Toronto

Thoroughly enjoyed this slice of life movie about the dedication and craft that it takes from an early age to excel in the world of ballet. Some lovely stories of the role of families and the sacrifices they must make for their children to have these opportunities.

I saw this at TIFF last year -- phenomenal!!! Anyone - not just dancers - will appreciate the commitment to craft that one can possess, and the determination to follow through and reach full potential. Excellent!!

Touching, inspiring and at times maddening... This despite not being a big fan of ballet. It's. It so much the art form that captivated me but rather the dedication and humanity of it all, the triumphs, hurdles and deceptions. Living your dream.

I enjoyed it a lot, but it could have been better.

[ATTENTION: This review reveals content of the movie.]
If one wants to understand Youth America Grand Prix, this documentary offers no more than the four word name itself. One can hardly notice which year the competition was, which is odd for a documentary. It followed several American and one Israeli dancer, none of them is a gold medalist. The entire one and half hour did not show any dance from the gold medalists if I remember correctly. As a matter of fact, the movie did not show any complete dance. The uniqueness of the competition is that it brings dance from all over the world together. The documentary repeated over and over “all over the world” in the narrative but did not give a damn about the international dance or any dance. Within a blink of eyes, it was over. If one is a professional dancer and expecting dance, music, choreography, he might be disappointed. Dance is music and movement. Not much of those are shown here. Instead, it documents ballet competition as a cheesy reality show. It feels cheesy because it focuses on cheap emotional aspects, negative elements such as broken foot, strained Achilles tendon, family sacrifice, expensive costumes and shoes, falling on the competition stage, … … The joy of dance, on the other hand, is not shown much, not even much joy of winning from gold medalists. When occasionally showing a dance, it would interrupt the dance with facial expression of a judge, relative, or a coach. That particularly feels cheap and gimmicky because God knows how these were edited. With all dissatisfaction, however, the documentary still manages to be attractive, mostly because of the lovely dancers. They are lovely not just because they are only early teens but their clarity about their goal and future; their professionalism when training, handling their injuries, facing family issues; their attitude after faltered on stage; their willingness to live under stringent disciplines; the calmness on their faces when the winners were announced; their well deserved medals, awards, offers from ballet companies and scholarships; and finally, their extraordinary bodies and faces that are an odd combination of beauty, youth, maturity. They are the master of their own destiny from almost the very beginning of their life, which is remarkable and extraordinary. For that very reason, even if it is a reality TV sort of work, it is one of the best, maybe next to Olympics.

People who have some dance experience will appreciate this movie more than people who don't, but I must admit that the movie itself does not show you a lot more than the trailer did. The story is basic with no surprise at all, it's always the same, but it's still enjoyable, I repeat, particularly for people who know something about dancing.

J'ai vraiment beaucoup aimé ce film. Ça donne le goût de faire des efforts.

First Position is a well made, well edited film, done in what I consider to be a classic traditional and very strong documentary style. The research has been thoroughly done. We get to see the hardships and also the delights and rewards of the rigorous training and absolute ambition of six young persons as their individual gripping storys unfold. Their goal is to do their best at the Youth America Grand Prix, where they hope for contracts and scholarships that can bring them closer into the world of professional ballet. We are drawn into each dancers unique and extraordinary world, following them in intense ( an understatement ) practise sessions, listening to their hopeful dreams and being introduced to their extremely dedicated coaches and parents. Each of the six dancers has a true burning passion for dance and ballet and the filmmaker focuses on this effectively, with a strong technique, wonderful editing and some splendid cinematography - closeups and some dazzling dance filming. I would have liked to have seen some more creativity with the filming of the ballet dancing - such as was seen at the very beginning, in the introduction, where there were some beautiful shots, colourful and flowing. However, the film is exquisitely executed. Bravo!

Wonderful movie but this new promotional trick of forcing a second trailer at the end of the one you have chosen deserves a ZERO for exploitation and bad taste.

Great insider look. Those athletes are amazing. Fascinating to watch.

Well directed and touching stories... I enjoyed very much!!

Even if ballet is not your thing, this documentary is fun and touching because the protagonists are so engaging. Excellent film.

Simply captivating with its beauty and the courage of the young ballet dancers.

Wow! Great movie. Great dancers!

An excellent documentary, very impressive, a heartwarming inspiring emotional story that shows us the hard work involved in trying to be a professional ballet dancer, especially ballet dancers should see this film. Worthwhile experience.

What an amazing and extraordinary documentary; great work of art. Very inspirational. Loved the way it tells you the story of different kids who work so hard and are so talented to make thier dreams come true. It's funny, emotional and has a great message. Don't miss it, watch it!

It was the best ballet movie I've ever seen. It's an inspiration.

I'm not really a ballet fan but this documentary was gripping. It gives an amazing portrait of the incredibly competitive world of ballet, some fascinating personal stories of the dancers and (hey, what the heck) truly stupendous dnacing. Have recommended this to many people since I saw it at TIFF. Grand to see that it is being put into general release.

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