"Where Movie Critics Get A Taste Of Their Own Medicine"
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AN INTERVIEW WITH:
NEVE CAMPBELL
by Peter Sobczynski

December 25, 2003

In interviews, most actors will speak of their so-called "dream project"-a film idea that is so near and dear to their hearts that they would do anything to get it made-at least, until they put it aside to do a far more commercially viable project. Most of these dream films never get beyond such wishful discussions but for actress Neve Campbell, her dream has become a reality. For years, Campbell, who formally trained as a ballet dancer before turning to acting with things like TV’s "Party of Five" and the "Scream" movies, has been wanting to do a film about the day-to-day life of a ballet company. Instead of simply talking about it, Campbell helped to develop the screenplay for "The Company" and, in her role as producer, convinced no less of a director than Robert Altman to make it.

With a history like that, you might assume that the film features Campbell as some kind of star ballerina-perhaps a lowly background dancer who gets to become a lead-and that she would be the focus. Instead, Campbell plays just one member of Chicago’s famed Joffrey Ballet (whose dancers play themselves) and acquits herself quite well with the other members of the company. Although not a flawless film by any means (what Robert Altman film is), "The Company" does convey both the enormous amount of work and pain that goes into the daily life of a ballet dancer as well as the beauty of the end results.

Recently, Campbell returned to Chicago, where she spent several weeks last year filming "The Company", to discuss the film, her love of dance and the reasons why other dance-based films have failed to capture the reality of the ballet world.

Obviously, ballet has been a longtime interest of yours. Can you talk about how you first got into it and how the idea to do "The Company" grew out of it?

I started dancing when I was six years old-my father took me to see "The Nutcracker" for Christmas and I decided that I wanted to do that. He got me ballet lessons for Christmas and I started in a little basement rec room with a teacher. By the time I was nine, I was accepted into one of the top schools and attended there for five years. I got "The Phantom of the Opera" when I was 15 and I did classical ballet in that. I also worked with contemporary choreographers in Toronto but then I fell into the acting. I had a lot of injuries and dance was going to be a great struggle for me-it’s a great struggle for everyone-because of them. Then I got "Party of Five". It wasn’t really a conscious decision to get into acting-I really thought I would be a dancer and join a company. I got "Party of Five" and suddenly I was working fifteen hours day for six years and I realized that I wasn’t a dancer anymore. It was really hard because it was my life and my passion and the reason I fell in love with the arts.

I developed this film for seven years because I wanted to get back and tell the story about the dance world so that people would acknowledge it. I had nine years off from dancing and I had to train 8 1/2 hours a day for 4 1/2 months in L.A. Ten came here for 1 1/2 months of training 8 1/2 hours a day in order to learn the ballet because they knew most of the ballets already and I had to learn them. It was a lot of work but it was a dream.

Having gotten back into the world of dance, would you like to continue pursuing it?

I would love to. The thing about dance is-you are either doing it non-stop or you aren’t doing it professionally. I take classes whenever I can because I love it but to do it professionally would be difficult and I would have to give up the acting career. Gerry Arpino invited me to join the Joffrey, which was insane and really flattering, but if I did, my career would be over in six years. I’m 30 and on average, dancers usually only last til the age of 40 and I wouldn’t last that long. I’ve been involved in certain ways-Domingo Rubio, who was my partner in the "My Funny Valentine" dance, has left his company for L.A. and he is trying to start up his own and he asked me to help him. I’d like to see if there is a way to get dance in L.A. because there is no dance in L.A. I’d love to do both but it would be really hard.

How did you come to select Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet as the focus of "The Company"?

I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want this to be a movie about a girl from the chorus who wanted to become a principal-I didn’t want it to be about that kind of status and that form of competition. Therefore, you couldn’t really go with something like the New York City Ballet, where there are 90 dancers and they do have that sort of stature-they have apprentices, chorus, soloists and principals. In the Joffrey, it is an all-star/no-star mentality. If a member is better at modern ballet than at classical and there is a modern choreographer coming in, that dancer will get the opportunity.

What were the feelings of the Joffrey members when you informed them that you wanted to make a film with them?

I think the dancers originally, and understandably so, were apprehensive because most dancers don’t think there has ever been a really good dance movie-the idea of another group of people coming and saying that they were going to make a movie about dance made them very skeptical. I think when they knew I had been a dancer and that Bob was falling in love with all of them, they became more open to it.

Coming from the worlds of both dance and film, do you think there have been any previous films that have come close to capturing the life of a dancer before "The Company"?

There have been moments but I really don’t think there has been a well-made movie about dance. There have been dance films where people dance but there hasn’t been one that is all-encompassing about what that world really is and what the experiences are that dancers and companies go through. I can’t say there is one that has done that. There are moments in things like in "The Turning Point"-they have a character who is older and who misses dancing and who cannot let that dream go, which is something that all dancers experience. There have been moments within dance films that have told truths but I wouldn’t say there was one that I was truly impressed with or that I thought actually said something about the dance world.

How were the various dance pieces seen in the film chosen? I was particularly curious about the striking piece with the banners that opens the film and the performance of "The White Widow" that utilizes flying harnesses and a haunting Julee Cruise song.

We went through many dance pieces and tapes of different choreographers and decided on the ones that we thought would be interesting. The opening piece, "Tensile Involvement", was something that Bob thought would be visually stimulating as an opener and it was important that he have a large number of the company-since it is called "The Company"-in the opening sequence. The Julee Cruise piece, "The White Widow", is another visually stunning piece that is very challenging. There are only a couple of members of the company who can do that piece because of all the swinging and motion sickness.

How about the performance of "The Blue Snake" that concludes the film? Unlike the other pieces in the film, which are relatively low-key and subdued, it is overproduced to such a degree that it almost seems like a spoof.

I don’t know if it is necessarily a joke. It was showing different examples of different types of dance. I saw "The Blue Snake" when I was nine. It’s actually a 40-minute ballet and it was choreographed by Robert Desrosiers, who is actually in the movie. It is more of a fairy tale and it is designed more for children. I think that having different forms of dance in the movie was partly to show that companies do different kinds of work-they do classical and contemporary. They do pieces they aren’t necessarily enthusiastic about and ones that they enthusiastic about.

Clearly, "The Company" will be most appreciated by people with a knowledge of the world of ballet. Do you think it will be just as accessible to those who lack that frame of reference?

That is what I am hoping for-that people will see it who perhaps have not had an interest in dance before and will become intrigued by it or will at least have an understanding of the incredible athleticism and artistry that the dancers have to attain to be able to do it professionally. Some people-adults-who have seen the movie have told me that they didn’t know anything about dance and had no idea of the work. That, for me, is majorly important because I feel like the dance world is not acknowledged in the way that it should be. I really do think it is a stunning art form.

-- PETER SOBCZYNSKI

Copyright © 2003 Peter Sobczynski
All rights reserved.
Used with permission
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