be relegated to the closet. This film presents a professor
from Oxford University who studies trauma in
performers and what they experiences as the fall from grace. What we discover
in this film is how cold and unsupportive Simone’s ballet troupe members are
during her ordeal. No one visits her at the operation, and Ballet BC
tries to hide the fact that their lead dancer has been injured. She never
receives a formal adieu from the company. She eventually ends up as CEO and Artistic
Director of Ballet Kelowna. Her hip replacement rids her of pain, but her left
leg is longer than the other. She limps but still continues to choreograph. Finally
she is able to resume a normal life of daily activities, but performance dancing
is done. Dancers unfortunately are so wrapped up in masking pain and being the
best that their self-absorption can be their very down-fall. Support is a
two-way street. She is sad and angry
that no one seems to be in sync with her emotions, but then again, she never
shared her pain with anyone. (Screened at
FIFA)
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