Are directors really pricks?
I seems so cliché but there must be some truth to it.
shareI'm not a dancer but I did study acting and nearly all my directors were complete a**holes. One made me cry on numerous occasions and said awful things to several cast members. He really favoured two guys on our course and gave them more stage time than anyone else. In one play we did he reduced a girl's part down from 40 lines to just 2 because she said something critical about one of his favourites on the course.
Another of my directors was female and once again she had her clear favourites. One girl complained about her in the end because the director ignored her for two start weeks and none of us knew the reason.
Not all directors are like this though, I had one in college who was lovely. He would come out for lunch and coffee with a few members of the cast and we all brought him presents at Christmas. He was a great director and really listened to us all.
Like I said, done can be jerks but there are a few that are nice.
Thanks for your response. Due to the lack of replies, I'm starting to think there's a code of silence with this topic.
I also am not a dancer, but have always appreciated the beauty and artistry in it. I was hoping to hear perspectives from both dancers and directors on this subject because all I know is what I've seen on tv or in movies. I don't believe everything I see or read, but it does seem as if directors feel... entitled to berate their students or dancers. I think it's sad. I know people are people and it takes all kinds, but do dance academies or ballet companies really put up with these personality types? It seems to me it would create an air of discomfort and low self-esteem that would be counterproductive.
Most people would rather be made to feel proud of their efforts, not ashamed of their failures.
Like I said, I think it really depends. I know dancers who have had total pricks for directors but I also know some lovely directors who are really passionate about the happiness of their cast/company. It really depends on the person.
Dean and I do share a more profound bond. I wasn't going to mention it - Castiel
No. Yes some are egomaniacs and can throw tantrums, but I've never seen or heard of such a cruel, moronic, pathetic person who holds such a high position. Also he is the ARTISTIC DIRECTOR of a company (one of the top in the world supposedly), which is not just a director. An artistic director has to be highly intelligent, have great business savvy, and be a professional to work with in order to be successful and keep a company afloat. This character was such an unrealistic, overdone cliché.
shareOkay thanks.
Anyone else?
It seems as though the creators of this show had some kind of contract where they got more and more money, the more old, tired clichés and melodramatic stereotypes they poured into it. And, if they could sauce it all up with overdone, scenery-chewing acting, their profits climbed higher still. When they got to the little moment when Claire discovers shards of glass in her pointe shoe, that was just the pinnacle of too much! Those old stories of crushed glass in shoes, and ribbons being booby-trapped to tear apart in performance, etc., are ancient tales that may even have happened, back in the 19th century. That was literally as clichéd as the prim secretary removing her glasses and the handsome boss suddenly really seeing her, saying with wonder, "Why, Miss Stanford! You're beautiful!" Or, how about the innocent, ringleted ingenue being tied to the train tracks by Snidely Whiplash, who stands over her, twirling his mustache, with a cruel laugh. Honestly, as a professional ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer, I can tell you this show does not present an accurate picture of life and work in major professional companies. At least they did use real dancers, and had certain details right, but, like BLACK SWAN, the overall portrayal is beyond twisted and dirtied, to the point of being quite inauthentic. Honestly, where the hell is the joy, the beauty, the love, the challenge, the heart?! If life in a top ballet company were really like this show, WHO in the hell would want to mess with it?
There is plenty of difficulty, competition, frustration, pain, mind-gaming, heartbreak, and more, to be found in professional dance, but those negatives tend to be far outweighed by the good stuff, including the thrill of the work, and becoming a kind of family with ones colleagues. Please don't believe this drek represents a true picture.
Just make a movie that makes me care, one way or another. I'm open.