Dancer

Dancer becomes a gentle inquiry into how a gifted performer disrupts his life in order to test his passion.

It’s an unfinished story, which leaves Dancer slightly unsatisfying, as if we’re abandoning a book mid-chapter. But what a pleasure to wallow in the talent of a ballet rock star — and to watch a troubled young man find peace in a split-second of perfection.

Seeing how freakishly gifted he is and watching his ascendance is a thrill, and Cantor keeps the pacing moving crisply.

It refuses to pass judgment on whether or not Sergei Polunin's success was worth so much sacrifice and heartache.

While there’s plenty of footage of Polunin executing multiple pirouettes and twisting acrobatically through the air, real ballet fans will lament the lack of evidence of emotion and artistry in his dancing.

This is a sympathetic, serviceable but respectfully unintrusive documentary about the Ukrainian dancer Sergei Polunin.

In Dancer, Mr. Polunin’s suffering may be on display, but too little of his artistry.