Life for Ballet

For ballet fans, as well as those interested in the dance arts, A Life for Ballet offers a deep look at the master Pierre Lacotte and his impressive career. Lacotte, with his wife and dance partner, Ghislaine Thesmar, influenced the world of ballet with adaptations of romantic ballets such as Coppelia in Shanghai in 2002, Daughter of the Danube in Tokyo in 2007 and La Sylphide in 2011 in Vienna and Moscow. Thesmar was Prima Ballerina in La Sylphide in Buenos Aires and Tokyo and in Swan Lake with Rudolph Nureyev, and has been an esteemed professor at the Opéra de Paris. As a twelve-year-old student at the famous Opéra de Paris, Lacotte was fascinated by the history of the company, spending many hours combing through its archives. This intense interest in the past, as well as details and guidance provided by mentors while at the school, helped to mold his penchant for recreating lost works. This film explores the ballet over a span of 60 years, including archival footage, and features ballet greats such as Rudolph Nureyev, Agnes Letestu, Michael Denard, Evgenia Obratsova, and Svetlana Zakharova.