Channel Your Inner Ballet-Happy Tween with New Animated Film "Leap!"

https://youtube.com/watch?v=aehrCm_LWc8

From Polina to Anatomy of a Male Ballet Dancer, there are plenty of ballet-themed films hitting movie theaters this month. But if you’re looking for something to share with the ballet-loving youngster in your life (or just want to channel your inner dance-happy tween), Leap! might be for you. Released in France in 2016 under the title Ballerina, this animated film tells the story of Félicie (Elle Fanning), an 11-year-old French orphan who arrives in Paris with her best friend, fellow orphan and aspiring inventor Victor, during the height of the Belle Époque. Félicie dreams of becoming a ballerina at the Paris Opéra Ballet. Penniless and with nothing to lose, Félicie finds guidance in POB theater caretaker Odette (played by pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen) and “borrows” the identity of a spoiled brat in order to enter the Opera Ballet School.

While training at the school, Félicie comes up against mean girl Camille, voiced by “Dance Moms” star Maddie Ziegler. In a classic Center Stage-style plot, Camille is pushed by her mother to dance without truly loving it, whereas Félicie dances from a true sense of passion. In order to make the film’s dancing look realistic, directors Eric Summer and Éric Warin used keyframe animation of POB artistic director Aurélie Dupont and étoile Jérémie Bélingard’s dancing. It’s always nice to see real dancers consulted when dance is represented in the realm of pop-culture, and from what we’ve seen the animated characters’ technique looks spot-on (er, with some flying feats thrown in.)

Reviews promise plenty of dancing as the fiery-haired Félicie follows her dreams and “leaps” to success. Here’s a ballet “dance battle” between Félicie and Camille (we definitely don’t recommend vigorous bourrées that close to a marble staircase):

And the film’s official trailer: