If you’re hard working and well-situated enough, you get to chase and achieve and live out your dreams for your whole life. But if you’re lucky enough, you get to choose how you’ll leave. Swan Song is the journey Canadian ballet icon Karen Kain took to direct one last production of Swan Lake just before retiring as artistic director of National Ballet of Canada. Director Chelsea McMullan takes a fairly standard approach in her documentary, but to be fair, the subject matter is interesting by itself. The beauty of the ballet has long captivated cinema, so it’s unsurprising that the beauty is present, but McMullan effortlessly highlights the way Kain shaped her directorial style based on her own experience, with more humane and collaborative leadership that allowed the country’s troupe to shine.
"Director Chelsea McMullan, along with co-writer and producer Sean O’Neill, have crafted a work that echoes the artform’s grace and rigor, physical demands and details."
— Lisa Kennedy
An immersive, behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s leading ballet companies as it mounts a new production of Swan Lake. Ballet icon Karen Kain, on the eve of her retirement, directs the National Ballet of Canada. The film weaves together intimate scenes of the creative process and the dancers’ personal lives. Executive Produced by Neve Campbell.
Just before retiring, ballet icon Karen Kain directs a production of Swan Lake for her last project as artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada.
I really appreciate the way we personally got to hear the ballerinas performing. We don’t hear them just praise Kain, but we get to learn some of the issues they personally have, and this fact alone just proves how much they trusted both Karen Kain and Chelsea McMullan to handle their stories with care.
Looking for Swan Lake tickets as we speak.
