Last Dance

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Last Dance

Directed by Mirra Bank

film still LAST DANCE goes behind the scenes with the audacious, innovative dance company Pilobolus and legendary author-illustrator Maurice Sendak to reveal a stormy collaboration. Their shared creative venture - to create a work that confronts the Holocaust - appears dubious at the outset of the film. But the intensity of the artists' conflict is equaled by the power of their achievement.

Award-wining filmmaker Mirra Bank spent over a year with Pilobolus and Sendak. LAST DANCE takes audiences inside a gloves-off collaboration, where each artist's idea of the piece is challenged by an opposing vision of equal authority -- How much narrative is too much? Will anyone want to see another Holocaust story? Can it be both moving and irreverent? From the first day of improvisation in the studio, Bank follows Pilobolus and Sendak as they transform a haunting Holocaust legacy into a stark and provocative dance-theater piece that comes to life onstage as "A Selection."

"A Selection" quickly established itself as one of Pilobolus' most powerful works. Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times called it "riveting...(with) stunning dramatic edge." The New York Daily News said, "Miraculously succeeds, as mutely eloquent as a monument." And Newsday said the piece was, "dynamic, athletic, chilling dramatic piece."

Bank and her crew had total access to the film's subjects, and her film weaves vérité rehearsal scenes, probing interviews, rare Holocaust footage, and thrilling performance into a uniquely intimate look at the incredible tenacity and wit that drive the creative process when serious artists work together.

"Highly recommended for all libraries. The film is indeed an exercise in both the difficulty and the exhilaration of such a rich endeavor... Riveting." - Library Journal

"An intimate glimpse of how sensibilities as compatible as oil and water forced themselves to blend and create a successful work despite their aesthetic differences. The synergy of movement, lighting, costumes, scenic design and music blend into a moving dance-theater experience." - Stephen Holden, New York Times

"An enlightening look at the passion, inspiration and frustration behind the creative process!" - New York Daily News

"Riveting! Skillfully interweaves acrimonious skirmishes with Pilobolus at work and harrowing historical footage. Bank's documentary is not only entertaining but also frighteningly instructive." - New York Post

** Golden Gate Award, Merit in the Arts, 2002 San Francisco International Film Festival

84 minutes / color / 2002
Sale/video-dvd: $248
Rental/video: $100

Subject areas: Art, Dance, Jewish Studies, Theater

Related Titles:

Charlotte: Based on the autobiographical series "Life or Theater?" by Charlotte Salomon, a young Jewish painter from Berlin, who sought refuge in Nice during World War II.

Etoiles: A fortuitous blend of Gallic verbosity and sublime artistry, ETOILES - DANCERS OF THE PARIS OPERA BALLET is an unusually articulate look at the competitive world of ballet.

Last updated 09/01/2006