Graceful Girls

Synopsis: In the world of female calisthenics there is an award to which all participants aspire: Most Graceful Girl. In this documentary we meet mother and daughter Dianne and Brooke Synnot who have run The Regent School for Calisthenics and pupil Brianna Lee as she heads to the prestigious Ballarat Royal South Street competition, hoping to win the title.

For those who don’t know, calisthenics comes from the Greek word “kallos” meaning good and “sthenos” meaning strength. The discipline is like a combination of rhythmic gymnastics and ballet with a strong emphasis on musicality and theatricality. Many girls who aspire to musical theatre would  have done well to have had a grounding in calisthenics. Much of calisthenics is done as a group activity, with dancing, marching, rod twirling, gymnastic feats, and all manner of synchronisation, but the prize of the film’s title is for elite solo performers.

Devotees of calisthenics are as driven as participants any other sport. For many girls, and their mothers,  it becomes almost an obsession and includes the making of the most beautiful and elaborate costumes for competitions.

Like many films of this nature Graceful Girls follows a fairly predictable arc. We learn than Brianna Lee has been runner-up several times and now that she is a senior (possibly in her mid-twenties), this is her last chance to win the title of Most Graceful Girl. And so we count down the months, then weeks, then days until the big comp, as Brianna practises her heart out. We also hear from Dianne about what a hard taskmaster she is to her charges and follow the practice sessions of many of the tiny tots who will also perform in the big competition in the group items. Focus is also upon Brooke who will soon take over mother’s teaching mantle but who is torn between her love of calisthenics and her desire to be in the cast of some of Australia’s big musical performances. (At the time of the film’s shooting she scored a role alongside Geoffrey Rush in "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum").

The film looks beautiful. The costumes are a delight, and watching such supple, lithe and beautiful female bodies perform their stuff cannot fail but please the eye. It is cheering to know there are still youngsters who eschew the computer screen for serious physical pursuits, though the very tiny ones are a bit of a worry as they are made up to look almost like something out of a US beauty pageant.  After a while the film becomes a bit repetitive, both in lengthy performance pieces, and in the interviews with the women and there is not enough depth to seriously engage the outside observer.

This film won People’s Choice Award for documentaries at this year’s MIFF. A strange choice I find, as it seems to be a film made for those who are already great fans of the discipline. This is not to say there is not much to interest and delight the eye, but it would be better suited to a 50 minute TV documentary than a 90 minute feature film. For those already-hooked aficionados however it will no doubt be a must-see.  

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