PARIS — Dance has been a connective thread by all of Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino’s reveals. It hovered within the background of “Gilmore Girls,” made an apt setting for “Bunheads” and was a continuing addition to “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” However on “Étoile,” the couple’s love of ballet lastly involves the forefront.
The eight-episode sequence, streaming on Prime Video April 24, follows the behind-the-scenes drama of two fictional dance firms, Le Ballet Nationwide in Paris and Metropolitan Ballet Theater in New York Metropolis. Filmed in each cities with a world ensemble solid that features actual ballet dancers, it was a real cross-Atlantic effort — and a notably formidable enterprise.
“We actually had this idea for a long time: What if Paris and New York ballet companies swapped dancers?” Palladino says. “We live in New York, so we know a lot of the theater community and the dance community. In ballet, they put on these beautiful, light, delicate, perfect performances. But behind the scenes it’s quite rough and tumble.”
“We always wanted to get back to dance after ‘Bunheads,’” provides Sherman-Palladino, a former ballet dancer herself. “It was really fun and it was cut off too soon, so we wanted to do a deeper dive into the real adult world of dance. Paris has the oldest ballet company and it goes back to the courts of the kings, while New York is the rough upstart. The juxtaposition of the old and the new gave us a story and an interesting backdrop.”
Sutton Foster as Michelle Simms, far proper, instructing college students in a 2012 scene from “Bunheads.” (Adam Taylor/ABC Household)
A gaggle of dancers in a scene from “Étoile.” (Philippe Antonello/Prime)
On a cold day final spring, that backdrop is on spectacular show in Studios d’Epinay, considered one of Europe’s oldest studios, positioned north of Paris. Inside a large soundstage, manufacturing designer Invoice Groom and his workforce have constructed the rehearsal rooms, hallways and places of work of Le Ballet Nationwide. It spans a number of interconnected rooms, together with an ornate, columned dance area based mostly partially on a rehearsal room within the real-life Palais Garnier, house to Paris Opera Ballet. There are chairs and sofas in every single place as a result of Sherman-Palladino desires the dancers to have someplace to hang around between takes.
“Dancers live 90% of their lives in four walls,” Sherman-Palladino says. “Everything’s inside of a building, and they go in that building in the morning and they stay there. We wanted to make sure that the interiors of the sets could accommodate life like that. As much as we were looking at the studios, it was also looking at the hallways and the hangout places and looking at where the couches were.”
After penning the pilot script themselves, Sherman-Palladino and Palladino assembled a six-person writers’ room that included former dancer Daisy Lengthy and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” actor Gideon Glick. The pilot established the present’s premise: Dealing with faltering ticket gross sales, Le Ballet Nationwide director Geneviève (Charlotte Gainsbourg) suggests swapping expertise with Metropolitan Ballet Theater to generate publicity and, in flip, save the artwork type. Its director, Jack (Luke Kirby), is initially resistant however in the end agrees to a commerce. Star ballerina Cheyenne (Lou de Laâge) arrives in New York as former Parisian Mishi (skilled ballerina Taïs Vinolo) returns to her hometown, inflicting ripples of their respective dance firms.
The writers conceived a number of episodes forward of manufacturing, which shifted from Paris to New York and again to Paris final 12 months. However in addition they wished to depart area for change on set — one thing Sherman-Palladino and Palladino, who every direct on the sequence, additionally did on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
“This was a really big ensemble cast,” Palladino says. “It was bigger than we normally do, and it’s not about a family. So there was a lot to learn about the dynamics between all the characters as we got to know the cast’s strengths. We don’t necessarily write everything in advance [of filming] because then you get to bob and weave as you discover what works within a show.”
“They’re so good at creating characters but then seeing what people bring to it and adjusting from there,” says Glick, who performs neurotic New York choreographer Tobias Bell. The character is a fish out of water when he’s transferred to Paris, however he quickly finds an surprising ally in egotistic dancer Gabin (Ivan du Pontavice). “It was always evolving as we were filming.”
Gainsbourg, historically a movie star, initially was hesitant to be a part of a TV sequence as a result of she doesn’t wish to really feel rushed when taking pictures. However she discovered “Étoile” to be an easygoing set with loads of time for a number of takes. Plus, Sherman-Palladino and Palladino had been amenable to her perspective on Geneviève, an overburdened, passionate lady with a messy private life.
