Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2012

First-time documentarian Bess Kargman focuses, Spellbound-style, on six very diverse aspiring ballet dancers, aged 9 to 19, as they prepare for an elite youth competition that can net them trophies, but more importantly scholarships and contracts. A grounded military boy, an orphan from Sierra Leone, a weightless young man from Colombia, an upbeat Nisei. These future virtuosos’ ambition and dedication, and their willingness to endure physical and emotional pain and sacrifice (their childhoods, basically) make the stakes in the final round unbelievably high and their portraits uniformly moving.