For any aspiring ballerina, Joy Womack is a wonder to watch on the stage and exemplifies what talent, hard work, perseverance, and self-sacrifice can accomplish. As the first American to graduate from the acclaimed Bolshoi Ballet Academy and sign a contract to dance with the Bolshoi Ballet, Joy goes on to become a star ballerina with the Kremlin Ballet.
In this educational documentary by Dina Burlis and Sergey Gavrilov, viewers witness the struggles and triumphs of a determined young woman in pursuit of her dreams. Interviews with Joy, Joy’s biographer Marsha Beck, husband Nikita Ivanov-Gorcharov, friends, ballet critic Tatiana Kuznetsova, and others, provide a multifaceted picture of Joy’s rise to prima ballerina.
Living in Texas and part of a large family, Joy’s father encourages Joy to pursue her dreams. Joy is athletic and excels at dance. At the age of fifteen Joy Womack is accepted at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and leaves home in 2009 to begin her studies of classical ballet. She works hard at the academy and close-up shots show how painstakingly she cares for her feet with creams, tape, and bandages.
Once, Joy is forced to dance with a broken bone in her foot and undergoes surgery after her performance. To maintain a slim figure, she eats little. Joy learns Russian and discovers in order to have a residency permit, she must get married; Joy marries her friend and fellow dancer Nikita Ivanov-Goncharov.
When Joy graduates and is given a contract with the Bolshoi Ballet, she is disappointed to dance in the corps and not get any solo roles. Nikita’s mother states she should be patient and wait for her chance. Ballet critic Tatiana Kuznetsova comments that while Joy is “beautiful, flexible, and amazing," she is American and her early training is not stylistically Russian. In Russia, dancers must be “softer, quieter, and restrained” and she states Joy is “trained to show off her strengths." Joy would not fit in with the corps: “like a gold tooth in a smile”.
After a scandal, Joy and Nikita accept positions at the Kremlin Ballet and Joy’s professional career takes off. Working with a coach, Joy learns to be perfect in the Russian way. Joy and Nikita break up, and Joy devotes all her time and energy to ballet practice, rehearsals, exercise, and church involvement.
Joy performs at the Kremlin Ballet for three years. Wonderful shots capture Joy dancing solo roles in The Nutcracker, Giselle, and Swan Lake. An honest film, this documentary shows the dedication, sacrifice, and sometimes pain that becoming a top ballerina involves. Recommended for developing dance film collections. Students with an interest in ballet would be interested in the title to see what kind of dedication is involved with the rigorous discipline. Aud: H, C, P.