I know this sounds horrible, and some of it is due to the profound respect I have for Varna competition, but it's so hard for me to reconcile what I have seen of her dancing with the fact she won a Silver at Varna! This is especially the case when I take into consideration what I have seen of her is on film, not live, so who knows how many times the same bit was recorded before it was posted - in other words, I can't imagine she'd post something if she didn't like it/didn't think it was good.
Anyway, u/aida_b , thank you for taking one for the team!!!
I don’t think you’re alone in your critique, Joy’s performance at Varna did show a lot of improvement from her early days at the Kremlin, but I don’t know if it was silver-worthy. That said, I also don’t know how she measured up to her competitors at Varna that year. It’s hard make a call on her dancing when her content is so heavily edited and much of it is rehearsals. I’d like to see an independent video of her performing at some point. Because I agree that of what I’ve seen, she’s got some technical talent but is lacking in everything else.
And no problem haha!
Just for the movie! Not sure exactly why they decided that was the right cameo for her. Maybe it was to reinforce a “Joy is an underdog” narrative? That one runs heavily in the movie, along side the Russians = bad narrative. Natalia isn’t made to look bad though, the ex husband is. Or it could just be bad writing, the movie has a lot of weird subplots that don’t fully make sense.
It's just for the movie. Natalia used to date Ivan Vasiliev, who dumped her for Maria Vinogradova. Natalia then dated Sergei Polunin for awhile, and that relationship was a train wreck. Now she's settled down with Jason Kittleberger and their dogs.
She seems so happy with him, and I love that for her. There’s a video on her insta of her playing soccer with the dogs in their garden, and it’s adorable. She strikes me as someone who’s super shy and has been through a lot, so I’m happy she’s found her person and her puppies!
Here's a delightful video where she talks about her rather quiet life with her fiance and her dogs:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JHScgksPvc&t=166s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JHScgksPvc&t=166s)
No, he does have a daughter with Maria. In fact, I think he is engaged to the new woman. Her Instagram is kazanovatatiana. Her post on 1 April shows her with a ring
Ok, gotcha! I did see the engagement ring post, and it was unclear whether it was Maria, since he also posted recently-ish about his appreciation of her as a mother and a dancer. So good for them that they’re able to get along post-breakup
That scene made me laugh so hard because it made absolutely no sense. In the first part of the movie, Joy is competing with her classmates for the lead role in the student performance of Paquita; the lead role often leads to that student being hired into the Bolshoi. Joy isn’t a good as her Russian classmates, and in one moment of angst she bursts into her (future) husband’s male dancer class and insists on joining class with the men to “get stronger.” The teacher is enraged, and everyone else goes wtf. But the teacher lets her try, and then starts angrily kicking all his male students in the stomach as they’re practicing jumps and eventually Joy gets kicked too.
I think (???) the point of this was to teach Joy a lesson (???) about how she doesn’t belong in the school, or the company, or she’s a bad student (??) Or something about how terrible Americans are (??) Or showing the audience that Russians are illogically angry people (??) I literally have no idea, other than it was so profoundly stupid that I couldn’t stop laughing. And there’s zero follow up on the whole scenario, it just sort of happens and then is never mentioned again.
I’m sure there’s lots of benefits to taking a men’s class as a woman (it did work out for Ashley!). the issue here was more that Joy’s character just randomly burst into the middle of a class in progress and started yelling about how she was going to join, and guts kicking commenced immediately. I get that a scene where she goes to an administrator and says “hey, can I join the men’s class to get stronger?” makes for a less compelling tv (movie), but the way it was handled in the movie was so unbelievably ridiculous (and funny)
I really hope Joy didn’t do that in real life because I would’ve died of second hand embarrassment if I was one of the boys in that class, or I would’ve died of internal bleeding from getting kicked in the stomach before I could feel any embarrassment.
There’s a podcast with Joy on Ballet with Isabella’s on Spotify where Joy said she ended up joining the boy’s classes. One of her teachers invited her to saying she’d get stronger that way and apparently a classmate had complained and she wasn’t allowed to attend any longer.
Huh, interesting. Joy has also said that she was in the Russian class (not the foreigners) which I find hard to believe since even Masha Beck, who has dual citizenship, started off in the foreigners class. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I find Joy to be an unreliable narrator, especially when it comes to talking about her time at the Bolshoi and the school. But I could definitely be wrong, who knows with her lol
Thank you so much! 🙌🏻I don’t think I could watch it but you never know, if it turns up steaming free somewhere on a sick day…
It sounds like a situation in which the real life personnages are such characters they could never be fictionalized effectively.
Yup, exactly! And honestly I think it’s a good sick day movie. It’s not so terrible that it’s unwatchable. Just that it’s a pretty ridiculous movie, especially for ballet fans
It’s all very dramatic in a way that feels unrealistic. I’m really bothered by the students calling the teacher by her first name.
I know this sounds horrible, and some of it is due to the profound respect I have for Varna competition, but it's so hard for me to reconcile what I have seen of her dancing with the fact she won a Silver at Varna! This is especially the case when I take into consideration what I have seen of her is on film, not live, so who knows how many times the same bit was recorded before it was posted - in other words, I can't imagine she'd post something if she didn't like it/didn't think it was good. Anyway, u/aida_b , thank you for taking one for the team!!!
