"Tiny Pretty Things"
“Tiny Pretty Things” debuted on Netflix on December 14th, but I needed the Christmas break to watch it. When I watched the trailer, I was thrilled, because I adore ballet and I couldn’t wait to see the series. Unfortunately, the 10 episodes one-hour long was too much to handle in just one day. After the first episode I needed to take a break from it. The plot isn’t complicated and some time I had an impression that I was watching a Spanish soap opera or some teen drama. I was hoping for amazing choreographies and stunning classical music I love so much. Instead of that I got several dance scenes and a lot of teen drama or sex scenes. This series is dedicated to children above the age of 16, but I really think it should be designed for adults. I had huge expectations and I got disappointed.
The series tells a story of Neveah Stroyer, a black ballerina who receives a full scholarship from the Archer Ballet School in Chicago. She is thrilled, because she was already rejected and it’s a huge opportunity for her. Unfortunately, she joins the school in a very dramatic and sad circumstances: school’s biggest star had an accident and fell from the roof. Now she is in a coma and fights for recovery. Neveah doesn’t know that her scholarship is just a distraction: an admission of a black girl is a way to fix the situation and change the bad press. In the school are many students, but the creators focused only on few of them. We meet them slowly and their stories. Except Neveah we got Bette (Elizabeth), a younger sister of a formal Archer student and now a big star, Oren who is Bette’s boyfriend, his roommate Shane, June who is tired of standing in a second row and Nabil, a brilliant Muslim ballet dancer. They are preparing for a new ballet and they are trying to deal with Cassie’s accident. Through the series we can find out that there wasn’t an accident and someone pushed Cassie and made her fall. Everyone suspect Nabil, Cassie’s boyfriend, but they have secrets to hide, because nobody is telling the truth. The officer who is running the case struggles her own drama, but she’s trying to solve the case, although the school’s principle, Madame DuBois tries to protect school’s reputation to any cost. During the series, we discover that the school is involved in illegal business and provides young ballerinas to wealthy men. In the meantime, students are preparing a ballet about Jack the Ripper, which is quite controversial, due to the situation at school, and trying to solve the crime. For many episodes we see the preparations, the rehearsals and the student’s personal life. In the final we discovers the real attacker, but other person will pay the price. The final show is a big hit, but everything comes with a price.
I was hoping for something really different and I was disappointed. The creators focused more on the private life of the characters and not on a dance. There are scenes of dancing and they are lovely, but for me it’s not enough. Sometimes I was really surprised how the characters behave and their lack of consistency in action. I saw more sex scenes than ballet scenes and in a couple of times I was lost who is dating who. According to the plot, all happens within few months, but I didn’t notice that. The students spent many years in that school, but there aren’t any “normal” classes. They mention once or twice that they had math, but we don’t have an opportunity to see those classes. The plot is quite weak and sometimes predictable. This series also shows that sexual abuses are common in a ballet world and you need to sleep with someone to get a role. It shows the dark side of ballet, that we may not see. It’s important to draw attention to this, but not like that.
The series has weak points, but I liked that shows some real situations in ballet: injuries, broken nails, bruises on feet even an addiction to painkillers. For me the most interesting part was the mentality of the dancers. Everybody has secrets and weak points, everybody struggles with some demons inside. It’s important to see them as a people and not machines. I liked the dance scenes, but I saw doubles in some scenes. I have watched a lot of movies and series about different types of dances, so I know how to notice the switch. Also we can see the old trick of not showing the feet of a dancer. All of this left me with mixed feelings. I’m not sure what to think about this series and probably I won’t watch it again. There is no information about season 2, but I’m not sure if I want to lose another 10 hours of my life.
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