PRIMA • Blood, Sweat & Tiers of Challenge

As an ex-amateur boxer who happened to develop an equally passionate interest in the world of professional ballet at an early age, documentary filmmaker Luka Dziubyna is fascinated not upon the seemingly contradictory nature of these two worlds so much as the symmetries they share in terms of discipline, strength, and a determination to invest in one’s dreams at levels few are willing to sacrifice.

With his 9^th Documentary film PRIMA, which will have its world premiere on Friday, May 30^th at Bay City’s historic State Theater, we take a close, deep, backstage look with several of today’s most prominent and world-renowned principal ballerinas (Prima Ballerinas).

Through this prism we get a close and very personal look at the greatest triumphs and tragedies of the upper echelon of the ballet dance world, while also tracing other dancers at various stages of their careers.

When one considers statistically only about 2% of trained dancers will ever become professional, and of those less than 15% will ever attain the title of "Prima Ballerina”, Dziubyna has threaded together an emotionally compelling portrait looking deep into the marrow of this rarified world. 

And to add even more octane to this world premiere, a live performance and meet-and-greet with Hollywood Ballet Company’s Director and Prima Ballerina, Petra Conti will accompany the screening, as she gives a signature interpretation dancing to Tchaikovsky’s Dying Swan.

Luka’s last film After the Cage, which was released four years ago, documented the challenges involved with aging world class wrestlers, and much of his experience behind the camera came in the United States Air Force working as a broadcaster for the Pentagon Channel and as a combat camera correspondent, only to suffer a back injury back in 2005 that led him into covering professional boxing in California and Las Vegas.

“I’ve always been interested in wrestling, fighting, and watching ballet,” notes Luka, “so basically I started working on two films: one about professional fighters and another about professional ballerinas, whose careers usually end by the age of 38.”

PRIMA is Luka’s ninth feature film to date and previously he has filmed documentaries for Major Chords for Minors, assembled an honest insightful look into drug addiction with SaginAddict, released another film about Veterans & Suicide, created a documentary about the Mustard Seed Alliance, and also produced a highly notable film about predators who meet underage girls online called EXPOSURES.

“I always loved ballet ever since I was a kid,” explains Luka. “I remember being 14-years old and saving money to go see The Bolshoi Ballet and my parents taking me down to Detroit with my girlfriend at the time, who was also starting to study ballet.  When I told my friends who were into wrestling, they said,’ Oh, wow - that’s really gay’, and I was like, really? So guys dressed in their underwear and oiled up is not gay, but ballet is?  Regardless, ballet is something that’s always interested me.   Being an oil painter, I  work with many models who are dancers and it’s amazing what they do with their bodies.  I think being a ballet dancer is as tough a vocation as professional wrestlers, only unlike fighters they don’t take time off to gain 10, 20, or 30 pounds of weight.”

When asked about the average career lifespan of a Prima ballerina, Luka says much has changed.  “In older times once a ballet dancer became pregnant her career was over, but now there are Prima ballerinas with two or three kids. One ballerina featured in the film is in her sixties, which is pretty amazing. Science has changed over the decades and people are more aware of their diets and taking care of their bodies than before.  Each dancer has different methods and materials for wrapping their feet, and if you look at their feet its similar to a boxer’s hands - they look like old weathered farmer hands.”

When asked about the gestation of this ambitious project, Luka explains how it took longer than anticipated.   “My intention was to go to Russia and I reached out to Prima ballerina Petra Conti along with seven other dancers that I ended up filming. I wanted to show dancers in different stages of their careers and filmed the first two ballerinas  at the start of the COVID lockdowns, which pretty much shut down production.”

“I wanted to show people common and uncommon to the ballet world,” he continues. “With a name like Petra Conti, when I first met her I didn’t know if she was half Polish. “In the case of Petra, she went to Russia to study and through her level of commitment became a Prima ballerina who is absolutely wonderful to watch." 

The piece she will perform at The State Theater is a variation of the ‘Dying Swan’, to Tchaikovsky’s music,  which was originally performed by Anna Petrova and is very controlled.   I am thrilled that she agreed to perform at this world premiere of the film.   Another thing that makes Petra unique is that she’s also the Director of the Hollywood Ballet Company.”

