swan lake

Mounting something beautiful can be an act of all out war...

On this very special episode we dive into the art of creation in one of the more hallowed halls of performance art in our fair country.  It's time to mount an iconic ballet coming off of the pandemic, it's time for a 'Swan Song'

SWAN SONG immerses viewers inside one of the world’s leading ballet companies as it mounts a legacy-defining new production of Swan Lake, directed by ballet icon Karen Kain on the eve of her retirement.  The verité-driven feature documentary closely follows Kain and a group of young dancers drawn from the National Ballet of Canada’s ranks, weaving Swan Lake’s dramatic creation process with intimate scenes from the subjects’ personal lives as they push toward one of the most significant opening nights in their company’s history. 

It doesn't only take a village to mount a ballet production, it's actually akin to a war of attrition as director Chelsea McMullan takes us into the thick of the battle, not only following Kain as she prepares for retirement but also in the middle of the company so that we get a sense of how much effort it takes from all involved to make something like this work.

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Chelsea and co-writer/producer Sean O'Neill to talk about the challenges of the shoot, the hurdles they had to clear, the magic of dance on screen and how easily this could have turned into something very, VERY different.

'Swan Song' is playing at the TIFF Bell Lightbox now and rolling out to various other theatres in the days and weeks to come.

Zoey is a lifelong Ballet Dancer, teacher and small Business owner. We get a glimpse into the world of dance and find out what it takes to reach the top and also what it’s like when life throws you the ultimate curve ball.

I visited my parents in Sumter, SC in January. Apparently, this small town is home to the only public park in the United States to feature all swan species. While I was there I managed to capture quite a few of them including:

- Black Swan

- Trumpeter Swan

- Black-necked Swan

- Mute Swan

- Bewick's Swan

- Whooper Swan

There were also a fair number of Canadian Geese, Wood Ducks and Mallards.

https://www.sumtersc.gov/community/swanlake

David McAllister is probably the most well-known face of dance in Australia. He was born in Perth and he was accepted into the Australian Ballet School as a 17-year-old. He graduated and joined the company directly, wowing crowds across the globe. His final performance was in “Giselle” in 2001. And then, three months later, he was named Artistic Director of that same company.

During his tenure, he led the company from strength to strength, staging brand new works, touring the company around the world and inspiring a new level of technical brilliance. But he also created a company with meaning—setting up groundbreaking maternity leave policies and health and wellness policies, so that dancers could have careers much longer than they could have ever have dreamed.

In 2020, after 20 years as artistic director and four decades with the company, he announced his retirement. It was going to be a year of celebrations, but then Covid—the company closed down last March and they only made it on stage for three performances. David is currently in Helsinki, Finland, where he called me, but he's on his next adventure, staging the Finnish National Ballet's 100th anniversary performance of “Swan Lake.” David speaks candidly about his retirement, what Covid meant for him and the Australian Ballet, and his big regret while he was at the Australian Ballet.

This episode of Talking Pointes is sponsored by @ecodancers

For the latest in all things dance, head to fjordreview.com and follow us on Instagram at @fjordreview

Production dream team ✨

Hosted by @byclaudialawson

Produced by @fjordreview

Additional Production @clinttopic

Sound & Editing @outputmedia

Studios @brightsidesydney

@sawtoothstudios