Innovative vision, relentless passion, and four years of shooting and editing led to the creation of a cinematic exploration of dance from filmmaker and photographer Pasha (known as YOPOOSH). Death of a Teen Idol, as performed by American Ballet Theatre principal James Whiteside, forms part of the director’s wider Hotel Armada project, which captures the artistry of vogue, ballet and contemporary styles through energetic profiles of seventeen dancers.
“It was all shot in the same space and allowed each portrait to bring their unique energy and story through their bodies,” says the director. “It's an integration of time, space, movement and sounds highlighting each performer's rawness in their power and beauty.”
Each performance was unscripted and unrehearsed as a consequence of Pasha’s emotive directing style and taste for self-expression. Creative direction was carried out in collaboration with the artists, with Whiteside taking this opportunity to express his fears of aging through dance.
“A career in ballet is finite. Around forty years old, a ballet dancer must hang up their shoes in favor of the inevitable next step,” says Whiteside, who has beguiled audiences in productions such as Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker and more. “My hair is thinning, my skin is leathery and waxen, and my body is now covered in rough hair as though I’m some fancy homosexual Sasquatch.”
Filmed after the last day of Whiteside’s final performance of the season at the Lincoln Center, this film is not so much his energetic swan song, but rather a snapshot of balletic talent at the height of his career.
Pasha deftly captures Whiteside’s marmoreal form with a raw and unfiltered vibrancy that recreates the intimacy of a private performance. "The precision, discipline and dedication to his craft are what lured me to want to work with him," says the director. "The contrast of James performing his intricate choreography inside the crumbling environment helped shape the concept of Death of a Teen Idol, with the dress breaking down the wall of what masculinity means.”
As the infinite fouetté turns, assembles and grand jetes subside and the shimmer of Whiteside’s sequins begin to fade, the film comes to a gentle close with a profile of the dancer’s fatigued yet resilient body. “James is an absolute powerhouse and the first ballet dancer I had the chance to work with,” says Pasha. “His explosive movements were a challenge for me to keep up with but it made me appreciate his work and style of dance even more.”