‘Dancing Across Borders’ Documents a Man’s Bittersweet Triumph

Submitted by BrianTT on April 16, 2010 - 8:22pm

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Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – It’s rather serendipitous that the new film “Dancing Across Borders” will have it’s Chicago premiere at the Gene Siskel Film Center, which is literally around the corner from the Oriental Theater’s production of “Billy Elliot.” The true-life story in “Borders” has some striking similarities to that of the wildly hyped musical, since they both center on a young man whose passion for dance allows him to overcome the limitations of his underprivileged upbringing.

On the surface, “Borders” seems like a straightforward vehicle for inspirational uplift. Sokvannara “Sy” Sar was a 16-year-old boy in Siem Reap, Cambodia, when he was discovered by Anne Bass, a visiting socialite and arts patron from the United States. Since age 9, Sar had always been driven to dance, despite the reservations of his parents, and found time to study at the local dance school in between chores. When Bass saw Sar perform traditional Khamer dance with his fellow school members, she was so taken by his presence and natural abilities that she offered to sponsor a trip for him to audition at New York’s School of American Ballet (SAB), where she served on the board.

Read Matt Fagerholm’s full review of “Dancing Across Borders” in our reviews section.

This is where the film becomes less of a real-life “Billy Elliot,” and more of an uneasy variation on “The Blind Side,” in which a rich white lady decides to save a poor boy by assisting in the development of skills that will help him excel at the school of her choice. Now to be fair, Bass is nothing like Sandra Bullock’s bitch on wheels in “Blind,” and she does seem to genuinely care about Sar as a person instead of merely a vessel for talent. Yet the same question that nagged at me throughout “Blind” reemerged in “Borders.” Is this the life Sar truly wanted for himself, or was it imposed upon him? When he first watches footage of western ballet, Sar has no idea what to make of it, and admits his initial dislike of it. And yet, Bass’s offer certainly is hard to refuse. “Cambodian male dancers don’t have much of a future,” Bass says in an interview, while making it clear that she didn’t want Sar’s potential to go unrealized.

After a 14-minute opening sequence establishing Sar’s modest upbringing, the rest of the film follows the young fresh-faced artist during his remarkable five-year evolution into a professional ballet dancer. His initial audition at SAB failed because the instructors deemed him too old and inexperienced, thus inspiring Bass to hire renowned ballet teacher Olga Kostritsky to be his mentor. This training, combined with his eventual studies at SAB under the tutelage of dancers like Peter Boal, formed Sar into a formidable onstage presence admired by icons like Twyla Tharp and praised by the New York Times for his “unselfconscious authority.” His energy and exuberance are never in short supply, yet the rigid technicality of his movements are a far cry from the dancing he enjoyed and was aiming to master back in Cambodia.

Continuing reading for Matt Fagerholm’s full “Dancing Across Borders” review.

‘Dancing Across Borders’ features Sokvannara Sar, Anne Bass, Olga Kostritzky, Boran Kim, Peter Boal, Jock Soto, Benjamin Millepied, Damian Woetzel, Roland Eng, Fred Frumberg and Philip Glass. It was directed by Anne Bass. It opened on April 16th at the Gene Siskel Film Center. It is not rated.