Soaring of the spirit

Press, 26 April 1983, Page 18

Soaring of the spirit

Cinema’

hans petrovic

SHE DANCES ALONE Directed by Robert Dornhelm Screenplay by Paul Davids “She Dances Alone” (Academy) is a wonderful film — not to be missed by anyone who loves ballet, music or the cinema. Basically, it turns out to be a documentary-type look at Kyra, the ageing daughter of the legendary Russian ballet dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky. The Austrian director of "She Dances Alone,” Robert Dornhelm, however, seems to have started off this project with a fascination for the original Nijinsky — intending to make a film by him. By good chance, he heard of the daughter, Kyra, still living in San Francisco almost as a recluse, and sought her out with the hope of using her services as an adviser for his film about her famous father. At first, she resisted, but as Dornhelm persisted, he also became fascinated with Kyra’s sometimes childlike, sometimes powerful personality, held together by the integrity of her sense of artistry. Thus, what started off as a film about the father turned out instead to be a film about making a film about the daughter. If you don’t understand this, I think you had better see the movie, when everything will simply fall into place. As a psycho-drama, “She Dances Alone” also gives us some interesting insights into both the father’s and daughter’s minds. The archetype of Russian ballet dancers, Vaslav Nijinsky attained the heights of

stardom in his career but also sank to the depths of despair, spending his last 30 years in a number of mental asylums. He passed his examinations for the Imperial Ballet School in Petersburg at the age of 11 and was its star by the age of 19. Soon after that he gained fame outside Russia.

This was mainly due to the Russian impressario, Serge Diaghilev, who also became his 18-year-older friend and artistic mentor. Little more need be said about Nijinsky’s successes, as these should be known to any ballet buff. Nijinsky suffered considerably from the strong human and artistic bondage to Diaghilev, as his diary (written in the first years of his illness) shows: “I was 19 years old when I met Diaghilev. I admired him sincerely and when he told me that love for women is a terrible thing, I believed him. If I had not believed him, I could not have done the things I had done. This man, who held my life in his hands, frightened me. I did not love Diaghilev, and yet I lived with him.”

The film seems to imply that Nijinsky was not homosexual by natural inclination but was forced into the situation. In 1913 the break came with Diaghilev and he married a colleague, the Hungarian dancer, Romola, and attempted to continue his success as choreographer and dancer. After several failures the first symptoms of mental illness became noticeable.

Nijinsky’s daughter, Kyra, could never accept her father’s madness, and prefers to quote him: “I feel such a pain in my soul — a

pain which frightens me. My soul is ill. My soul, not my mind.” She also says: “He died on a mystical trip, and then had his marriage with God. I mean, he went off on a trip.” One thing is certain: She may be a wonderful eccentric and possessed by an exuberant spirit, but Kyra is not mad. With her sometimes coarse, sometimes cajoling personality, it is she who gives this film its life. She dances alone in this film as a short but heavy woman. Nevertheless, with graceful gesture of her hands and nimble footwork, she gives the uncanny impression of watching a child dancing in Mrs Khrushchev’s body. Photos of her as a young woman show a different face and body. Indeed, she did become a famous dancer who made an international career, and whose success did not simply rest on her famous name. Her one marriage lasted only a few years; she then made a name for herself as a choreographer, especially in Florence, where she is believed to have settled for several years before moving to the United States in 1956. Always deeply religious, she entered the Franciscan order as a lay sister in 1960.

It was in San Francisco that she was discovered again about three years ago for the making of this film. Also notable are the fine performances by the modern dance star of the Paris Ballet Company, Patrick Dupond, who appears as an evocation of Nijinsky. “She Dances Alone” is never a sad or depressing film; instead it is designed to provide a soaring of the spirit In last Week’s review of the Oscar Awards, I wondered about Louis Gosset receiving his best supporting actor award before the show had really warmed up: speculating whether it may somehow be due to the fact that he was the first black actor to win such an award in more than 20 years. I have been corrected by the marketing director of Amalgamated Theatres, Mr Michael Moodabe, who had this to say: “I was interested to see your article on the Academy Awards in “The Press” on April 18 but I would hasten to correct the impression that you have and that may have been given to your readers that the positioning of Louis Gosset jun’s award for best supporting actor was in any way a reflection of his being a black actor, as you suggested, or a slight on his fine performance. “It is actually not correct, as you stated, that this award was given before the start of the show. The number by Minnelli, Matthau, Pryor and Moore signalled the official start of the show and the telecast.

“It is a matter of tradition that the first major award is that of best supporting actor. Why, I simply do not know but it has been

like this every year, regardless of who wins it (and certainly not because Gossett was a black actor). Tradition then dictates that this is followed by the succession of technical achievement awards interspersed with nominated songs.

“The climax of the evening has always been the best director, best supporting actress, best actor and actress, and finally, best picture. “The only reason I can suggest for the separation of the best supporting actor from actress so early in the evening is perhaps to give a major award at the start of the ceremonies to grab the public’s attention immediately.

“There is certainly no sinister motive to it as might have been gathered from your recent article, which I appreciate, however, was written in good faith.” Thank you, Michael, for setting the record straight.