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Breaking Pointe (2012)
Passion. Sacrifice. Obsession. This is the competitive world of Ballet
See the original Keep or Delete Review at http://onmydvr.com/2012/06/keep-or-delete-breaking-pointe/ Breaking Pointe, Episode 101, "Survival of the Fittest" Passion. Sacrifice. Obsession. A description of TV watching? Sure, but for purposes of this Keep or Delete, we are talking about the art of ballet.
I am a casual fan of dance. I have never particularly researched or delved into the nitty gritty of what it takes to be a world class dancer at an elite ballet but I know enough to know its physically grueling and emotionally and physically punishing. I know that the lifespan of a dancer is criminally short and that assumes a career free of major injury. Knowing these broad strokes, I have always been able to enjoy the art of dance as a magical experience; that people can do such contortionist movements with their bodies seems unnatural to me while being undeniably beautiful at the same time. With the premiere of The CW's Summer show, Breaking Pointe, the curtain has been pulled back on the magic trick and for six weeks, cameras were able to capture the proverbial sausage being made. Taped in Salt Lake City, Utah at the home of Ballet West (also, sometimes referred to as the Salt Lake City Ballet Company), Breaking Pointe is shot in a clean, documentary format style, reminiscent of something you would expect to find on a cutting edge PBS piece or an A&E special from the mid-90s.
In this day and age of reality television redux, one is wise to be skeptical of anything shot and edited and shopped as an honest portrayal of its subject matter, but, Breaking Pointe succeeds in setting aside those fears of being duped. There are some obvious stories being told(relationships, catty drama, career obstacles) through editing and "storylines" that will play out over the course of the series' mini run (it's a six part series) but the now clichéd "editing a personality" that so many reality show stars complain of seems to be well reigned in by the show's producers and I think we are getting as honest a look "behind the scenes" of a ballet company preparing for a new production, as you can ever possibly expect. And this makes Breaking Pointe unique among a sea of competition. I think the fact the show is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions helps explain, in part, this ability to avoid American reality show stereotypes. That the BBC allegedly auditioned approximately 15-20 different ballet companies before choosing Ballet West helps confirm there is something interesting about this particular group of people.
Why is the show worth watching? Well, on top of the subject matter being previously unexplored (at least I can't think of another non-fictional look at a ballet company's inner workings though, seriously, I was hoping Peter Gallagher's eyebrows would turn out to be the artistic director of Ballet West. Center Stage? Anyone? No? OK. Moving on. To be serious, the movie, Black Swan, is being credited in news reports covering the show for serving as the inspiration to want to set the record straight on the underpinnings of the ballet world), there aren't many serious reality shows (of any topic) that leave you feeling engaged and smarter for what you've just seen rather than dirty and dumber (MTV's Real World had this former quality back in its first and second seasons, The Catalina on The CW? The latter).
Of course, in this day and age of diminished expectations from TV, broadcast TV in particular and reality shows on broadcast TV to be even more specific, Breaking Pointe may ultimately suffer from being too smart for its own good. On the subject of the show's viability, the premiere pulled a 0.3 rating in the 18-49 demo and just over 900K viewers which is not promising but it's a CW show which always skews lower in ratings and so I think expectations are just different. By comparison, The Catalina, The CW's other Summer reality, "behind the scenes," show premiered the same week as Breaking Pointe and pulled almost identical final ratings numbers (though it had slightly more total viewers which says more about The CW viewership than the quality of the shows in question). After watching the pilot episode and seeing these ratings numbers, I can't help but think that the show would have performed better had it been on another network or on cable but there is nothing to be done about that now. Back to the show, what exactly is happening here? Breaking Pointe was filmed during the 2011-2012 season of Ballet West (which season has just finished in real time), a premiere ballet company based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, and follows the professional and personal lives of several members of the dance company as they negotiate the highs and lows of being a world class ballet dancer at an elite dance company. The pilot episode was heavy on introductions though I expect that subsequent episodes will delve more into the dance aspect of these people's lives with their social interactions being secondary to that principal goal of producing world class ballet. To set the stage, the pilot episode takes place the week that contracts are being given out (or not). As we learn, the ballet world is driven by one year contracts and that if you stall out in moving up through the ranks, you're more likely than not, going to be shown the door. With that background, let's meet this cast of talented characters: See the rest of the review at http://onmydvr.com/2012/06/keep-or-delete-breaking-pointe/ Keep or Delete? A resounding Keep!
