Rain

Like clandestine spectators, we get to witness the rehearsals for Rain, a 2001 dance performance by the Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker that is now being put on by the world-famous Paris Opera Ballet. This is the first time that a performance by De Keersmaeker is being danced by a troupe other then her own. The choreographer and the dancers of the original cast oversee the rehearsals for the new show. As if to avoid breaking the dancers' immense concentration at all costs, the camera spies on their intense rehearsals, while we hear snippets of phone conversations between De Keersmaeker and her dancers, her team or even her children, thus shedding light on the choreographer's personality. Filmed from up close, the dancers often produce a hypnotic effect. A week before the premiere, Jakub Truszkowski, who leads the rehearsals, tells the young ballerinas to "Enjoy the fact that you can do it!" And when the day comes, the expressions on the dancers' faces speak volumes. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)