La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet Makes Language of Motion

Chopin: La Dame aux cameias - Paris Opera BalletNYTimes writer A.O.Scott calls “La Danse: The Paris Opera” one of the finest dance film ever made.

Frederick Wiseman focuses his lens on human and bureaucratic, procedural operations inside the Palais Garnier in Paris. Wise makes films about groups from state legislatures to people in prison.

Scott assures us that the film is not remote but rather intimate, a negotiation between art and technique. Watching this brief YouTube clip, Chopin’s “La Dame aux camélias,” the language of movement and body language transcends all words.

Watching Aurélie Dupont and Laetitia Pujol in this brief clip reminds me that indeed we can create dialogue from body language. In 15 seconds my brain was bombarded with disparate conjectures about the nature of modern relationships, the desire for unification but also independence, attraction and distance, and principles of femininity.

Unspoken emotion rules, which is why dance well done is a superlative art form, one that transcends pure observation. Anne

Chopin: La Dame aux camelias: Paris Opera Ballet