La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet (2009)
Photograph from Zipporah Films
A scene from “La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet,” a documentary filmed at the Palais Garnier.
Creating Dialogue From Body Language
By A. O. SCOTT
In “La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet,” his 36th documentary in more than 40 years, Frederick Wiseman takes his camera into the stately and elegant Palais Garnier in Paris, observing rehearsals, staff meetings and, finally, performances of seven dances, including classics like “The Nutcracker” and spiky new work by younger choreographers. To say that the film, sumptuous in its length and graceful in its rhythm, is a feast for ballet lovers is to state the obvious and also to sell Mr. Wiseman’s achievement a bit short. Yes, this is one of the finest dance films ever made, but there’s more to it than that.