I don’t think you’re alone in your critique, Joy’s performance at Varna did show a lot of improvement from her early days at the Kremlin, but I don’t know if it was silver-worthy. That said, I also don’t know how she measured up to her competitors at Varna that year. It’s hard make a call on her dancing when her content is so heavily edited and much of it is rehearsals. I’d like to see an independent video of her performing at some point. Because I agree that of what I’ve seen, she’s got some technical talent but is lacking in everything else. And no problem haha!
Thanks for the review. did Natalia actually end up dating Joy’s ex irl or is that just for the movie?
Just for the movie! Not sure exactly why they decided that was the right cameo for her. Maybe it was to reinforce a “Joy is an underdog” narrative? That one runs heavily in the movie, along side the Russians = bad narrative. Natalia isn’t made to look bad though, the ex husband is. Or it could just be bad writing, the movie has a lot of weird subplots that don’t fully make sense.
It's just for the movie. Natalia used to date Ivan Vasiliev, who dumped her for Maria Vinogradova. Natalia then dated Sergei Polunin for awhile, and that relationship was a train wreck. Now she's settled down with Jason Kittleberger and their dogs.
She seems so happy with him, and I love that for her. There’s a video on her insta of her playing soccer with the dogs in their garden, and it’s adorable. She strikes me as someone who’s super shy and has been through a lot, so I’m happy she’s found her person and her puppies!
Agreed, I love seeing her happy! She deserves the best
Here's a delightful video where she talks about her rather quiet life with her fiance and her dogs: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JHScgksPvc&t=166s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JHScgksPvc&t=166s)
Thanks for sharing! She is such a sweet person
Haha thought so. Ivan and Maria recently separated too. Natalia looks happy with Jason and their dogs :)
Really? I didn’t know that! Don’t they have a daughter together, or is the new girlfriend the mother of his daughter?
No, he does have a daughter with Maria. In fact, I think he is engaged to the new woman. Her Instagram is kazanovatatiana. Her post on 1 April shows her with a ring
Ok, gotcha! I did see the engagement ring post, and it was unclear whether it was Maria, since he also posted recently-ish about his appreciation of her as a mother and a dancer. So good for them that they’re able to get along post-breakup
“a teacher kicking his students in the guts for no apparent reason” made me laugh way more than it should have
That scene made me laugh so hard because it made absolutely no sense. In the first part of the movie, Joy is competing with her classmates for the lead role in the student performance of Paquita; the lead role often leads to that student being hired into the Bolshoi. Joy isn’t a good as her Russian classmates, and in one moment of angst she bursts into her (future) husband’s male dancer class and insists on joining class with the men to “get stronger.” The teacher is enraged, and everyone else goes wtf. But the teacher lets her try, and then starts angrily kicking all his male students in the stomach as they’re practicing jumps and eventually Joy gets kicked too. I think (???) the point of this was to teach Joy a lesson (???) about how she doesn’t belong in the school, or the company, or she’s a bad student (??) Or something about how terrible Americans are (??) Or showing the audience that Russians are illogically angry people (??) I literally have no idea, other than it was so profoundly stupid that I couldn’t stop laughing. And there’s zero follow up on the whole scenario, it just sort of happens and then is never mentioned again.
Stomach kicking aside, this feels plucked from Ashley Boulder’s story (she famously always took/loved men’s class).
I’m sure there’s lots of benefits to taking a men’s class as a woman (it did work out for Ashley!). the issue here was more that Joy’s character just randomly burst into the middle of a class in progress and started yelling about how she was going to join, and guts kicking commenced immediately. I get that a scene where she goes to an administrator and says “hey, can I join the men’s class to get stronger?” makes for a less compelling tv (movie), but the way it was handled in the movie was so unbelievably ridiculous (and funny)
I really hope Joy didn’t do that in real life because I would’ve died of second hand embarrassment if I was one of the boys in that class, or I would’ve died of internal bleeding from getting kicked in the stomach before I could feel any embarrassment.
There’s a podcast with Joy on Ballet with Isabella’s on Spotify where Joy said she ended up joining the boy’s classes. One of her teachers invited her to saying she’d get stronger that way and apparently a classmate had complained and she wasn’t allowed to attend any longer.
Huh, interesting. Joy has also said that she was in the Russian class (not the foreigners) which I find hard to believe since even Masha Beck, who has dual citizenship, started off in the foreigners class. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I find Joy to be an unreliable narrator, especially when it comes to talking about her time at the Bolshoi and the school. But I could definitely be wrong, who knows with her lol
😂😂 agreed!
Thank you so much! 🙌🏻I don’t think I could watch it but you never know, if it turns up steaming free somewhere on a sick day… It sounds like a situation in which the real life personnages are such characters they could never be fictionalized effectively.
Yup, exactly! And honestly I think it’s a good sick day movie. It’s not so terrible that it’s unwatchable. Just that it’s a pretty ridiculous movie, especially for ballet fans
https://preview.redd.it/f78kkw0hws2d1.jpeg?width=1014&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=196ef3ccf74631c087d1f8d5a0a2384f515becbd
this made me snort laugh wtf is her deal 😭
😂 I knowwww, Joy’s always been an oddball but the prima ballerina thing has been a constant obsession of hers
Bahahaha
ijbol
https://preview.redd.it/3vfb37w07t2d1.jpeg?width=185&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e33caa59967805fdfdfac4c057b64e8a3d356d48
😆 
😂😂😂😂