“My main goal with this film is to show how tough these women are and the common problems they share, juxtaposed with the qualities that make them unique, reflects Dziubyna.   “We engaged in open conversations about personal things such as eating disorders and injuries, and situations that presented the possibility of almost not being able to dance anymore. Injuries are quite common, and many of these dancers are impeded from getting pregnant because for women to menstruate properly they need to have 11 to 14 percent body fat, but for a lot of ballerinas they need to maintain a nine percent level of body fat.”

“As with wrestling and professional boxing, a great deal of sacrifice is involved with the world of ballet,” he reflects.  “You don’t see a lot of good 33 to 34 year-old fighters because they get so shopworn from too many fights - and in many instances damage comes from the training more than the dancing; similar to Muhammed Ali who didn’t get damaged from his fights so much as it was from training without head gear.”

“I’m excited to be able to bring Petra to the Great Lakes Bay Region. I believe this is the first time a Prima Ballerina will be performing in the Tri-Cities,” he enthuses. “The designation and status of becoming a Prima ballerina is based upon several factors. It’s like graduating through stages in the Marshall Arts. Prima ballerinas are the ones a company can trust with all the roles, all the dance moves, and are the most elite level of dancer at the core of the ballet. Essentially, once they achieve this level they can be entrusted with everything.”

When asked what he feels drives most of these dancers to achieve the apex of artistry in the world of professional ballet they have accomplished, Luka says the unifying factors are discipline and high-pain tolerance.

 “Motivations are different for each dancer, but like a lot of highly successful people all of them were very young when they decided to pursue their careers, and once they started they excelled faster than other people in the class.”

The world premiere of PRIMA and live appearance of Prima Ballerina Petra Conti will take place on Friday, May 30^th at The State Theatre, 913 Washington Ave., Bay City. This presentation will run from 7:00 - 9:00 PM and tickets are only $24.00, including film, live performance, and meet-and-greet. Tickets can be purchased online at statetheatrebaycity.com or at the box office.

 A Conversation with Prima Ballerina Petra Conti

REVIEW: What was it about ballet that first attracted you to this physically & mentally demanding artform; and at what point did you decide to purse it as a vocation?

Petra Conti: I believe it was a vocation all along. I knew that pursuing ballet was what I needed to do since I was 10. I was very introverted as a child and I would dance for my teddy bears in my room. Dancing has been always a way for me to express emotions and feelings. I didn’t see ballet as a mentally and physically demanding art-form - for me it was the natural thing to do.

REVIEW:  What attributes do you possess as a dancer that you feel most distinguish your performances from other dancers?

Conti: I think that every great dancer has a unique mixture of talents. I think that besides the tangible gifts of nice feet and dainty physique, I was gifted by God with an ability to emote and convey emotions while dancing, which is incidentally my favorite thing about my job.

REVIEW:  What three ballet compositions inspire you the most and do you enjoy dancing to?

Conti: I don’t have absolute favorites, but I enjoy performing all the dramatic roles, because my character develops during the different acts…it’s beautiful to fully become one with the role I am playing.

REVIEW:  What do you feel are the biggest challenges a dancer faces once they achieve the status of becoming a Prima Ballerina?

Conti: I think that becoming a Prima Ballerina is the beginning of a very big responsibility. A Prima Ballerina represents the theatre, the company, she becomes the face of the entire entity. Other dancers look up to a Prima Ballerina, they get inspiration from her, she has to maintain always certain standards because she is the example. There are expectations, always.

REVIEW:  How much time do you have to dedicate to rehearsal each day and do you feel you are still evolving as a dancer, or once you hit a certain level is the focus more on maintaining that level of excellence?

Conti: Yes I am constantly evolving as a dancer.  I need to because of the role I have within the company and the industry as a whole. In a sense, a dancer and especially a principal dancer needs to remain a student at heart, she needs to remain humble to take in the criticism and the corrections. There needs to be a constant desire for growth and the consistent research of personal excellence, which obviously changes and takes new forms throughout one’s career.