Dancer [DVD]

Sergi Pollunin was and still is in my eyes probably the best male ballet dancer I have seen in my lifetime. This is the story of how a very young, immensely talented boy came to ballet via gymnastics, how his family and especially his ambitious mother made both sacrifices (and umpteen home films) for him to have a career of glory even at the cost of his parents marriage, and how this troubled and lonely young man (the youngest ever principal of the Royal Ballet at 19) walked away at the height of his fame, unable and unwilling to pretend any longer. How he used drugs, smoked, and still was the swan among geese in performance. There are lots of interviews with his father (who lives in Portugal), his mother and both grandmothers, reams of home film footage of his skills and talents from a young child to his late teens and a really touching conversation which was recorded between his mother and Sergi when he walked out on the Royal Ballet as a clearly troubled and unhappy young man and he returned to her. At the time he was very ungrateful for the sacrifices made for him and more or less says so. He reminds her he didn't chose dance for a career, she did. There are also interviews with his special friends made at the Royal Ballet School in Richmond Park and who he trained with, and other footage which shows quite a troubled young man at the time who was like a rumbling volcano and who would inevitably explode. I wish him all his deserves in life and dance and I hope he will continue to thrill for years to come. Its good that he has come through this relatively unscathed (at least to outsiders anyway) and alive. Its also great that he has managed to find a way of rebuilding his life and still find pleasure in dancing and being able to be on the surface anyway, happy and enjoying what he does despite everything. This will really move you unless you are made of total stone.

Dancer is an incredibly moving story about the amazing Ukrainian ballet dancer Sergei Polunin, who had a passion for dance from a very young age. Having secured a place at the Royal Ballet School in London at the age of 11, his mother had to leave him, being forced to return to the Ukraine. The film recounts Sergei's incredible journey which led him to become the youngest Principal ballet dancer the Royal Ballet had ever appointed - at the age of 19 - but also his troubled life due to a lack of freedom and missing his family terribly. The film contains the beautiful dance on the "Take me to church" Hozier track, which gave Sergei global fame. Hopefully, the dancer is only at the beginning of a new life (having left the Royal Ballet) including dancing all over the world as guest artist and acting in films, which is a new avenue he is very happy to start to pursue. I am sure that all his fans wish him the very best of luck!

This covers Polunin's life story up to the viral YouTube dance hit to 'Take me to Church' by Hozier, which brought him to the attention many outside of the ballet world. Thankfully, there is plenty of dance footage, with film and photographs from his childhood onwards. The impact on his life, and on the lives of his family, necessitated by the dedication and single mindedness that has allowed him to reach his potential, is described very well thoughout. It is really a story of great pain, heroism, love and ultimate achievement from an ordinary Ukrainian family with a wish to do the best for their extraordinary child. Fascinating, beautiful, tragic, wonderful!

Gives you great background on Sergei Polunin's life - how his life was shaped by training hard and his parents splitting up, the lack of emotional support for young dancers etc. I saw the same DVD in stock at the Royal Opera House and it was priced at £10 more than here on Amazon. Bargain!

Bought as a present for someone. I saw 2/3rds of documentary late one night and was spellbound at this amazing dancer. It is factual but for me it was magical. I first saw him dancing to the track by Hozier ... Take me to Church. I was blown away but if it wasn't for my night owl tv watching I might not of known about this dvd. I did the Amazon search and good old Amazon had it .. So pleased and think I'll buy another just for me.

This has to be the best ballet documentary I have ever seen, and that's in 55 years of being a very picky balletomane! There are even momentary incidents that reminded me of 'Billy Elliot' (the film), rather poignant and adding to the overall story of this young man's career. I'd give my eye teeth to see him dance live,

Arrived well packaged and in good time. It plays on my old laptop. And I could (and do!) watch him dance all day. It is interesting to see life on the other side of the stage and how it affects the people within the companys.

Brilliant film with insight into a gifted but troubled young man. Truly an iconic dancer whose gift is shared through this film.