A home movie clip of a young boy performing ballet opens Carlton Daniel Jr.’s determined short film, Fly, before we meet the young adult version of him as he stretches and prepares in a dance studio in the early hours of the morning before his classes begin. Ballet is often talked about in terms of its beauty and its dedication, but the strength is always assumed and never spoken about. Underneath all that tension in the legs and in the curvature of the arms is an immense amount of pressure, but there is so much turmoil and anxiety housed in the mind of an artist as they work towards a goal or further themselves with their craft. What do we need in order to calm the noise? How do we get out of our own way?
Skylar spends every waking hour thinking about his time in the dance studio. When he is working out in an opening montage, his eyes seem focused on his turnout or his extension as he pumps the weights away from his chest. When he takes a break from working on choreography in the studio, he is discouraged when his mother reveals that money is tight to pay for help pay for his tuition, but he assures her that he will figure things out. More stress on the mind that might translate to frustration to the body?
When class begins, Skylar keeps to himself as other dancers file in, stretch and gab with one another before the artistic director of the ballet company introduces himself and reveals that they are working on filling a paid apprenticeship within the company–another thing for Skylar to compete for but this will change his trajectory. Is there a thing as being too focused, though? So many artists strive for perfection, especially when it comes to the world of dance, but our minds can shift that stress too much onto the movement that it feels like there is a disconnect from the brain to the body. When you know you have so much on the line, our minds can play tricks on us and it ends up costing us what we really want in the end. Before Skylar gets to that point, though, he connects with an old flame, Jay’ko, who gives him an opportunity to shift his perspective.
Daniel Jr.’s film is purposely quiet but there is a recognizable control at play as he keeps us locked into Skylar’s persistence. He keeps the camera close to Jeremy Villas’ face when he is working during class almost as if he can trust us to understand what Skylar’s body is doing even if it is out of the frame. Daniel Jr. wants us to not miss any beads of sweat on his forehead or the filmmaker wants us to be able to look into Skylar’s eyes. He is saying something very important as it pertains to how a fulfilled dream needs to be reminded of the original
There is a preciousness at play when it comes to reminding ourselves of why we dream in the first place. Skylar has that moment at the most important time, and we feel that this will shake off any doubt or frustration he has been experiencing in those dark morning hours in the studio. Daniel Jr.’s film is not only about physically flying, but allowing your heart and mind ascend along.
Fly plays as part of the Out On Film’s What We Carry: Drama Shorts block on October 4 at Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema on October 4. It will stream as part of Out On Film’s online programming beginning October 5.