Once Upon a Time: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (2011)
Be Still My Beating Heart ... Literally
This is a partial recap and review of a full blog entry which was originally posted on www.onmydvr.com. Find more recaps for Once Upon a Time and other shows at www.onmydvr.com. You can also find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/onmydvr.
**CONTAINS SPOILERS*
So, we're at the "fall finale" for Once Upon a Time and it was a doozy of an episode. I'll say right now that I feel slightly manipulated by the show for making me care about Scruffy Graham when he could have easily remained a secondary character but twas not to be and I think its interesting to think that his character's importance will only grow after (and because of?) his demise. Suffice it to say, I am really looking forward to this show's return from hiatus and continuing Emma's journey and dealing with the fallout from this episode.
Scruffy Graham is playing Deer Darts in Ruby's and drinking. For what its worth, Scruffy Graham is EXCELLENT at Deer Darts and well, he should have been some kind of huntsman *cough*. Emma comes through (she's not living in Granny's Inn, where is she coming from? Does Mary Margaret not have laundry facilities at her place?!?!) and when she sees Scruffy Graham, she begs off Ruby's offer to sit and starts to leave. Graham turns his drunken aim on Emma and, just as she reaches the front door, throws a Deer Dart in her general direction plunging deep into the door jam right next to her head. Little advice Graham? Not the way to say, "I'm Sorry" or "I love you." She's obviously freaked out by the near Deer Dart disaster but he slurs that he never misses (and hence, she was in now danger). Still in the diner, they quite loudly begin an argument about her being mad at him for shtupping the Mayor; its only at this point that they move the fight outside and wow, I hope the Sheriff/Mayor affair wasn't a secret in the town. Scruffy Graham continues to slur that he doesn't feel anything for Regina and asks if Emma can understand that? Emma thinks he means just being in a bad relationship and so sure, she gets that. He slurs that he didn't tell Emma because he didn't want her to look at him the way she is now ... so how'd that work out for you? Also, with Emma's Regina issues (as if Emma is the only one with Regina issues), he admits he should have maybe could have told her before Emma took the Deputy Sheriff job. Oops. Why all the secrecy anyway Scruffy Graham, we're all adults (mostly)? He doesn't answer her so much as kisses her ...
And the crazies begin. We see his eyes fly wide open and suddenly there are flashes of a white wolf in the wild with one red eye and one black and its kinda creepy. I told you all that JenMo was looking good on this show, his reaction to kissing her proves it. When the break the kiss, she's all "way over the line" and he just wants to know if she saw "that." She didn't and storms away. Perhaps to see if he has the same chemistry with Regina, he booty calls the Mayor and as he's working his way down from her lips to her neck, she stares off into the distance (with some light moaning I'll add) and we flash to the Evil Queen's castle which looks kind of like a 1950's era rendering of a futuristic spaceship. The Evil Queen stands on a balcony overlooking an empty throne. And she has a sad. We cut to Snow White placing a rose and saying goodbye to her father. The Evil Queen comes up behind her and offers her condolences ... wait don't these two hate each other? Anyway, they compare notes on how much they each loved the dead king and then the Evil Queen assures Snow that she's here for her, truly and forever. Some time later, a much more composed Evil Queen is conspiring with her Mirror, Mirror. She catches us up that she's responsible for dead king and that is one down and one to go, making her Revenge (it would be awesome if the Evil Queen jetted out to the Hamptons to help out Em and Nolan with their Revenge plans). That being said, Evil Queen recognizes that the people love Snow and that her death must be handled with care; specifically, she is looking for someone adept at murder, with no heart. Mirror, Mirror suggests she get a huntsman. And hey! There is a Huntsman! We watch him takes down a deer and then pray over its body, thanking it for dying so he may live. Aww, A sensitive Huntsman! The weird eyed wolf appears and the Huntsman tells him he wont go hungry tonight. Be kind to your animal friends is probably a good rule when you live among them.
Find the entire recap for this episode and more recaps for Once Upon a Time and other shows at www.onmydvr.com. You can also find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/onmydvr.