Swan SongSwan Song

An immersive, behind-the-scenes look inside the National Ballet of Canada as it mounts a major new production of Swan Lake. Ballet icon Karen Kain steps into the role of director on the eve of her retirement, and the film weaves together revealing scenes of the intense creative process with intimate moments inside the dancers' personal lives. It's no secret to the dancers, most of whom are still in their 20s, that the art form they love has also perpetuated a lot of things they don't believe in: sexism and racism are at the forefront as Kain's conception of "Swan Lake" wrestles with the ballet's implicit story about trapped women, and whether the dancers might try to perform with their skin showing instead of the traditional white tights.