“They were open to everything I had to say about her,” Gainsbourg says. “From what I wanted in her office to how I wanted to embody the character. They were so generous in that sense. I was curious to understand that world because I’ve really had nothing to do with it. I watched documentaries, and I met with the director of the opera and the director of the ballet in Paris.”
In “Étoile,” Jack (Luke Kirby) is the chief director of New York’s ballet firm, whereas Cheyenne (Lou de Laâge) is a star ballerina from Paris.
(Philippe Antonello / Prime Video)
Gainsbourg additionally helped to information among the French dialogue, mentioning when a line or a phrase didn’t ring true. The writers accomplished every script in English after which handed them over to translators. However at first, among the jokes weren’t touchdown. Finally, translator Dany Héricourt got here onboard to make sure that the couple’s signature snappy dialogue labored in each languages.
“The French speak very quickly,” Sherman-Palladino says. “Periods mean nothing for them. So if it’s five sentences, it sounds like one very quick, long sentence. We’d have to turn to Danny and go, ‘Is it funny?’”
“We were in the unprecedented situation of having to ask an actor to slow down,” Palladino provides.
Kirby had beforehand collaborated with Sherman-Palladino and Palladino on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” enjoying comic Lenny Bruce. He was supposed to seem in just one episode of that present, however everybody cherished his efficiency a lot he grew to become an integral a part of the story. They later wrote Jack particularly for Kirby.
“I didn’t ask about his trajectory because, inevitably, it was going to change,” Kirby says. “When we had our first conversation I did ask whether he was a former dancer. I thought that was compelling. But he simply is a man who was born into a world that allowed him access to a lot of dance. And luckily, he has great affection for it.”
Different mainstays of the Sherman-Palladino universe seem all through “Étoile.” Yanic Truesdale performs Geneviève’s assistant Raphael whereas Kelly Bishop visitor stars as Jack’s mom and Dakin Matthews pops in as a member of the theater’s board. Simon Callow is a brand new addition as a problematic billionaire funding Metropolitan Ballet Theater, as is David Haig, who performs its ailing creative director.
“Amy and Dan and I have known each other for so long and there’s such a comfort level there,” Truesdale says. “It was important to me that I didn’t give the audience Michel [from ‘Gilmore Girls’] again. I’m French with a female boss, but I didn’t want it to be the same dynamic. Michel was suffering all the time and Raphael is 100% committed and in service of Geneviève.”
“When you work with the best people, you want to continue to work with the best people and you get spoiled,” Sherman-Palladino says. “And it makes writing for people so much easier because you know they’re going to be able to do it.”
Different casting was extra meta: New York Metropolis Ballet principal dancers Unity Phelan and Tiler Peck and Boston Ballet principal dancer John Lam seem within the sequence. Actor David Alvarez, who as soon as led “Billy Elliot” on Broadway, performs dancer Gael. He carried out all of his personal choreography — as did Vinolo — and he needed to carry out every sequence twice, as soon as with de Laâge and as soon as along with her dance double, Constance Devernay-Laurence. Like the remainder of the solid, he skilled extensively forward of and through filming.
“It was an interesting process to figure out this character because it’s so similar to me and my life,” Alvarez says. “I’m pretty sure Amy stalked me for quite a bit trying to figure out who this character is. The way they work is different than any other project I’ve done before. They rehearse a lot more. I’m used to just showing up on set and shooting the scene without ever even meeting the actors sometimes. But here there was a lot of camaraderie.”
Cheyenne (Lou de Laâge), a Parisian dancer despatched to New York Metropolis in “Étoile.”
(Philippe Antonello / Prime Video)
De Laâge took on the problem of not solely coaching as a ballerina but in addition studying English. Cheyenne is fiery and brash — in a single scene she rejects a sequence of dance companions by describing a homicide — however de Laâge imbues her with emotional complexity. Of all of the characters, she provides the most effective understanding of the compulsion ballerinas need to maintain dancing.
