Anatomy of a Male Ballet Dancer

Never heard of Mr. Gomes before seeing this movie, although I, too, am a dancer, 61. The best part about this bio was how very humble, sensible and sweet Mr. Gomes came across. When he was explaining partnering technique to a classroom of student dancers, he came across as very rational, calm, and knowledgeable. The film exposed how ballet takes a rapid toll on the human body - that by age 30, the most gifted male ballet dancers have hit their peak and are now in noticeable decline - mostly due to pain and accumulating injuries and NOT loss of muscle strength or stamina. Although Mr. Gomes was gay, he looked manly and danced explosively with a masculine flair while he was performing. The cover picture, however, is not a good choice as the position of his hands drooping, bird like, does not look manly. It was nice to see a supportive family back in Brazil. The pace was good. Both the behind the scenes shots of Gomes and his stage performances were good. The comments made by other ballet dancers, teachers and artistic directors who knew Gomes were enlightening. I do think an ethical question needs to be raised about any endeavor that typically leads to life long disabilities. Is it something that as a culture, we should be encouraging? In ancient Rome, crowds loved competitions that led to death. It seems modern cultures love seeing performances that lead to disability. The difference is only in degrees.

This documentary focuses on the life and career of the world renowned Brazilian ballet dancer Marcelo Gomes.

The movie will trace Gomes instinctively knowing, when very young, that he belonged in ballet class, and although he was the only boy there and bullied because of it, he did not waver. You can see his amazing talent at a very young age on vintage film clips that are shown. Gomes would come to the United States, as a 13-years-old, to further his studies in Florida, eventually signing with the American Ballet Theater, where he remained for the next 20 years.

There are also sections devoted to his returning to Brazil to visit with his family, his coming out as gay, his unselfishness when in partnership with a ballerina, and his realistic and honest feelings about what the future may hold for him as his body begins to show the inevitable signs of aging.

Certain parts of the doc remained unclear like exactly why Gomes' father would continually disappoint him by cancelling or not showing up for some of his major performances, citing personal issues. Also, I read in several articles and on Wiki that Gomes resigned from the ABT in late 2017 amidst a charge of sexual misconduct, which apparently was alleged to have occurred some 8 years before. However, I could find nothing further on this issue.

Overall, Marcelo Gomes' dedication to ballet, his incredible talent, and his genuineness and unselfishness on stage come bursting through in this movie.

To note, there were no subtitles on my DVD copy when English is spoken, but I was able to access them through the closed caption option on my remote. However, when other languages are spoken, which is fairly often, there are subtitles but they're quite small in size.