Movies so often show ballet dancers as slightly or wholly insane that “First Position” feels visionary. The six youngsters here, ages 11 to 17, see ballet as the most valuable thing in their lives, a blessing and not some maddening obsession.
This documentary explores the Youth America Grand Prix, in which dancers compete for scholarships and jobs in a tiny market that’s only getting smaller. The film borrows the structure of countless TV segments about Olympic athletes: Here’s this kid’s background, and here’s why winning means the world to him, here are stumbles and injuries.
All the dancers are sympathetic, even if your heart goes out more easily to Michaela, the orphan adopted from Sierra Leone after her parents were murdered, than to Rebecca, shown wearing Chanel earrings and shopping at Tiffany. And the coaches and parents are far from stereotypical ogres. The mother of one dancer, Miko, arranges the whole family around her daughter’s training, but the true ambition comes from Miko.
Bess Kargman’s direction breaks no new ground, and the pedestrian score doesn’t benefit from comparison with the classical pieces from the competition. Yet the movie still seems fresh in the way it respects both the art in ballet and the discipline it demands — even in childhood.