When checking NOWNESS, we can always be sure that we will come across lots of new short films, often touching, always compelling. This time we were confronted with Jem Goulding‘s “Sergei Polunin: The Fragile Balance” – a short film about Sergei Polunin, the youngest-ever principal dancer in the history of the Royal Ballet who left Ukraine at the tender age of 13 to join London’s Royal Ballet School and is often compared with 20th century greats Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev. Capturing the inner world of the “Restless Prince of Ballet,” poet, artist and filmmaker Jem Goulding portrays this highly talented young man by stringing together atmospheric fragments and monologic snippets.
Shooting on Super 8 and her 16mm Bolex camera, Jem Goulding depicts a seldom seen side of Polunin who either is seen dancing or talking while walking, hanging around or sitting on a sofa, bare-chested and putting his numerous tattoos on display.
Watch “Sergei Polunin: The Fragile Balance” here:
Photo: Screenshot / NOWNESS.
