Ballet Boys on film

Posted on September 12, 2014

Ballet Boys, a new dance documentary from director Kenneth Elvebakk, opens in UK cinemas on September 12.

The film follows Lukas, Syvert and Torgeir, three Norwegian teenagers who love dancing. Starting when the boys are 14 years old, it shows them planning for careers in dancing, hoping to win places at the National Academy of Arts in Oslo. It’s also a portrait of teenaged friendship, going through puberty and making choices about their futures. Then one of the boys is invited to audition at The Royal Ballet School: what will he decide, and how will it affect the friendships?

The film has been screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Scandinavian Film Festival. It opens at the Curzon Mayfair and the ICA in London this weekend, and at selected cinemas nationwide.

Picture: Lukas Bjørneboe Brændsrød. Photograph: Jörg Wiesne

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.