“I will never be an étoile, because it’s too complicated and it’s a job,” de Laâge says. “But it’s been interesting to work with real dancers and learn about their career and all the complex things they do. The body is telling a story. I now understand how hard each movement is because ballet is not like gymnastics or a performative art. It can be more graceful and subtle and delicate but so complicated too.”
Onscreen, it’s not possible to inform when in a dance sequence it’s de Laâge and when it’s Devernay-Laurence. Similar with du Pontavice and his double, Arcadian Broad. On set in Paris, the afternoon includes a scene the place Tobias pushes Gabin to be taught new choreography. To shoot it, du Pontavice and Broad are dressed identically as Gabin.
Sequence choreographer Marguerite Derricks, a longtime collaborator with Sherman-Palladino, has taught each performers the sequence. First, du Pontavice acts out the whole scene with a rudimentary dance efficiency. Then, Broad enacts the very same scene with extra exact strikes and a powerful leap. The digicam shifts in order that du Pontavice can hop again in for the ultimate shot. Later, the VFX workforce will seamlessly impose du Pontavice’s face on Broad’s physique.
“The emotions still have to match,” Derricks explains. “When I rehearse them, I really talk about what they’re feeling. They’ve both learned the choreography exactly. When Ivan does the Superman leap, he doesn’t get the same height as Arcadian, but he does the whole thing.”
Total, Derricks choreographed dozens of rehearsals and performances for “Étoile.” She additionally reimagined well-known choreography from ballets like “The Nutcracker” and “Sleeping Beauty.” She solid a bunch of 20 ballet dancers from Paris and 20 in New York, together with further dancers to fill in bigger scenes. Each dance sequence within the sequence is there for a story or emotional cause.
“All of the dance had to push the story forward,” Sherman-Palladino says. “If we’re doing a dance, there’s a reason that we’re doing the dance. We’re not just stopping for a dance number. As long as it suited the script, we did it. The dancing was the most fun and, frankly, the easiest part of the show.”
As a result of “Étoile” isn’t nearly what occurs onstage, each element needed to be exact and as correct as doable. Groom mixed the New York and Paris units with actual theater areas to construct out the worlds of Le Ballet Nationwide and Metropolitan Ballet Theater. In Paris, the sequence shot within the Palais Garnier, together with contained in the costume studio, the place tutus famously dangle from the ceiling, in addition to Théâtre du Châtelet and Opéra Comique. In New York, the manufacturing used Lincoln Heart and the New Jersey Performing Arts Heart.
A gaggle of ballet dancers collect in a scene from the Prime Video drama “Étoile.” “We always wanted to get back to dance after ‘Bunheads,’” says co-creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, a former ballet dancer herself.
(Philippe Antonello / Prime Video)
“We have to be aware of what you see in the wings when the cameras on the stage are following the performers,” Groom says. “As an audience member seated in the house, you don’t see into the wings usually, so we had to make that real as well. We knew we would be shooting in hallways and outside the rehearsal spaces too, so we needed to experience the space the way the dancers would.”
Accuracy additionally was important to costume designer Donna Zakowska, who received an Emmy for her work on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” She and her workforce designed and made greater than 200 ballet costumes alongside rehearsal outfits for the solid, who typically numbered as much as 60 on a given taking pictures day.
“I’ve danced my whole life and dance is such an exalting, exciting human expression,” Zakowska says. “I always think about clothes and how they move. Before this, though, I had no idea tutus require 13 layers of net. It became far more complicated than I initially imagined. And you really have to respond to the dance and how each performers approaches it.”
At first, these within the real-life ballet world approached by the manufacturing had been skeptical of “Étoile.” Palladino says it’s as a result of the dance world “has been burned by some of these movies and TV shows that lean into the darkness.” However “Étoile” can also be concerning the hopefulness of the artwork type and its potential to raise the human expertise.
“People were wary, but as things went on, they saw the show was really about the dancers,” Sherman-Palladino says. “They aren’t window dressing. It’s about them and their stories, and that was important to us. We’ve been dealing with dancers for so long on our shows, and I was a dancer. Making this brought back a lot of memories.”
She provides, with a smile, “It also made me feel a little sad that I stopped because your ass is so perfect when you dance.”
