Can 'Etoile' convey ballet into the twenty first century?

Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, the dynamic duo behind Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, are again with Étoile, a Prime Video collection that pirouettes into the high-stakes world of worldwide ballet. Premiering April 24, 2025, the present follows two prestigious ballet firms in New York and Paris as they swap their prime dancers in a bid to rejuvenate their artwork and appeal to fashionable audiences.With a solid mixing seasoned actors and real-life ballet stars, Étoile goals to bridge the hole between classical dance and modern tradition.

The crew behind The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel — Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino — are swapping mic drops for pointe footwear with their new Prime Video collection Étoile. Set between New York and Paris, the present follows two struggling ballet firms pressured into an uneasy alliance to remain afloat — and sure, there’s actual floating: lifts, leaps, and pirouettes carried out by actual ballet dancers.

Think Bunheads meets Emily in Paris (with much more leg heaters) crossed with the basic The Turning Point. Étoile is aware of its survival is determined by the dancing — and it doesn’t pretend a single step.

Prime Video’s Étoile pirouettes onto screens, mixing the class of ballet with fashionable storytelling. The collection follows two prestigious ballet firms in New York and Paris as they swap their prime dancers to rejuvenate their artwork and appeal to recent audiences.

“Ballet is one of those things you can’t fake,” says actor David Alvarez, a Tony Award-winner from Billy Elliot and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. “Any dancer can spot a fraud just by how you walk.”

Alvarez performs Gael, a hot-tempered dancer tousled with Cheyenne (Lou de Laâge), a stormy prima ballerina — or étoile — who heads to New York as a part of an formidable expertise swap. Meanwhile, their bosses, Jack (Luke Kirby) and Geneviève (Charlotte Gainsbourg), run firms which might be barely-disguised variations of the New York City Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet.

Tobias (Gideon Glick) in ÉTOILE Photo: PHILIPPE ANTONELLO © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC

This isn’t only a dance drama

It’s a meta-commentary on ballet’s quest for relevance. By casting real-life dancers like Constance Devernay and Tiler Peck, Étoile provides an genuine glimpse into the ballet world, aiming to demystify the artwork type and showcase its rigorous calls for. (time.com)

Historically, ballet has grappled with perceptions of elitism and a predominantly older viewers. However, initiatives just like the New York City Ballet’s inexpensive pricing and collaborations with artists like Solange have efficiently attracted youthful patrons. Étoile may additional this development, making ballet extra accessible and interesting to a various, fashionable viewers.

Sherman-Palladino, who skilled in ballet as a baby (and has the again surgical procedures to show it, jokes her husband), wished the present to spotlight dancers as true athletes.

“These are artists who knowingly go into a career where you’re guaranteed not to make money. They do it because they love it,” she says. “They’re ridiculously strong. What they can do with their bodies is insane.”

For her, ballet is sort of a silent movie: “It’s storytelling without words — it’s heartbreak, it’s joy, it’s love.”

Étoile isn’t only a present; it’s a cultural catalyst. By spotlighting ballet’s depth and artistry, it challenges the stuffy stereotype, making the artwork type extra relatable. This may encourage ballet firms to modernize, attracting youthful, extra various audiences.

Addressing inclusivity in dance

Historically, ballet has been perceived as unique, with audiences anticipating to see white ballerinas on stage. A 2023 examine from the University of Connecticut highlighted this bias, emphasizing the necessity for higher inclusivity. Étoile addresses this by that includes a various solid, reflecting a extra inclusive ballet world. The New York City Ballet’s latest success in attracting youthful audiences via inexpensive pricing and collaborations with modern artists demonstrates the potential for modernization. apnews.com Étoile may additional this development, encouraging ballet firms to embrace present media landscapes and have interaction new demographics.

Ballet’s display screen revival

Prime Video’s Étoile isn’t only a dance drama; it’s a meta-commentary on ballet’s quest for relevance. The present’s narrative, centered on two ballet firms swapping prime dancers, mirrors real-life efforts to rejuvenate the artwork type. By mixing conventional ballet with modern storytelling, Étoile has the potential to bridge the hole between classical dance and in the present day’s popular culture, ushering ballet into the twenty first century.

And if you wish to understand how severely actual dancers take their craft? Just attempt touching their pointe footwear.

On set, when crew members provided to assist sew the ribbons, Vinolo needed to politely refuse. “I have a very specific way,” she laughs. “And I don’t like people touching my shoes.”

David Alvarez nods in immediate understanding. “Good for balancing,” he says.

In Étoile, it’s that realness — on stage and off — that may simply make ballet cooler than it’s ever been.