This is a 'heads up' regarding a new film to be released next month.

LOVE TOMORROW

Directed by Christopher Payne

Produced by Stephanie Moon and co-produced by Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt (BalletBoyz®) who are also responsible for the choreography.

Starring Cindy Jourdain (ex RB) and Arionel Vargas (ENB)

World Premiere at Raindance Film Festival – Thursday 4 October ( http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/ )


I went to a preview of this yesterday and will post a review after the premiere. I will say in advance though that this is a film that will appeal strongly to a lot of London ballet goers.

“Love Tomorrow” is a modern ‘Brief Encounter’: Oriel a young Cuban dancer takes a fancy to an attractive girl he spots on the tube and refuses to be put off by her chilly response to him. Although she rather passively agrees to go for a drink she won’t tell him her name, but on learning she is a former dancer he takes to calling her Maya after Maya Plisetskaya. Maya lowers her guard somewhat on discovering her new admirer is himself a ballet dancer and agrees to go with him first to Sadlers Wells and then to a party and very slowly unwinds sufficiently to tell him a little about her ill-starred former career where early success gave way to bad luck and injury. But it is clear there is more, some secret she won’t divulge. As the evening draws to a close Maya turns to Oriel for refuge and eventually learns he has problems of his own, a messy personal life, early encounters with ageism and a soon to expire visa.

Film representations of the lives of dancers never really strike me as accurate being either glamorized or eccentric, but this film has a ring of truth throughout and dips in and out of a London dance scene that I can recognize very well. There is also a nod to the cultural diversity of the city illustrated by Oriel’s easy relationship with the many Cuban ex-pats he encounters, some dancers, some not.

In the leading role we have Cindy Jourdain, a former Royal Ballet member who left the company to become an actress and is currently to be seen at the National Theatre, as Maya she portrays a former RB dancer once possessed of considerable dancing talent, so arguably one could say she is playing herself, except that I hope no such tragedies will ever blight Ms Joudain’s career. By the same token it could be said that Arionel Vargas is also playing himself, as Oriel is described as a Cuban former member of English National Ballet, the only difference being that he is a current member of that company. As an actor Mr Vargas is a natural in what I believe to be his screen debut and his somewhat cheeky charm makes you warm to him instantly, perhaps this incursion into acting won’t be a one off as he has a personality large enough for the big screen, that’s for sure.

The dance content in this film is varied and constant throughout, both in performance and flashback, though the dancing is subordinate to the very moving story that unfolds. London dance goers should certainly seek this film out as truthful representations of dancers’ lives are few and far between.

And here's another view from The ArtsDesk.